#queer pirate fic

[spacecat-studio]

you’d think,

knowing perfectly well that Time Does Not Exist When I’m Writing, it would be a thing I remember, but I will persist in leaving my toast to burn so I can write just a little bit more while I wait

[indecisivecosplayer]

Ofmd fandom, hear me out:

1. Izzy Hands was aroace.

2. Ed and Izzy were in a queer platonic relationship, but they could never label it. So when Ed met Stede, Izzy began to think that it was all in his head, like the love and loyalty he had for their partnership was one sided and he could never give what Ed truly wanted.

*Holds out hands expectantly waiting for fic recs*

[brazenskald]

In my first year of university, I was going through a very tumultuous time. There was all the many new things that come from leaving home, some good, some bad. There were the difficulties of a demanding if rewarding job, and I first became acquainted with the not-so-fondly-remembered and not yet fully un-internalized “student lifestyle.” Terrible food, awful sleep schedule, and this omnipresent sense of impending doom that was, at least in my case in Fall 2019, surprisingly prescient. Throughout all of this, I was not prepared to be struck by the warmth and depth and resonant Truth that cut through the noise and spoke to me with a certain book I picked up, by happenstance, because of its pretty cover. That book was A Conspiracy of Truths by @ariaste. You may have heard of them. https://www.alexandrarowland.net/a-conspiracy-of-truths

Now, needless to say I devoured aCoT, and subsequently its excellent sequel A Choir of Lies. I was sorrowfully disappointed to find out after finishing the absolute rollercoaster of Choir that there was in fact, no further reading yet to do. And so, profoundly affected as I was by this (for now) duology, which I will doubtless craft a dedicated and appropriately lengthy treatise at some point in the future, I set the books in a prime place upon my shelf and turned to face the rest of the year buoyed in my hopes for the brightness of Spring and the long lusty laughter of Summer. Alas, they were all of them deceived for another global epidemic was to begin. One (or two) life-altering years in a pandemic later… I returned to university, fully prepared to enjoy the hell out of an actual honest-to-gods academic institution that didn’t begin and end with a computer screen. It hit like a truck. Same awful student lifestyle, more bad habits piling up, and a rapidly growing sense of my own undiagnosed issue rearing its ugly head. I made one decision that saved me, probably. I kept buying and reading phenomenal books. I kept looking for stories to motivate, enervate, and inspire. Somewhere deep in my subconscious, I remembered that fateful message spoken by a Chant on a page three years past. To loosely paraphrase, “Stories [are] people, and the way people are.” I chose to focus on resilience, made it my motto, and sure I still had lots of work to do, but it helped. It gave me the push I needed to keep going.

That last long Winter that seemed so dark that the sun was never going to come back? I went a-wandering, and lo, a new instalment from @ariaste ‘s Mithalgeard universe! Not a Chant sequel as such, but I couldn’t get my hands on it fast enough. It was an oasis. A respite from the grind and dreary routines. It was also gay as… well as gay as a rainbow covered in gold, let’s say. And I cannot recommend A Taste of Gold and Iron fiercely enough, because although in many ways I managed to end my degree on a high note, that book drew me out of the darkness of the coldest part of the year. It gave me the sense to smell the flowers, to bask in the green and golden glow of a soon-to-be-attained victory, long overdue.

Alex had by this point also published several shorter works, (and a whole library’s worth of content on AO3, naturally) which I leapt to read whenever they crossed my radar. It helped that I joined their discord community which was leaps and bounds more reliable in terms of getting updates and also just having the chance to share in mutual fandom gushing. If you’re even remotely interested in learning more about what I’ve talked about here, you should join in! https://discord.gg/XHJ9Uy5gef Everybody there is absolutely lovely. So why do I bring all this up? To summarize a preamble that is, to put it mildly, not short, Alex’s writing sings to my soul. I love it more deeply than my non-existent children, and their body of work continues to evolve and grow and deliver on the themes and core messages that hooked me with that first book.

But wait, there’s more! Life carries on, and with it comes new stories! Specifically, Running Close to the Wind! It’s Our Flag Means Death meets Mithalgeard, which if I haven’t convinced you to go and read those other instalments, well just trust me when I say that is a potent and persuasive pairing! It’s also going to be dropping at an important time for me, what with convocation, another big move in my life, and a whole whack of uncertainty. Much like Avra, Teveri, and Julian though, I’ll just have to brave the rocky waters and hold on to those nearest to me, and that’s what I’d like to focus on at the end of this post. A Conspiracy of Truth taught me that stories are people, A Choir of Lies showed how stories can change people, and A Taste of Gold and Iron drove home that stories we tell ourselves are the hardest to rewrite, but also the most rewarding when we take ownership of them. I anticipate that with Running Close to the Wind, Alex will likely show us (with ample amounts of pomp and queer circumstances) how the story of ourselves can only ever be written by interweaving the tales of those closest to us. Perhaps, we’ll even discover how to navigate the often stormy seas of uncertainty that seem omnipresent these days, whenever we deign to pull our noses out from whichever books we’re currently nestled within. I know that’s certainly something I’ll be looking out for, come this June, and now hopefully you will be too! (This last link does go to the webpage for Running Close to the Wind, Tumblr’s just being weird I guess.)

[queen-raven-imp]

New chapter of my Omegaverse Sparrington fic is out!!!!

Summary: The omega pirate finds himself facing certain death a bit sooner than expected. Not at the hands of Davy Jones, but at the paws of one former Commodore. How will Jack Sparrow manage to worm his way out of this one?

[basuralindo]

Hey, if you enjoy the shit I say on here, consider checking out my original stories over at @dareco-writes.

And if you're here for twst, I have a few fics on ao3 and post about them here! I don't do requests but I'm always happy to answer asks, so feel free to blow up my inbox about whatever

My tagging system is a mess, but specific fic babble/updates can be found under #yhmr, #ttd fic, and #small steps fic (check #twst fic for everything in general). You can also find my memes and miscellaneous bs under #my bullshit, fandom talk under #fandom drivel, and me babbling in general under #trash talk

[arijensineink]

Incorrect Quotes Tag

Thank you @primroseprime2019 for the other tag which is my FAVEEE incorrect quotes. Here's the generator.

I'm working on developing OCs for The Candy King since the first draft is an Ateez fic/OC mashup I'll be posting on AO3. Meet Taz + Pearl!

For context, Taz is a pirate captain and Pearl is his longtime lover/first mate.

_

Pearl: Can you please be serious for five minutes? Taz: My record is four, but I think I can do it.

_

Pearl, addressing the crew: And if you have any suggestions feel free to put them in the suggestion box. Taz: But – that’s just a trash can. Pearl: It sure is!

_

Pearl: Okay, truth or dare? Taz: Truth Pearl: How many hours have you slept this week? Taz: Taz: ...Dare Pearl: Go to bed. Taz: I don’t like this game.

-

Pearl: What is your biggest weakness? Taz: I can be uncooperative. Pearl: Okay, can you give me an example? Taz: No.

_

(bonus with Zebrin who is just a crew member who inevitably always ends up having to deal with their shit)

Pearl: Taz and I were crossing the street, and this dude drove by and honked at us Zebrin: *Sighing* What did Taz do? Pearl: They chased him to the next red light, then reached into his window and... Taz: Who wants a steering wheel?

~

I'm gonna do an open tag on this one, if you see this and want to do it go for it!

[alectepohe]

Avast! Pirate Stories from Transgender Authors edited by Michael Earp and Alison Evans @alisonwritesthings is out now!

More info here.

[oldtvandcomics]

Lesbians! <3 I ship them.

Find your self a mermaid girlfriend

[foolishxprincipalitee]

I just cannot with the “you shouldn’t participate in fandoms that have bad creators!” shaming while y’all still pay for Amazon and Disney+ and generally do ~hateful comment activism~ that doesn’t extend as far as material economic reality. I pirate the shows, pay fan artists, and leave nice comments on fics. It’s the one little corner of my life where I can be unabashedly queer and autistic and light up my dopamine receptors while harming no one. If I wanted to engage in abstract morality discourse I would rejoin a church.

[spacecat-studio]

NaNoWriMo Day 15

a little late because my Internet was being a butt. 2,707 words and even tho I have played this scene over and over in my head for months now it refuses to be written properly hmgonna sleep for twelve hours and try again tomorrow

[the-widow-olivia]

I am really happy that (if/when) we get our show back, it starts with a time jump. Here’s why:

1. It means Ed and Stede probably get some time together where nothing interesting happens. They don’t wake up the morning after 2x8 with the English at their doorstep — they get to actually try building a life together. This is really a best case scenario for two wanted pirates, and I love that for them.

2. I have grown very attached to a lot of the fan works around the imagined innkeepers era — we have some incredibly beautiful art and fic that depict the immediate days and weeks after the end of season 2, and I kind of like the idea that those stories could just stay canon-compliant as the story skips ahead to some new era in their lives.

3. What I want most from David and the writers and the actors is what happens after the happily ever after — all the challenges that come with a long-term relationship. And I want that very selfishly as a queer person, because we get a lot of coming out stories and getting together stories, but not as many stories where two people have to negotiate what it means to be together for the long haul. And I want that for them, and for us.

[allwaswell16]

A One Direction fic rec of long fics with bottom Harry as requested in this ask. If you enjoy the fics, please leave kudos and comments for the writers! You can find my other recs here. Happy reading!

- Louis / Harry -

📖 Time Bomb by ThisSentimentalHeart

(M, 291k, famous/famous au) the one where Louis has everything: a lead role in a giant Hollywood franchise, a glittering new house with an entertaining Irish neighbor, and a steady, normal boyfriend who he probably loves.

📖 Light, Spark and Fire (series) by green_feelings / @greenfeelings

(E, 239k, omegaverse) Harry’s working on taking Louis’ walls down, until he builds his own up.

📖 Pretty Please (With Sugar On Top) by @angelichl

(E, 113k, omegaverse) Harry is a sugar baby omega who cons rich alphas for a living. Louis is a rich alpha with too much self-control.

📖 Give Me Truths by iwillpaintasongforlou / @canonlarry

(E, 110k, punk Louis) the one in which Louis falls in love with a fragile boy and tells him every beautiful truth in the world, as long as it makes him happy.

📖 apple pie baked just right by 28goldensfics / @28goldens

(E, 106k, farm) Louis has to get away. The news of his father’s terminal diagnosis, the loss of his job, and the breakup with his girlfriend leads Louis to leave for a life of slower things in the small town of Cedar Hills.

📖 Say Something by @kingsofeverything

(E, 105k, omegaverse) At fifty years old and recently divorced, Omega Harry Styles isn't interested in dating. When his doctor suggests a heat and rut matching service, he signs up out of necessity.

📖 of the divine (series) by devilinmybrain / @thedevilinmybrain

(E, 104k, guardian angel Harry) "I'm your-" The man shifts his weight, hesitantly bringing his hands together in front of him. It's an endearingly nervous habit. "I'm your guardian angel."

📖 De amore ex tempore by @persephoneflouwers

(M, 101k, historical) the Time Travel AU where alternate versions of themselves live simultaneously in different realities and their paths collide every time, until somehow, they converge into one.

📖 Victorian Boy by audreyhheart

(E, 101k, historical) Victorian AU. Harry the virgin Duke of Somerset knows little of love, while Louis the sly Duke of Warwick knows too much. When the two dukes come together for the Bilsdale fox hunt in York, Harry finds himself drawn into Louis' bed.

📖 Ace of Spades (series) by @allwaswell16

(E, 90k, pirates) Living as a sheltered omega in a farming village has not prepared Harry for life aboard the most notorious pirate ship to sail the Atlantic. Or Louis is a pirate, Harry is his captive, and no one is who they say they are.

📖 The Pros and Cons of Breathing by @hellolovers13

(E, 81k, omegaverse) Omega Harry has always known he'd be married off someday, so when he's betrothed to Prince Louis, he's anxious about having to leave his life behind, but hopeful for a happy marriage. The hope doesn't last long

📖 Truth Be Told (I Never Was Yours) by JustForTommo

(E, 76k, wedding planner) the one where Louis and Harry have a complicated past, Louis is getting married to someone that’s not Harry, and the universe has decided to have a laugh and make Harry the wedding planner

📖 Falling For Me Won't Be A Mistake by Rearviewdreamer / @all-these-larrythings

(M, 74k, mpreg) Harry is married to his job and so overworked that he doesn't know how to stop. All it takes is a forced Hawaiian get-a-away, the warm tropical breeze of the island, and the most beautiful, elusive man he's ever seen to make him remember what living is like outside of work.

📖 And I'll judge the cover by the book by harrystylesandstuff

(M, 73k, uni) a Private University AU where Harry is a queer posh prince, Louis is a closeted troublemaker, and neither expect to understand each other the way they will.

📖 Bikestrike by thinlines / @thinlinez

(E, 68k, omegaverse) What would you do if you saw someone riding your bike, which had been stolen weeks before, across campus? Omega Harry chose to show no mercy. He didn't know it would all lead him to his own demise.

📖 More Than You Know by @brightlyharry

(E, 64k, miscommunication) the one where Louis is a doorman for a luxury apartment building and Harry is the newest resident of the penthouse

📖 Lend Me Your Hand by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird

(M, 63k, historical) Society has long since decided that the soulmarks everyone is born with are entirely unfashionable. They're just another way for people of a lower class to scam their way into marrying above their station.

📖 Bye Bye's Are Not For Legends (I'm Forever Young) by kikikryslee / @flamboyantommo

(M, 51k, superheroes) A Superhero AU where Louis, Liam and Niall are immortal and have superpowers - Liam can clone himself, Niall can inflict pain at the drop of a hat and Louis can kill with the blink of an eye - and want fellow immortal Harry, who puts a twist on the term 'mind control,' to join their group in order to save the world.

📖 you're ripped at every edge, but you're a masterpiece by Valentia

(E, 50k, uni) The one where Harry is soft and pretty but doesn't see it and Louis just wants to love him the way he deserves.

- Rare Pairs -

📖 All I Want by gvitup4zh

(E, 149k, Zayn/Harry) Zayn, music producer and single father, meets Harry, server and aspiring singer-songwriter, by chance one night and before the evening is over, Zayn has offered him a job as a nanny for his two kids. 

[naranjapetrificada]

Just a small thing I noticed while being totally normal about the gay pirates:

I've watched The Kiss™ way too many times a normal number of times and my favorite moment is the series of microexpressions Rhys cycles through while Stede is reacting to "what makes Ed happy is...you" because it's just so lovely and masterfully done. While trying to find a good gif of just that moment (no luck so far!) I noticed something that happens while Ed is pulling Stede in.

Stede, darling honey light of my life, clueless useless "oblivious" gay that he is, tilts his head a bit and leans into the kiss too. Before it's even started. On some level he registers that This Is Happening in time to react in a positive way, even before their lips have touched.

Our boy is a creature of instinct, and when he acts on his emotional instincts without thinking too much he knocks so much shit out of the park. Instinct is part of why "you wear fine things well" hits as hard as it does. Instinct is how he can woo Ed as easily as he does. Instinct is how they were able connect so deeply so quickly, because his instinct is to be open and non-judgemental to this beautiful man waiting beside his sickbed and asking about fine fabrics.

Stede's thoughts are still too clouded by his trauma and self-loathing to be useful for him, and he can end up thinking too much about what he "should" do or what other people do. Thinking is part of the reason he's so quick to believe Chauncey in the woods. Thinking means succumbing to beliefs about his perceived worthlessness, which leads to his biggest mistakes. Thinking tells him to adjust what he says about Blackbeard in that tavern of townies, when his instinct was to say how "absolutely lovely" Ed is.

Obviously man cannot live by instinct alone, like he definitely should have thought for a minute about making a deal with Geraldo to fence the hostage. Stede needs to learn to balance the two and when to listen to either/both of them. But I was just so excited to see him leaning in the way he does because it underlines a feeling I've had for a minute, which is that Stede's instincts are those of someone crushing and then falling in love, and that never wavers.

He lacks the context and vocabulary to identify what's going on without outside intervention, but he also deeply gets it in a way that's extremely queer and that I hope starts showing up more in the fanon. I do a little happy dance every time I see this in people's fics and I just need so many more of them! Give me more eager Stede who is Ready To Go once he's given the right context for his feelings about Ed!

[kiwiana-writes]

Fandom Trumps Hate offerings roundup for Red White & Royal Blue!

The browsing period for @fandomtrumpshate is officially OPEN and there are TWENTY-FOUR fan creators under the Red White & Royal Blue tag this year. Full details of all the offers can be found here, but here's a summary:

FAN FICTION

@andromedaskies [AO3] can write you a 5-10k FirstPrince fic with fluff, humor hurt/comfort, and light angst tropes!

Artemis [AO3] can write you a 5-10k fic!

@cr1nge-culture [AO3] can write you a <5k poetry and/or drabble collection, especially character studies and particularly interested in genderswap/genderbending, trans or nonbinary interpretations of canon characters, unhappy endings, and ambiguous endings!

@cricketnationrise [AO3] can write you a 5-10k fic, especially June/Nora, June/Nora/Pez, Pez/Liam, or David the Beagle POV!

@emmedoesntdomath [AO3] can write you a 5-10k fic, particularly family and relationship dynamics, F/F ships, unhappy endings, and ambiguous endings!

@inekepp [AO3] can write you a 5-10k FirstPrince fic, particularly tropes and angst with a happy ending!

@itsthemxze [AO3] can write you a <5k WLW fic, particularly F/F ships, poly ships, canonically trans or nonbinary characters, trans or nonbinary interpretations of canon characters, unhappy endings, and ambiguous endings!

@junebugclaremontdiaz [AO3] can write you a 5-10k FirstPrince, Junora, or Junopez fic, particularly pining and confessions, hurt/comfort, canon divergence, any number of AUs,disability-themed fics, trans or nonbinary interpretations of canon characters, and racial or cultural experiences of nonwhite characters!

@kiwiana-writes [AO3] can write you a 10-20k fic, particularly one involving kink and the psychology of kink, Queer Feelings™️, Oxford Slut Phase celebrations, college AUs, anything super tropey, epistolary, fairytale/fae, modern magic, rare ships as the focus or alongside FirstPrince, or trans or nonbinary interpretations of canon characters!

@kiwiana-writes [AO3] can also write you a 5-10k fic with the same parameters as the above longer fic!

@maudezbornak [AO3] can write you a FirstPrince fic (length dependent on bid)!

MayQueen517CactusDragon517 [AO3] can write you a <5k fic, particularly F/F ships, poly ships, genderswap/genderbending, canonically trans or nonbinary characters, trans or nonbinary interpretations of canon characters, aro/ace characters!

@orchidscript [AO3] can write you a 5-10k FirstPrince fic, particularly historical AUs, layers of friendships and family dynamics around a romantic relationship, world-building (to some degree), exploring how relationships grow/change/adapt, and a little (or big) dash of smut to round it all out!

@pirates-against-heterosexuality [AO3] can write you a 10-20k FirstPrince fic, particularly unhappy endings and ambiguous endings!

@songliili [AO3] can write you a 10-20k fic with a happy ending and a particular love for the murder husbands trope!

@sparklepocalypse [AO3] can write you a 5-10k FirstPrince fic, particularly movie-verse smut and AUs!

Steph [AO3] can write you a 5-10k fic, particularly one involving angst, hurt/comfort, complicated family dynamics; they're especially interested in racial or cultural experiences of nonwhite characters and ambiguous endings!

FAN ART

@captaindamianos can create you a book cover or drawing/painting/etc in either traditional or digital art, particularly one with historical fashion or modern AUs!

@seanchaidh7 can create you a drawing/painting/etc, particularly F/F ships, canonically trans or nonbinary characters, trans or nonbinary interpretations of canon characters! (There are TWO auctions on offer here with essentially the same guidelines so twice the chance of getting something amazing!)

PODFIC

@aliteralgarbageheap [AO3] can record you a podfic (length depending on bid up to 5k), especially soulmates, misunderstandings, identity porn, and sexuality and gender exploration!

@kiwiana-writes [AO3] can record you a 10-20k (with some flexibility at the upper end) podfic in an Aotearoa/New Zealand accent, particularly something kinky, tropey, full of queer feelings, or all of the above!

@sweatersinthesummer [AO3] can record you a 10-20k podfic, particularly humour or angst!

@thirdeye1234 [AO3] can record you a 10-25k FirstPrince podfic, get-together or established relationship!

FAN LABOUR

@emmalostinwonderland [AO3] can provide a beta read, sensitivity read (autism, non-combat PTSD, and religious trauma), or specialist expertise (cults/deprogramming, American evangelical Christian practices/deconstruction, missionary work, 9-1-1/emergency services, policework, autism in adults, and autigender/autistic gender masking) for fics over 50k!

@england-would-fall [AO3] can provide a beta read (length dependent on bid), anything from cheer-reading to nit-picky copyedits, assistance with fact checking and research, internal consistency with regard to characters, setting, and plot!

@here-queer-jointpain-severe can provide a beta read, sensitivity read (South Asian culture, LGBTQIA people and culture), or specialist expertise (football, baseball, hockey, basketball, gymnastics, Texas politics, American politics, Christianity in America), particularly for Oscar/Raf or any combo of June/Nora/Pez!

@sweatersinthesummer [binding tag] can typset any fic up to 400k words!

Mark your calendars: Bidding opens Tuesday, March 5th at 8am EST and closes Saturday, March 9th at 8pm EST!

Check out @fandomtrumpshate for more details about how it all works, and to check out other fandoms—it's been a record-breaking year for signups! And don't forget to read through the above offers in full before bidding to identify any wills and will nots :)

(And if I've missed a tumblr tag, let me know so I can update the post—I checked AO3 profiles/fic end notes for anyone who didn't have their tumblr in their offering post! A couple of you wouldn't let me tag properly, sorry 😢)

[ayashitetsuko]

An open letter to David Jenkins

Some fans believe that we should not vent our anger and frustration to show creators. I don’t believe that. The thing about being a professional is that receiving criticism is part of your job—especially if you have done a terrible job.

OFMD went from groundbreaking to disappointing overnight.

There was a momentum to create a queer media that is smart, fun, sexy, and most importantly, respectful. In the way they are writing these queer characters. Especially older and disabled queer characters, a reflection of a generation of marginalised communities that have gone through so much. To give audience a glimpse of hope in their escapism.

But sir, you choose to Remus Lupin him instead.

This is not just about killing off a character. Hell, I might be willing to accept it. After all, I have read and even written fics with MCD in it—involving my favourite character.

But I want you to know that this is a special case. It is not just another popular character being killed off to drive plots.

I have issue with how you kill off a queer character that represents many marginalised communities in his arc.

Izzy is an abuse survivor who becomes disabled as a result of it. Izzy is a queer elder. Izzy is suicidal but manages to overcome it with the healing power of love and community.

Having him killed off just like that is a huge slap for fans who have gone through what he has gone through. Turns out, even in fiction, in our escapism, there is no joy. Only despair.

Also. Father figure? Where does that come from? Ed has never been shown to have any level of respect for Izzy. So let me ask you again. Where does “father figure” come from?

You have an opportunity to make a difference with OFMD; to be remembered in history for the right reasons. Yet somehow you choose not too. You choose to turn this into cheap, sensationalist entertainment where death and torture are thrown around for shock value.

It is like you have no idea how much power you have by being a professional storyteller.

Let me break it down to you. For you as a writer, perhaps killing off Izzy is nothing but an artistic choice. A plot point to figure out. But for audiences in marginalised groups, stories are mirrors. They see themselves in stories. That is how stories give them hope. This is why OFMD has never been “just a pirate story”. Perhaps this is hard to understand if you have never been part of an underrepresented community in the mainstream media, but this is how many are feeling about your work now. Your legacy.

OFMD has truly become an overnight failure. I don’t know how this happened. I would like to blame budget cuts, but your Vanity Fair interview makes me realise this is all deliberate choice.

So, what is next for us Canyonites?

If anything, this convinced me that queer and disabled people should write. And continue to write.

We can no longer trust major media to speak for us. We definitely can never trust David Jenkins again. Any form of progressiveness that he showed earlier was just coincidence, apparently. Even worse, it was fake.

As my friend Sam beautifully puts it, Izzy belongs to us now. We reclaim that character and give him all the happy endings he deserves in our fic, our art. We transform the works. We write about queer, disabled, suicidal characters the way the deserve to be written. If being a published writer is the path you choose, make sure you make wiser decisions than David Jenkins.

Thank you, sir. It was good while it lasts.

But this is a terrible job that you’re doing.

[ladyluscinia]

My hottest take from trying to delve into David Jenkins's interviews and piece together where he's going with this is that - for all he and everyone else are consistent about describing this show as a romance and a romcom (and The Muppets) - I don't think he finds the romance compelling??? At least, not the healthy endgame version.

Like, the one interview where he dropped that he was planning an unrequited romance in all those pitches of his until they shot the bathtub scene in 1x06...? Wild twist, but also it kind of makes sense.

Look at the comparisons he makes. Titanic (where Jack dies). Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (where both leads die). Shows like Insecure and Grey's Anatomy, where relationships get messy breakups constantly. He's excited about fanvids set to Olivia Rodrigo's "Favorite Crime". Writes an episode based on Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, a 1966 film of a play that attacks the concept of happy marriages. He mentions A Star Is Born repeatedly in reference to S2, a movie where the disaster marriage ends in suicide and heartbreak.

And even broad spectrum - he repeatedly explains that he's not compelled by pirate stories. Accuses the genre of being "creaky" and "hard to budge", and then claims to want to subvert it in one interview and shrugs about how "it's a pirate story" as reasoning in others. But the part he seems interested in...? Well it's the oncoming end of the Golden Age aspect, and also maybe the short and violent life of organized crime. He's drawing comparisons to mob movies and Westerns - two things I think we can say trend toward the bittersweet to tragic scale with endings. His examples certainly do.

I'm no longer surprised he was really compelled by the Edward and Izzy toxic divorce in S1 and the idea of doing an arc about "Can Izzy find himself outside of this toxic relationship?" only to answer "No." It seems right in his wheelhouse, tbh. Definitely enough that if he felt like Izzy ought to die due to vibes, I doubt he was looking too hard for an alternative.

For all his talk about "Can BlackBonnet put the work into this relationship?" I'm really getting the impression he thinks the more compelling answer is also "No." He likes the idea of a happy ending maybe, but he doesn't really seem into that as a story.

Now, he does seem to have gotten a crash course in "Maybe don't bury your gays?" and he's not lying about wanting to avoid the specific kinds of coming out and queer trauma stories - those are different kinds of tragedies - but I am... skeptical, perhaps, that the forced happy ending feeling of S2 will do anything but repeat in S3.

Just because, like, if I was scrolling these takes on a fic author's blog, I'd put majority odds on the main couple hanging in the final chapter, and I bet a happy sunset ending would come kinda out of nowhere...

Not really a recipe for satisfying, you know?