This started as a blog to get to know tumblr but ended up becoming a blog about my personal opinions. Hate is everywhere, but that doesn't mean it should be accepted. There is no excuse to be hateful.
Shalom and happy Thanksgiving, please consider donating to the mashpee wampanoag tribe in Massachusetts, a tribe that was one of the first to be pushed out of their lands and are often in the fake folklore of the history of Thanksgiving. Currently Massachusetts does not recognize the mashpee wampanoag as a tribal nation and has been trying to steal even more of their land and destroying their culture
please do consider supporting the Mashpee Wampanoag, but just to be clear, the Mashpee Wampanoag are federally recognized (which would outweigh state recognition anyway), and the federal government dropped its attempt to disestablish the tribe’s reservation — which I assume is what this post (from 2020) is about — in early 2021.
to be clear, I don’t want to give either Massachusetts or the federal government a pass here: the Mashpee Wampanoag were only recognized in 2007, after more than 30 years of work, and their reservation was only established in 2015. the fact that the the threat of disestablishment had been looming over them since 2016 or so and was only avoided because the Biden administration decided in late February to drop its appeal of a court order to stop the disestablishment process, emphasizes how vulnerable Indigenous rights are in general and in particular how vulnerable the Mashpee Wampanoag are.
if you’re interested in supporting the Wampanoag, aside from donating directly to the tribe, I would also encourage you to look at the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project, which runs language classes, including a school immersion program for children. their work is really amazing and well worth supporting.
Had some thoughts about Ed and his foreshadowed death today, given the new context we have with David’s tweet and the season 2 flag. I yelled about all this in discord immediately, and I’m basically copy/pasting here bc I’m lazy lol… but someone please hold me because season 2 is indeed going to wreck our ship…
I had my ed x stede playlist on and High On A Rocky Ledge came on, and I was musing about how it’s such an appropriate song for Stede, being about a man whose partner is dead so he ends his life to be with her forever. It’s perfectly symbolic of how Stede faked his death so he could go back to sea and find Ed and be with him…
then I remembered Ed’s song. The one in the outro for episode 3, where he shows up at the end to save Stede from the Spaniards. I remember being slightly obsessed with the possible meta meanings behind each of these songs and Stede’s is pretty obvious, so I decided to google Ed’s song, Messa da Requiem: 2 Dies Irae, because it sounded so dramatic and foreboding and it felt weird having it close out the first episode where he and Stede have their meet cute.
According to wikipedia, it’s “a musical setting of the Catholic funeral mass”… so weird meet cute music for sure. But i didn’t have full context to understand what it meant for Ed or Stede. By the end of the first season I just thought it would be referencing Ed eventually faking his death like Stede did. But now we have more context, and based on the original purpose for this song’s composition, I’m losing my mind at the implications
wikipedia says this Requiem was composed by Giuseppe Verdi in honor of Alessandro Manzoni after his death (pasting in a screenshot of the relevant bit of the article below)
so it’s basically a song to honor somebody who was greatly admired and who died
anyway, so we know Blackbeard is going to have to die. we know Ed is in a very dark place and does not yet know that Stede faked his death and is coming back for him. I think this Requiem might be foreshadowing 1) Ed finding out Stede has died, with no context, and believing it and 2) Ed doing something drastic or being in great danger and coming really really close to death (so close that everyone, including Stede, will think he has in fact died)
combining this with the death by mermaids comment Ed makes in episode 4, and David’s tweet with the skeleton mermaids and their hands spelling out Ed, and him saying they’re going to ‘wreck’ our ship… I think the Revenge is going to be destroyed somehow, probably by Ed doing something rash, and suicidal honestly, like taking on Hornigold or the fucking Navy or someone who is much much more powerful than him and his crew. and possibly (likely?) Ed is going to be lost at sea and presumed drowned. Or perhaps dragged into the depths by a mermaid…?
we already knew Ed was tired of life as Blackbeard and passively suicidal in season 1 until Stede showed him there was another possibility for his life, and now he thinks Stede has rejected him, and he’s going to find out not only did Stede reject him, but now Stede is dead and there is no possible way he could ever reconcile with him or have the kind of life he had started to envision with Stede
In conclusion… Ed is going to go to a much much darker, deeper place in season 2 and I’m really really worried he’s going to do some serious damage to himself, The Revenge, and his and Stede’s crew members
On the other hand, this would be Romeo and Juliet level romantic tragedy and I’m so ready for a queer romance on that level
Oh no I just reread this and I’m having more thoughts…
So season 1, Chauncey Badminton and the British Navy come up on the Revenge and Stede is about to fire on them when Ed comes back and says to raise the white flag and surrender. In that moment, Ed made his first decision to put himself in danger to save Stede, because he couldn’t bear to lose him. Implying Ed will surrender if he’s got something to live for and something to lose.
In season two, Ed has nothing to live for and nothing to lose.
He either thinks Stede rejected him, or he’s gonna find out Stede is dead. Either way, he has nobody to love and nobody to love him, and the softer life he got a glimpse of and decided he wanted is off the table… he knows Izzy and the rest of the pirating world won’t accept him or let him live as Ed or be soft at all, and we know how he feels about a life lived as Blackbeard. It’s boring, it’s depressing, it’s hard (but not a challenge)… and he’s tired of it. So, nothing to live for, nothing to lose.
All I’m saying is… it would be immensely painful and angsty, but so narratively satisfying to have Ed run into the Navy (and a third Badminton?) and this time - with no love in his life, nothing to live for, nothing to lose - he won’t raise that white flag. He can’t raise the white flag. He’ll go all in and fire the cannons, because there’s nothing stopping him and everything telling him surrender means death anyway. He’s never actively tried dying before… maybe he should try that, right?
And what better way for the legendary Blackbeard, with his head made of smoke and his flaming eyes, to go down, than to go down in flames.
In things I would love to see is Ed going for a death-or-glory run against the Navy and/or the King’s privateers, with a strong lean towards death because he just doesn’t care anymore.
And in doing so, he ends up pitching himself out of one miserable rut and back into the shadow of another one because the show doesn’t mention things for no reason and if they don’t have him back under Hornigold’s boot since Hornigold turned pirate-hunting privateer, shackled down by another traumatic figure from his past, I will absolutely eat my hat (it’s very nice. It’s red. Chewy)
Stede has dealt with a lot of his own past in S1. S2 is where Ed gets to face his demons and let’s just say that Ed being strung up to die by Hornigold and then a Fuckery comes out of nowhere and Stede is the one to sweep in and save him from his execution? I would yell to the heavens. Blackbeard slumped on the deck, gasping, rope still around his neck, and reprise of the Beach Boys’ Prayer plays and Ed looks up and sees Stede :D :D :D :D
To other Asian-Americans out there, I hope you’re doing ok mentally and staying safe physically in light of recent events. To everyone else as well, please remember a few things as you support Asian-American communities
- This is absolutely no reason to talk over BLM or pitch either communities against each other. We need to be uplifting of one another against white supremacy. Know that the phrase Asian Lives Matter, while with good intentions, does the same harm as All Lives Matter. Promote these phrases instead when possible: StopAsianHate, TheyCantBurnUsAll, AsiansAreHumans, ProtectAsianLives
- Remember that there are regions outside of East Asia. SE Asians often face more racism and are even more heavily underrepresented in media, they deserve full protection and support as well. Blasian (black/asian) people exist too and they should not be overlooked either
- Refrain from insensitive phrases along the lines of “if you like anime/kpop/vocaloid you should be paying attention” because you should not need a reason to care about human lives. Not only do these usually refer exclusively to East Asia media, our worth isn’t based on how much our content entertains you
- While I am referring to an incident in America, be mindful that racism against Asians does not only happen in the US. Anti-Asian racism has ridiculously spiked in Europe as well (within the UK, Italy, Greece, Spain, France, Germany to name a few countries specifically) as a result of the pandemic
These dudes are fucking legit. They don’t just show up one day in court, either, they actually make friends with the kids and let them know they have a support system and that there are people in the world who care about them and will always have their back. And less important, but also cool, is that the few times a couple of them have come into my cafe, they’ve been super friendly and polite and when I told one of the guys that I noticed his Bikers Against Child Abuse patch and wanted him to know how awesome I thought he was because of it, he got kind of shy and blushed and said, “The kids are the awesome ones, we just let them know they’re allowed to be brave.”
The source is long, but so, so good. These men and women are available in 36 states, 24 hours a day to stand guard at home, in court, at school, even if the child has a nightmare. Many of them are survivors of childhood abuse as well, and know what it’s like to feel scared and alone.
In court that day, the judge asked the boy, “Are you afraid?” No, the boy said.
Pipes says the judge seemed surprised, and asked, “Why not?”
The boy glanced at Pipes and the other bikers sitting in the front row, two more standing on each side of the courtroom door, and told the judge, “Because my friends are scarier than he is.”
Bikers Against Child Abuse was founded in 1995 by a Native American child psychologist whose ride name is Chief, when he came across a young boy who had been subjected to extreme abuse and was too afraid to leave his house. He called the boy to reach out to him, but the only thing that seemed to interest the child was Chief’s bike. Soon, some 20 bikers went to the boy’s neighborhood and were able to draw him out of his house for the first time in weeks.
Chief’s thesis was that a child who has been abused by an adult can benefit psychologically from the presence of even more intimidating adults that they know are on their side. “When we tell a child they don’t have to be afraid, they believe us,” Arizona biker Pipes told azcentral.com. “When we tell them we will be there for them, they believe us.” ( Article)
My parents are a part of this organization and they are metal af
They go on runs to protect the child if they feel even the slightest threatened no matter where. If the child needs them to go on vacation with them, they do. Bikers come from across the nation to watch over and take shifts for these kids. And the best part is once you’re adopted into this family as a BACA kid, you’re always one. Even when you’re 40 and the perp gets released from jail, they’ll come meet with you and find your best options for avoiding the person and maintaining the life you’ve built for yourself. Once a BACA child, always a BACA child. In Florida, there’s 100% rate for identifying the perp based on the child’s testimony. Why? Because BACA stands with the child and supports the child so they feel comfortable enough to point out their attacker.
What’s better than a badass biker gang being on your side???
NATIVE AMERICAN CHILD PSYCHOLOGIST WHO IS A BIKER AND NAMED HIMSELF CHIEF HELL YES I’M HERE FOR THAT AND BIKERS BEING BAD ASS TO PROTECT KIDS. HELL YEAH.
Always reblog. Keep doing what you’re doing y'all.
hurtlittleboy
Guys? This post changed my life. I saw this post. Forever ago. And thought it was only in america… and wished desperately that they could help me. But then I saw it again, during a bad episode, and checked their site. They aren’t just in the USA
They’re in Canada as well and probably other countries. I met and talked with a native guy who runs the place near me. His name is Shaman. I got in, and I’m considered a BACA child now. Despite being 17, turning 18 when I talked to them. They spent time with me when my abuser was over, they gave me therapy resources. They give you something called a ‘level 1′ where they go to your house with as many bikers as they can, i shit you not a solid 20-40 bikers came from even out of province, and met me. I got to choose my biker name and I got a vest with patches on it and my name on it. They all hugged a Teddybear before giving it to me, and told me if I ever felt the BACA bear was running out of love, to give them a call and they’d refill it for me, and then I got a ride on one of their bikes. Just a day or so ago I went to an annual party with them and they we ate food one of them cooked and had a lot of laughs.
I’ve never felt as loved as I did being a part of the BACA family. They also gave me dog tags with the names, and phone numbers of my 2 workers. So I can call them whenever I feel scared.
BACA is an absolutely wonderful group that will do everything in it’s power to help any child whos been abused.
And it doesn’t end when you’re 18 either. As long as you get in contact/get your level 1 before you’re 18? you’re ALWAYS a BACA kid. I’m 18 now and they still invite me to parties, ask me if I’m okay, and are there for me. They’re still trying to find me resources for therapy.
BACA has changed my fucking life.
I hope you all can read this, and reblog it knowing from someone who fucking been with them, that they are absolutely amazing.
