#we do not get to decide that his racism is nbd

[liketaylorswift]

a lottttt of white fans making posts about how it’s nbd and how we should essentially ignore his past actions and words. can you read the room actually

[ladyluscinia]

Idk if it's just a coincidence, but all of the sudden I keep seeing those "Izzy stans are so obsessed with this random white guy that they ignore or flatten every other character (especially poc)" takes all over and it's annoying me so much. So:

First, I'm going to link bromelads most recent attempt to get some actually constructive dialogue going about fandom racism because it has a whole section on this point. Technically two sections if you count the linked drive file as separate.

And then I'm going to ask all my fellow Izzy Hands lovers to add on to this post their favorite deep thoughts / burning questions / fun headcanons / etc. about your favorite non-Izzy characters. I know you all have a bunch of them. Bonus points for other side characters instead of Edward or Stede.

I'll start.

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So I'm fascinated by the glimpses we get of pirate culture / the Queen Anne / the general environment that Edward is coming from and still half enmeshed in because I personally find the narrative push and pull there a lot more interesting than the whole running from one world to another that Stede (and to a lesser extent his crew) has going on. Which naturally leads to me finding Fang and Ivan so fucking interesting.

(Mandatory moment of sadness that Ivan won't be in season 2, because I was really hoping to see where his story was going 😭)

Not sure if I can really hypothesize many "hidden" depths to Fang because the show openly hit a pretty wide range. He cries over his dog and nude models for Lucius, but also skins a man with a snail fork and seems shockingly chill about Edward making an abrupt 180 to "maroon all your new friends to die". He's an obedient henchman in 1x02 and 1x04, but he also takes basically no prompting to go for the jugular on humiliating gossip the moment Edward seems disinclined to enforce Izzy's authority. The man contains multitudes already, minimal sleuthing required.

I am really looking forward to how S2 addresses his loyalty to Edward over the crew. Like at the end of 1x10 Fang and Ivan don't even really look that conflicted??? They were buddy buddy with these guys yesterday - moreso Fang than Ivan - but also seemed fully aware that Blackbeard could decide he was done playing around at any moment and then he did. Whoo boy. I mean, one genre of fic I'm usually not interested in is "Lucius in the walls" fic (I know he's alive, I just don't really care for that approach), but I will make an exception if it really explores Fang specifically hiding him because that's a big thing given he is openly afraid of defying Edward.

Like... Fang is a pretty friendly dude, and I can't imagine someone to fool around with was that impossible to find on Blackbeard's leatherman express. So it's really cool that despite very much not being, like, his true love or whatever, Lucius is apparently offering Fang something novel on the acceptance and connection front but maybe not something that wildly diverges from what he's had before. And I do think it's interesting to rotate how that tension could be playing out in his mind. He's got to be used to the whole flow of making and losing connections - that's just pirate life, nbd - except this time it's supposed to just be whatever, only... it's not? He actually misses Lucius and those other fun guys??? Maybe even enough to stand up to Edward over it?!

And Ivan! Man, Ivan has all kinds of potential stuff going on that I feel like people could talk about. I would probably talk about it more, only with the news he won't be in S2 it always makes me wonder how they are going to get rid of him and what that's going to imply about him (which might be contradictory to what they were intending). Which makes me sad.

Probably the biggest thing is like... I don't think Ivan actually likes Stede or the Revenge crew much? I mean on a personal level. Like, his only real friendship bond appears to be Fang, he's not noticeably trying to make new ones, and he's kinda fed up with Stede's people a few times? I'm thinking of rooting to kill them after 1x02, and scoffing at them during the raid in 1x05. And to me this is a really cool trait. I love it when "good" side characters have independent personalities enough to find the protagonist mildly annoying or something, instead of every single one of them perfectly correlating "good person" and "protagonist's friend". It prevents protagonist POV from becoming tunnel vision and accidentally making them seem like the center of the universe. (This is part of why the spn fandom loves Kevin.)

Not liking Stede isn't a character flaw, you know? And if you analyze Ivan's POV with just kinda not being impressed with these guys as an option, that leads to some really interesting places. Because in 1x06 he's actively encouraging Edward to just kill Stede like he said he would, not just following Izzy's lead, and then in 1x07 and 1x08 Ivan and Fang disappear. They don't show up again until Izzy does, but they also aren't seen leaving with Izzy or showing up in scenes like Jackie's bar like you would expect if they were just his loyal henchmen or whatever. So what are they doing in that gap???

I've said before that the adventures of Fang and Ivan is a completely wild story squeezed into the background and gaps of this show with two fascinatingly insane guys at the center of it, and I still think that's true. Fang goes right into becoming besties with the crew while still definitely thinking Edward is going to have him murder all of them in a few weeks. Ivan watches Izzy get banished, sleeps on it, and then fucking bounces with his buddy to go meet up with him... And then they praise Edward's punch and mutiny Izzy later! It's fun to think about!

...but I suppose my interest in Fang and Ivan does connect back up with my Izzyposting fairly often (since I like analyzing how characters interact and relate, and these two interact with Izzy), so how about another character?

Oluwande.

Now obviously the well trodden path here is TealOranges thoughts and feels. Plenty of drama, development, struggles, etc. But actually what I most want to know about Oluwande is how he and Spanish Jackie know each other???

Like what was up with that??? 👀👀👀

Their interaction gives off sorta inner circle vibes to me. Jackie clearly suspects / knows he betrayed her, but she calls him over to chat like old friends and Oluwande is expected to play along to act normal. So like... Was that normal? Did he regularly sit at Jackie's table and chat about life with her? Jackie does not have the time of day for her own husbands' problems most of the time - she seems to reprimand Geraldo for expecting more attention than the others - but immediately asking after Oluwande's life doesn't ping "oh she's definitely onto us" for him???

I don't think he's a husband (feels like it would have been addressed) and them being related seems unlikely. He's got a good head on his shoulders but he's clearly not some notorious pirate or outlaw of great skill. Like Oluwande is just some guy! But also some guy that Jackie was personally invested in!

And then bringing Jim into this... So Oluwande is just some guy in Jackie's inner circle, finds out the new barmaid is out to kill Jackie's favorite husband, and just helps them out??? My dude??? He doesn't even get whirlwind romance privileges. He did all that for a mysterious yet compelling stranger and no shit is this man crazy enough for the Revenge.

My headcanon re: the murder is that Alfeo was universally loathed and literally only Jackie and his gang liked him. So when people (and let's be honest Jim is not the most subtle of assassins so probably more than just Oluwande) realized someone was legit after him, they pretty much shrugged and sent them good thoughts. Also I think Oluwande and Jim had a solid plan to get away with killing Alfeo that went completely sideways, which is how they ended up hiding on a pirate ship pretending they knew how to sail. Oluwande didn't actually intend to completely ruin his status with Jackie and he does lowkey regret it in some ways, so he's gonna be thrilled when Jim tells him all about how they are cool with Jackie now and he can go back to the bar to hang next time they are in Nassau.

Anyway that's another big thing I want from S2 Jackie is Oluwande backstory, because that would be such a treat.

[wern]

can’t do a read more cause im on my phone but uhhh

tw discussion of family, sexual abuse, racism/fetishization, ummm i think that’s mostly it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

i dont have the energy to go into a long rant ((EDIT: well..... this clearly turned out longer than expected)) cause i had three different heart-to-hearts tonight but. turns out my step dad (the one who sexually abused me? yes the very same one) has watched every single lecture that jordan peterson, the far right anti-sjw psychology professor at university of toronto, has posted online. he wanted to talk to me about them, and asked what it was like to be in one of his lectures. i want to fucking die

the other heart to heart was with my step-sisters (my biological dad’s step-kids) about all the narcissistic and offensive shit my biological dad does. i told them that he doesnt talk about himself nonstop because he actually loves himself, but because he hates himself. in fact he doesnt love anybody. which is unfortunate for both me and their mother. it’s also why he verbally and emotionally abused me, and cheated on all his other girlfriends. me and my stepsisters also talked about how their mom is way more meek when he’s around and i was like yeah well i bet he encourages it because it fits his asian house wife fantasy… like you should see the fucked up porn in his browsing history… this convo lasted about 4 hours and we were all just sitting on the kitchen floor

and finally i had a 2 hour conversation in the car with my mom where we cried bc she said she regretted getting together with my stepdad cause she didnt realize he would be bad for me. she did it originally bc she wanted me to have a bigger family than just her after she divorced my dad, in case she died and i would be alone. ive decided to try to reconcile with my stepdad in the spirit of this. i just have to like. figure out how to ignore that he thinks sjws are a plague on humanity. and that he talks about nothing else. and that his daughter is starting to say homophobic shit. i love my little sister but like. anyway

tomorrow i plan to have lunch with my dad and subtly bring up the issues raised by my stepsisters. they’re worried about their mom and they want him to stop imitating asian accents. i have literally told him over two dozen times to stop, in every way imaginable, but he continues. he thinks im being a sensitive sjw because he doesn’t believe me when i say that they’ve asked me to keep telling him. i dont know how else i can get it across to him???? he actually thinks he’s so progressive though, and i think that’s the problem. also my sisters’ boyfriends hate him but there isn’t much i can do about that now. and he’s always embarrassing himself at the filipino community gatherings because he like… thinks he’s one of them? hes oblivious, and is constantly an intruder.

also my step sisters literally clean up after his every mess like he’s an infant. they pick up his garbage as soon as he gets up and he gets angry at them for cleaning his shit off the table. he called home yesterday and made them print off hundreds of little stickers for his election while he was away at work cause he printed off the wrong ones. like these girls aren’t your servants!! and then he asked to borrow their mom’s car, and when they asked if he would drive them to work on his way to his campaign, he complained to me in the angriest, pissiest of voices that everyone was making demands on him. like………. i want him to just fucking……….

anyway this all sounds like a bad night but ive gotten even closer with my sisters (we decided even if our parents break up we’re gonna stay friends) and sorted some stuff out with my mom, who is the most important person in the world to me. i mean im extra pissed tonight that she got together with my step dad after he sexually abused me but what can you do.

this probably sounds really robotic and weird i just? lots of stuff has happened tonight and i needed to get it out.

likes are always really appreciated if you read the whole thing!! ❤❤ i hope u have a good day and talk to people u love

oh ps. i also found out that the like twelve times i had a conversation with my dad this year while i was away at school, was actually my step sister and stepmom suggesting he contact me. he loves bragging about the fact that i go to university of toronto but he doesn’t want to talk to me. nbd in the grand scheme of things bc i don’t care if he calls me cause the only thing he talks about is himself but yeah. and also he lied to them that my mom cheated on him when actually he cheated on her (why would your new gf’s kids need to know this in the first place??). and he told them the reason i admire and still talk to his ex-gf was that she was so successful and i didnt have a successful female role model to look up to (apparently my mom doesnt count, and i can’t admire my other mother figures for their own fucking merits).

my dad also said my mom “probably cries just to hear the kind of world i get to live in… if she understands at all.” like uh considering she’s the parent i talk to daily? i think she gets it? and i was like “why would she cry?” and he was like “you’re living the life she wishes she could lead”…… like actually no im living the life YOU wish you could lead. she always just wanted a big happy family and you fucking ruined that for her haha. but NICE PROJECTING THERE BUDDY. not to mention the condescension. anyway that last bit happened like a month ago but im still mad lol