okay but what if... a different ofmd s2

I tried several times to make a less tl;dr version of this post, but it's not happening. BEHOLD: a season I just like better. It fixes things that I personally didn't like (and I have a strong Ed and Izzy bias). I wanted to do a few major things: ► keep 2x01-2x03, because I love them so damn much. this unfortunately sets the stakes *really high* for the rest of the season, so... ►... I want to rework the new characters that canon s2 had, to focus more on the Revenge's response to the 2x01-2x03 atom bomb ► I want Ed and Stede to have better-constructed arcs. Ed and Stede were, emotionally, at completely opposite poles in 2x01-2x03, and in canon I think they didn't really connect much after that. So in my version they'll do basic work to understand why their s1 meet-cute failed and how they can move on to a real relationship ► Canon left a lot of Ed's violence toward others in 2x01-2x03 unaddressed. I found the amends depicted somewhere between unsatisfying and horrifying. going to fuck around with that!

the three major acts in the season: ACT 1 (2x01-2x03) – Trauma! These episodes remain largely the same. ACT 2 (2x04-2x06) – Recovery I've edited these episodes so Stede + Ed are entirely separated from Izzy + the Crew. This gives the OTP space to work on themselves & their relationship. Likewise, Izzy has space away from Ed to go through his ~discovering himself arc and consider if he wants to reconcile with Ed. Izzy and Crew *all* get a chance to recover from The Trauma on their own, together as a community. ACT 3 (2x07-2x08) – Reconciliation Act 2 has given everybody time to process what happened in Act 1 and how they might come out of it as better versions of themselves and as a stronger community. Now the OTP and the Crew re-integrate and, in the 2x08 climax, prove all their work has been worth it by fighting together against an external menace. (It's Hornigold. It's got to be Hornigold. This is so obvious to me.)