#blackbearde.     an    independent,    selective,    exclusive    blog    for   edward    teach   aka    blackbeard    as    seen    in    our flag means death.     portrayal    based    on    hbo    depiction    +    historical    lore    +    personal    headcanons.    inspiration    taken    from    ofmd    +    black    sails    +    ac:    black    flag    +    others.   written     by     ly     ( 23 ,     she   /   they ,     gmt ).    affiliated    with    cptbonnet.

“ his eyes crinkle when he smiles and it’s just so warm and- and inviting, and i love him so much - “

                               edward knew he was taking too long.    he couldn’t ask stede for help as that would be like admitting to his own incapacity and helplessness.     that,     and he’s only just met the man.     no one could know how much edward desired to make an impression.     good,    bad,     that was not entirely up to him.     so,     he continued to fuss with the sleeves of his frilly shirt and the buttons of his jacket,    running the palm of his hand down his chest to smooth down the fabric.     each time he did that,    he raised his elbow and so too did his vest ride up    -    blasted thing.     and so edward fussed some more until a voice pulled him out of his trance. 

       ❝ what the fuck is that ? ❞    said    @izhands​

                                ❛    hm?    oh,    this?     ❜     he cast a glance downward at himself,    the garments he now donned and his astoundingly    . . .     normal,    albeit a little awkward in places,     he looked in them.     just as though he’d belonged in them all his life.    if he lifted his chin and lowered his eyelids to look at the man in the mirror,    it reflected back at him the look of deliberate contemplation and confidence.     he looked refined.     and if he puffed his chest?     poised.     graceful.     everything he’s ever hated because he couldn’t have.      edward couldn’t hold back the giddiness bubbling inside him and waiting to spill over.     ❛    isn’t it amazing?     i’m still me but it’s like i’m looking at someone else!      ❜      

for   @blackbearde​   //   ( ed ? )

when stede had sent a message that he wanted to see his kids again, mary hadn’t really had the heart to say no. they’d agreed to meet up in a place a distance away from barbados, so as not to have a dead man walking through town, undoing all of their hard work.

so when stede goes off with alma & louis, it leaves mary with this … ed is what stede had called him.

“ i tried to kill him, you know. ”   with newfound independence comes the allowance to be interesting instead of saying something boring like ‘hello, i’m mary’, plus stede is an idiot, so it’s up to her to make sure this ed isn’t taking advantage.   “ i don’t know what you see in him, but he sure sees the same thing in you. ”

                             this was not an ideal situation.     by the way that the woman    -    stede’s former wife,    because the fact that ed has agreed to travel with stede to see his children wasn’t already weird    -    acted around him,    he reckoned the feeling was mutual.     pirates,    he could converse with.    he could find middle ground with them or perhaps he wouldn’t even necessitate much thinking.    usually,     people of this trade either showered him in reverence or fear.     he couldn’t think of anything more dreadful if the same could be said for mary.

                      at mary’s statement,     his brows furrowed into a frown,     features twisting into something unpleasant,     akin to resent,     whilst angel bubbled underneath his only tepid demeanour.     he couldn’t imagine anyone knowing stede for such a long time,    sharing their life and the complexity that came with starting a family together with him,     and holding him in such contempt.     was this the family that stede had abandoned him for?     were these the people that he had lain awake for during countless nights,     who made breathing hard and his chest constrict around his ribcage as though it might tear and bleed all over?      ungrateful,     was the first word that came to mind.     that,     and undeserving.

captain bonnet cannot help but cringe and turn as he glances to the now toppling mast… he does hope that is repairable. though he will not hold it against. after all this is a new ship — and he sails under a new name. captain bonnet after all would give away that mary bonnet, the widow — was not a widow. and her life would yet again be disrupted. so he sails now under new name, captain thomas. though — such names do not matter when he is seen, and known — by the crew of blackbeard’s ship. a helping hand from fang as he hoists himself over the railing.

garments are not quite as finely fitted as they once were, the majority of what he owned left behind. but he is still a fine figure as he stands there. a straighter stance of shoulders, a better stronger posture. yet his features are as open and as warm as they were the day that he awoke from fever to find ed leaning over him, urging him awake. and he had awoken then, tenfold, a thousand fold. he’d known for the first time what truly being awake was. awake to feeling, to longing, to desire, to love. he was transformed by the man who’d shushed him in the closet, taught him the proper way to take a sword, and the art of a fuckery, he’d been made a new by the little acts of grace along the way. the gentle touch, the encouragement, the love, the kiss. oh if only he had known then what he knew now…

‘ oh ed — ‘

and there is clear and evident affection in his voice, he takes a step forward — the crew drops away, the glowering of izzy hands, the bristling sailors and crew. ed is different. like that character in the book of blackbeard. like the kraken they made him be. there is the faintest line between his brows, the dark silk of his own cravat he spots at his neck. that hurts, more than he’d expected somehow. to see evidence of the pain wrought to the one he has at last realized he loved. from the joy he thinks he once gave, he is nothing but a wound now.

‘ i cannot swim well at all either way. i was always rather frightened of the waves when i’d try to learn. it isn’t terrible effective for piracy but if i stay aboard ships i do well enough. ‘ he’s rambling now, fingers to smooth down the linen he wears. ‘ before — you measure your judgement, might we at least talk? i do not expect to be forgiven, but i would like at least to tell you why i left. and why now - i return. even to what is i expect a rather unpleasant sort of death. ‘

                            and just like that,    the revenge’s captain has returned.    all too late and fresh out of excuses to give that might soften edward’s resolve.    he’d imagined this moment so many times,    each time less plausible and realistic than the last.    he’d made dozens of excuses in stede’s name.    perhaps the guard edward had bribed to wake stede up simply hadn’t held his end of the bargain.    usually,    edward had something to bargain with.    at the time,    he had no valuables in his possession,   nor leverage.     all that he was able to barter in exchange for the man’s aid were simply promises.    of wealth,    of safety.    the promise that a terrible fate would not befall he all he held near and dear to him at the hands of the great blackbeard.     words,    as edward has recently discovered,    did not mean much even to those with integrity.    after all,    he’d chosen to give his heart away to a man known for his integrity and rectitude,    and look where it got him. 

                           or perhaps they were caught on their way to the beach,    the guard forced to return to his post and stede . . .     a great manner of things could have happened then and edward rued his wild and boundless imagination for the kind of barbaric treatment he imagined.     somehow,    in his heart of hearts,     he knew not to give credence to any of these scenarios.     there was only one reason why the man edward had promised the whole world to did not show up.    and for this,     he did not need confirmation,    but it was nice to get it all the same.     he could have laughed at that.    nice?     he supposed it was a blessing,    that.    now he could see stede bonnet for what he truly was.     a liar and a con.    a man who fell victim to his delusions of a life worth living,    who scuttled back home to his life of luxury and comfort when faced with the prospect of real danger. 

                          edward did not back down,    he did not lower the gun.    if anything,    his grip tightened on the handle and his arm remained outstretched,     stance not wavering even as stede stepped closer.     ❛    that’s close enough, dog,    ❜     he spat,    cocking the gun.    he was in no disposition to listen to any of stede’s rambling.     it hasn’t been long - though every night he drank himself to sleep seemed to tell a different story - and yet of this he was sure.     he’d concluded he did not require any explanations.     ❛     you are an intruder on blackbeard’s ship.     what do you think we do to those?    ❜     he was aware his crew were looking,    even more so that izzy was measuring his every move,    waiting for him to make the right one at last.     for them,     he would.    for their loyalty,    for the honour that they felt to serve him.