Blackbeard Writing

Submission 14,444

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About

Blackbeard Writing, sometimes called Pirate Writing, refers to a piece of One Piece fan art showing the character Blackbeard (aka Marshall D. Teach) drawing (or writing) on a map with a quill pen. The original image was created by DeviantArt artist jen-and-kris in 2012. The image was first used in viral memes in 2023, starting on Reddit and spreading to TikTok in 2024, mostly via photo slideshows.

Origin

On November 5th, 2012, DeviantArt^[1] artist jen-and-kris posted a drawing of One Piece character Blackbeard (aka Marshall D. Teach) drawing on a map with a quill pen, wearing many rings on his hand. Over 12 years, the art received over 32,500 views and over 960 favourites (shown below).

Spread

The image was shared on Amino Apps^[2]^[3] in 2017 and 2018. However, the image wasn't used in viral posts until late 2023. Currently, the first known meme to use the image was shared by Redditor^[4] microwavedraptin to the /r/dndmemes subreddit on September 11th, 2023, making a Dungeons and Dragons joke about, "DMs writing literal masterpieces for the lore of their world that only four to six people will be able to read," receiving over 13,000 upvotes in seven months (shown below).

DMs writing literal masterpieces for the lore of their world that only four to six people will be able to read: Kris & Jen jen-and-kris.deviantart

On October 31st, 2023, iFunnier ^[5] @BasedMasterChief posted a new version of the format, reading, "The white girl music dance party is essential to the plot I assure you," receiving over 2,800 smiles in six months (shown below, left).

On November 4th, 2023, iFunnier ^[6] @Dinosaur36 posted an iteration with a similar caption as the DND meme, replacing the subject with Skyrim, gaining over 6,300 smiles in five months (shown below, right).

The white girl music dance party is essential to the plot I assure you

Me coming up with an absolute masterpiece of a backstory for my Skyrim character that nobody will ever hear

In early 2024, usage of the Blackbeard Writing meme spread on TikTok, predominantly starting with a Slow Fade-In video shared by TikToker^[7] @wvorld on April 6th, 2024, reading, "how I feel writing 'etc' in my essay after running of out examples," earning over 707,700 plays and 154,400 likes in three weeks (shown below).

@wvorld #fyp #real #viral #trending #onepiece #luffy ♬ Jennifers body Kurdish – Hokty

Various photo slideshows using the Blackbeard Writing image went viral on TikTok^[8] later in April 2024. Also, viral videos using the Slow Fade-In format and the image of Blackbeard Writing went viral on Instagram^[9] in April 2024.