#to be clear i love stede im just coming at this from izzy's perspective and he... does not rip

[orionsangel86]

Welp. Okay I watched the last episode of ofmd.

To sum up my thoughts on this season I will say that whilst I enjoyed it and felt the love and passion and respect for its queer fanbase throughout, it didnt hit me the same way the first season did. It felt like maybe a little bit of that season 1 magic was missing and for that I very much blame Max's cutting off 2 episodes and slashing the budget. They had a lot of story they wanted to tell that would have worked so much better in 10 episodes.

I consider the last 3 episodes of season 1 some of the best TV I have seen in my life. From the use of The Chain in ep 8, through the dramatic highs and lows of eps 9 and 10 it was edge-of-your-seat drama and I was in awe at the creators that put it together. But one of the reasons why those 3 eps were so good is because the drama and the pivotal moments were given time to breath.

If those 3 eps were given the same lack of time and budget as season 2, no doubt they all would have been crammed into 1 episode and it would not have had the same impact.

If anything that last episode should have played out across two, with Izzy's death being the half way point and cliffhanger ending leading to a final battle and somewhat happy resolution.

I'm not mad at Izzy's death. If anyone was gonna die, it was gonna be him. His status as Blackbeards enabler and sometimes mentor is over. For Ed to truly be free, I think Izzy always had to go. From a storytelling perspective it makes perfect sense, even though I am sure a lot of fans are absolutely heartbroken about it.

Another casualty of the reduced screentime meant certain original cast members weren't given anywhere near the amount of screentime they should have had. I was expecting a lot more focus on Jim as they were basically the third lead of s1 due to them getting the same backstory as Ed and Stede. All of the crew appear to have had drastically reduced parts which does feel like a big loss to me.

Its funny actually, OFMD S2 suffered from the opposite problem to GOS2. OFMD had too much story to tell in a limited timeframe, GOS2 had very little story to tell outside of the flashbacks and probably too much time given to it. Both shows season 2s suffered from tremendously bad pacing issues.

Also, the one thing the final episode made so obvious to me, is the uncertainty of getting a s3 renewal. It is so clear in the way they tried to wrap things up in a happy bow as best they could, so that if they do get cancelled it leaves fans at least somewhat satisfied. I hate this though. I hate that studios are so fickle and ruthless that creators have to gamble with good quality writing and avoid cliffhangers because of asshole executives who dont actually care about the stories.

Because of the fast pacing, and the fear of cancellation, it felt more like a rush happy ending instead of a part way point in a bigger story, with important character development still to come. Perhaps I need more time to absorb the story in a full rewatch, but im not exactly itching for more at this point, whilst also not really being satisfied with what I got either. I wish we had left Ed and Stede in at least some minor peril, like have them captured and threatened with hanging but at least in a good place romantically, so that we can start speculating about what kind of escape plan they will come up with in season 3. Leaving them in a dilapidated old inn somewhere just felt wrong to me. Instead of ending the season with the stakes sky high (like season 1) it feels like they left season 2 with zero stakes at all, instead of at least a happy medium. At this point we should be turning to fanfiction and wondering what happens next, but instead I'm left thinking "okay then. That was good. What can I watch next?" I don't need to bury myself in fanfic and fanart to feed the hyperfixation this time around, and that is where I feel the most loss.

I'm sure others will have hugely different reactions to me though. Perhaps my expectations were too high? Perhaps my GO obsession just isn't leaving room for OFMD this time? But then again, I think if GOS2 hadn't ended the way it did, I wouldn't still be so obsessed with that either.

Sigh. I dunno. It was a good fun show and will no doubt still be hugely popular with devoted fans, but for me I just can't say it cast the same spell over me as it did last year.

[dirtyscholar]

i am having a normal time about this, please consider hungover in jonestown by amigo the devil as an izzy song. i'm dying and in flames and so normal.

first off anon amigo the devil is probably my fave artist of all time??? so this is immediately so sexy

secondly, can't believe I didn't think of this as a song for them and now that I'm listening to it you're absolutely right and I'm also so normal about this

You are the hammer, I am the nail I'm building a house in the fire on the hill There is a string that leads me to hope I tie the noose, but you are the rope

I'd like to note that if we're taking this song from Izzy's perspective, every single one of these aspects is tied to Izzy doing grueling work. He's the nail, the builder, the hangman, while Blackbeard is the hammer, the fire, the rope. There's something to be said about how Blackbeard is a force of nature-- as much as it's a persona of protection for Ed he's still naturally very good at it. While, on the other hand, Izzy is a blunt fucking instrument. He can be the a tool in Blackbeard's brilliance, or the channel for his rage, he can hit, burn, and hang under Blackbeard's orders, or he can be hit, be burned, be hung--

but he is never anything but something to be stood upon, a stepping stone for greater men.

(There's also the first hint of suicidal ideation in this-- I noted in a post earlier that despite Izzy expressing that he doesn't want to to die in the show, it's clear he doesn't mind the dying, only the how of it. If he goes out in a blaze of glory doing Blackbeard's will, that's hallowed and holy and right.)

It was a lie that got me in bed I am the dog, you are the shed I can't find the perk in the percocet When you're not around

The lie that got Izzy in bed with Blackbeard was Blackbeard himself. As others have pointed out, Blackbeard isn't completely disconnected from Ed-- Ed clearly has plenty of darkness in him and he does fully enjoy the art of fuckery and the cleverness it requires, he even enjoys the performance sometimes-- but it's not all he is, and the Blackbeard persona doesn't allow the softness, healthy love, and the more gentle intelligence that Ed is clearly capable of. It seems that Izzy has mostly known the persona of Blackbeard, and the Ed breaking more regularly through the cracks is a more recent development. He calls Ed a shell of a man but, NEWSFLASH ASSHOLE Blackbeard was the shell this whole time!

And like, carrying off the dog metaphor, it makes sense that Izzy, loyal fucking mutt that he is, is barking and biting and generally carrying on about the new state of things because imagine you are a dog, right, and your master has taught you: this is the way of things, and this is how you obey, and this is how we survive and thrive-- and then-- completely alters course. The commands are senseless, the orders removed from the reality you know, "he's done something to my boss' brain" is the only fucking explanation because you've been trained for DECADES to uphold a certain status quo, and you're too busy thinking of you and Blackbeard as inseparable soulmates with the same morals and feelings to recognize that that's no longer true and maybe wasn't ever so. (Am I saying Izzy and Ed trauma bonded and that Izzy is trying to recreate that trauma/danger/fear so that he can feel the strength of that connection again?? Probably yes.)

This is the fight that taught me to feel

Only note on this is, going back to the status quo (of toxic masculinity), Izzy appears to have learned love and affection from one place and that's in the intricate rituals men perform violently and viciously to give each other intimacy without compromising their masculinity. Abuse = love, sex/erotic violence as a form of self harm, loyalty and devotion strung with derision and reproach because you should only love the power of a man not the man himself.

If I am the drunk, you are the wheel So I drink till the night becomes another day

(Complete bunny trail here but, do we ever see Izzy pick up a drink of rum or alcohol? I know he drinks from a tin cup at some point but I'm unsure if it's spirits. It begs the question, does he drink at all, and if that isn't one of his normal vices, is that something he would fall into if he lost Blackbeard for good? He clearly has an addictive personality, so would one addiction replace the other? And Ed clearly self medicates with alcohol while unhappy, so does that mean that Izzy is more content, generally, or that his self medication is pain, and possibly self harm? So many questions.)

No one ever chooses to be a flawed design But this life is a joke, and death is the punchline

Something about these two lines are so inherently Izzy, like he clearly doesn't value himself on his own despite his arrogance and commanding attitude, and I imagine he certainly sees himself as flawed next to Blackbeard, and maybe even sees himself (deep deeeeep deeeeeep down) as flawed because nobody fucking likes his mangy ass (affectionate). And there's a certain resignation to that, like: no one needs to like me, I'm here to serve, to obey, and to die in a blaze of glory. Nothing more, nothing less. Also, life is a joke and death is the punchline? *Izzy, in the distance* WELL IT FUCKING IS NOW THANKS TO STEDE FUCKING BONNET.

You are the queen and I am the rook You are the fire and I burn like a book I don't know how this one ends till I die And the honest part of 'reliable' is the lie The greater the power, the more the abuse You are the hand, I worship the bruise If romance is dead, I guess I'm a necrophiliac

Hoo okay hooo *spongebob leaning.jpeg* one line at a time

Something something about the inherent queerness of viewing Blackbeard as a Queen instead of a King, the acknowledgement of the gentleness inside him that's usually associated with femininity, and the fact that this femininity, when inverted, makes him more cruel in a distinctively clever and apathetic way than any pure masculine rage could ever be. Like Izzy may love Blackbeard, but the viciousness he adores in the persona derives from a very wounded Ed. (He has GOT to realize at some point that without the foundation of Ed there is no fucking Blackbeard and I am READY for it to hit him like a ton of fucking bricks to the FACE.)

The agony??? Of not knowing where you stand with someone until you reach the grave? Like, "I don't know how this one ends till I die", either implies that 1. You went down fighting for this person and only on your deathbed do you tell them how you feel and finally receive a response, because death is the ONLY excuse you can THINK OF that allows confessions of love, or 2. You literally don't know how the other person felt until you're dead and are gifted that knowledge as a spirit. Either way, FUCKED.

And we KNOW that the honest part of reliable is the lie because we've SEEN Izzy betray Blackbeard in BLACKBEARD'S NAME multiple times, because Izzy is wiling to twist and bend his loyalty in order to allow "protection" of Ed and the status quo in the way he thinks is best. (Which brings up a question I haven't considered till right now, could Izzy kill Ed to "preserve" the legacy of Blackbeard?? I actually think he fucking could. How terrifying is that?)

On the note of power and abuse-- as fucked as Izzy is, I don't think it should be overlooked that Ed uses Izzy as well, and doesn't seem to give much of a shit about him in the majority of their interactions. He's BORED and he is bored of Izzy too (and gods how that must burn a man who craves praise and approval the way Izzy does.) Izzy is clearly overjoyed when Blackbeard chokes him and cuts off his toe, but he's also grieving because it's not about him. Any attention is good attention to him, even if it's a fucking bruise or a toe in his MOUTH, but that attention feels hollowing and agonizing when he knows it's only directed towards him because he's there and he allows it.

(For legal reasons I am not going to talk about the necrophiliac line but like... you guys know. I know that you know that I know that we all know that we know. We know.)

Every god needs a sacrifice I am the cross, and you are the Christ

*laughs in religiously traumatized homosexual* Fuck I love religious blasphemy. Interesting tho, that Izzy is the one that is like "This is my body broken for you" and Ed is like "girl new phone who this". Interesting how Ed is like "hey let's try dying" but when given a chance at escape he grabs it with both hands, while Izzy clings to his doomed status quo, because that's all that "men like us" are allowed. Interesting how Ed would have pulled himself free from that inevitable comfortless and pointless demise, while Izzy craves the bloody end he knows is coming with the same ferocity of a beaten down dog. Interesting how Izzy's just waiting for the opportunity to give that life away, one final act of devotion before he can lay his body down, and it has to be for the one man that's ever meant anything to him. just... INTERESTING.

Something about the way you beat me down And I'll never learn You're the point of no return The pain in my chest, the stain on your dress The glass in my eye But this life is a joke, and death is the punchline

Cuz it's you it's you it's all for you, everything I do-- mixing song metaphors now but Jesus Christ. It's obvious he brings so much agony down on his own head, but to give everything you are and everything you have to someone, to mold you identity and purpose around a captaincy you have built TOGETHER, and then have it not be enough? Not only that but to be rejected for the favor of a man who did not DO THE WORK, stumbled into it because he's rich and foolish, who has none of the history or the knowledge of the man you love and yet seems to connect with him in a way you never could? (You know what, I've talked myself into it my opinion is that Izzy was very calm and rational about all this because I would have been WORSE I would have been so much worse.)

Past the point of no return, no going back now-- except this passion play Izzy has been writing in his head might never have begun at all, because now he sees how much Ed cares for Stede, and what Ed looks like when he's in love (though he's absolutely not ready to admit that's what he's seen yet.) And it's like, give me pain, disable me, this is my body broken for you, just don't leave, because I don't know how this one ends until I die and I need you to be here for that end or else LIFE IS A JOKE AND MY DEATH IS THE PUNCHLINE. Stede fucking Bonnet turned the entire goddam universe into his personal rom-com playground and if he wins Izzy's life is a joke, and his death means nothing, because Ed won't even give a shit.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

i'm not familiar with your fics but from what i'm reading here you definitely don't seem like the kind of izzy fan that makes me sad, lol! im mostly talking abt the kind of izzy fan who is 100% convinced that blackhands or steddyhands is going to be endgame (a very small but very baffling minority) and/or the kind of izzy fan that was described in this ask i got (which is the post that the anon here is referencing, lol) aka izzy fans who become very defensive when people are "mean" to izzy (even tho, like... the show itself is mean to izzy)

i do think a lot of what im whining about here is actually just. a very common phenomenon that happens to basically every fan who stays active in a fandom when said fandom goes ages without new content. the more time spent reading or writing fanfiction and coming up with headcanons and talking with other fans, the less we remember about actual canon. fanon starts to take over and we forget how the show/movie/book/video game/whatever is actually written.

and this has actually happened to me with ofmd a few times—i make a point to rewatch the show every now and then to try and keep things in perspective, and on some of my rewatches i've been like "oh wow, fanon's been really warped my perspective on that!" i forgot how minor a role ivan and fang play in the show and how they sort of just... phase out of existence for episodes 7 and 8 (are they still on the Revenge? did they leave with izzy? i have no fucking idea). i forgot how confident stede is (despite how most of the time he really shouldn't be). i forgot how lighthearted a lot of the scenes are. i forgot how heartbreaking other ones are. all little things, mostly! but like i said, i've been regularly rewatching the show to try and keep things fresh.

so the specific kind of izzy fan i'm talking abt here are really just experiencing that to a truly insane extreme where they've forgotten what the actual show is even about (ed and stede's romance, first and foremost. that's the main plot of the entire show). and as someone who fucking loves this show, that makes me very sad. i understand that some people fixate on a character very strongly, and i'm not necessarily against people who shape their entire fandom experience around one character. but i do think fixating on the show's antagonist makes it a little easier to lose sight of canon on accident (which tbh i think can be a valid way to enjoy fandom!! but at least be aware of it. and also personally i prefer to do that when canon is actually bad, which ofmd is not)

to be clear, i fully understand that most people can't choose which character they fixate on. and while i am absolutely critical of when white side characters become disproportionately favored in fan content, i also recognize that fandom is pastime, not a job, and nobody can force other people to make content that they (or their brains) don't want to make.

(i, for one, would love to make any fanfic content. any at all. please, brain, please let me write fanfic)

so i actually love your approach here! for whatever reason, your brain right now will only let you write izzy-centric content. there are probably a lot of other fans in the same boat, and there probably are a million reasons why that's happened—maybe they want to "fix" izzy to make him fit in like you're suggesting, maybe they have a preference for antagonists, maybe they just think con o'neill is hot, maybe izzy reminds them of someone important to them, maybe they've all been taught by society to care more about white male characters than any other type of character (and as uncomfortable as this one is to consider, we absolutely cannot dismiss it). but even though your brain (and most likely the brains of a lot of izzy fans as well) will only let you write izzy doesn't mean you can't enjoy what other fans have done with all the other characters in the show!

reading and sharing fanfic that isn't izzy-centric, looking for art and gifs of other characters, reblogging other people's headcanons abt the other characters—these are all great ways to celebrate the other parts of this fantastic show even when your brain will only let you create for one character. so i'm going to follow your lead and recommend a few fics that i've really enjoyed that are about less popular characters or explore popular characters in ways most fanfiction doesnt:

all at sea by @peaktotheocean (T, 14k, Complete): post-season 1 jim-centric fic about what happens on the Revenge after the season finale (what happens is ed takes jim under his wing). since u said ur an izzy fan i feel like i should warn u that the fic is not very nice to him. as in he just sort of... dies. and nobody cares. i rlly hope that doesn't put you off this fic tho bc it's very very good!

Transformative Work by @mia-ugly, @pinehutch (E, 41k, Complete): another post-season 1 fic about what happens on the Revenge, but this one is frenchie-centric! ed asks frenchie to write a better ending for him and stede. this turns into frenchie and the rest of the crew writing all sorts of incredibly hilarious fanfiction (for example: a PWP from lucius) abt ed and stede. also frenchie/olu/jim the ot3 i never knew i needed. funny and sweet and heartbreaking and hilarious. (this one does kinda retcon what little we know of frenchie's backstory which is kinda a bummer imo, but it is still very well done)

Now I Will Believe That There Are Unicorns by @meanmisscharles (M, 21k, WIP): pregnant trans!ed: the fanfic! very very cute and sweet. lots of ed bonding with the crew which is *chefs kiss* so fucking healing. also i would die for this baby

What Kind of Pirate Has a Friend? by @thetardigrape (E, 31k, complete): very good fic about ed's hornigold era and the start of blackbeard. no idea if this will be up your alley but one of the biggest reasons i really like this one is bc izzy is actually not in it at all. i mean, i totally understand why everyone headcanons ed, jack, and izzy as being young boys on hornigold's ship together, but the way izzy talks about "i was honored to work for blackbeard" in e4 makes me feel like izzy only met ed once he had already established himself as blackbeard. so personally i love this fic for being an excellent hornigold backstory that fits with my headcanon, lol

thank for that amazing analysis of Izzy apologists. I'm so very tired. I adore some friends I've made in this fandom, but some of them are so deeply drunk on the Jizzy I can not *stand* talking about the show with them or Izzy anymore. It's either "Izzy is just a little guy he can't hurt anyone!" or "Izzy is gay he can't be femmephobic!" I'm so tired! He's the antagonist how is that controversial!? They see themselves as such victims too, the pointing of Izzy flaws is seen as an attack. Sigh.

im so very tired too, anon.

i really dont get it. i've been in fandoms where the fanon content all comes from a deep misunderstanding of what the original text is supposed to be. but like, it was marvel. or voltron. or that transphobic wizard school series. something where fans were actually coming up with a better version of the source material

i came into this fandom not because i wanted content that fixed what i disliked abt the source material, but because i wanted more of the source material, and there was only so many times i could rewatch the ten episodes that we have. this show is fucking phenomenal and has brought me so much joy, and talking abt this show and chewing on good analyses of the show has been so much fucking fun.

it's just disheartening, i guess, that so many people fell down this gradual pipeline of liking the weird little gremlin antagonist to having their entire fandom experience revolve around a version of izzy that reflects fanon more than canon. it makes me fucking sad that there are people who genuinely believe he's the show's secret protagonist and that season one is full of undeniable references to his inevitable redemption arc but also he doesn't need to change anything to be redeemed because he's the skyler white of ofmd (???) and he's a victim of an abusive relationship but also he doesn't know he's in love with his captain who is so mean and unfair to him and doesn't even notice how izzy dedicates his whole life to him and–

like. these people don't even like the show anymore. they just like izzy. rather, they like the version of him they've made up in their heads. it makes me so fucking sad, bro.

we got a gay romcom, y'all. we got a show that revolves entirely around the romantic relationship between two middle-aged men. we got a diverse cast. we got polyamory. we got nonbinary rep. we got fat characters whose fatness was never made into a joke. we got a character with a lisp whose lisp was never commented on. we got so fucking much from this show.

do you remember how it felt to watch this show for the first time? do you remember that joy?

i just dont understand why so many people in the ofmd fandom don't like ofmd anymore