#I've avoided it as long as I can

[kirby-the-gorb]

[front-facing-pokemon]

[cuddlytogas]

an incomplete list of terrible but extremely popular Our Flag Means Death takes that I would like to never see again please

(and I do mean popular, as in, lots of people seem to think they're canon, to the point where I feel slightly insane and like I was watching a different show to everyone else)

1. Ed's mum was loving and nice and supportive, if hampered by her bad situation

this comes up more in fic than analysis, to be fair, but good god, what show were some of you watching? this isn't to vilify her, because yeah, she's clearly a product of colonialism, white christian supremacy, and domestic abuse, but like. that doesn't make how she raised Ed good. clearly she was trying to keep him safe, but "we don't deserve nice things", and especially "it's not up to us, it's up to god", speaks to me of someone who squashes down any ambition on her son's part, has fully bought into the lies of christian colonialism, and tries to pass them down to her son.

as does happen in colonised communities, particularly among older generations. I know us white people like to think that every indigenous person is a perfect left-wing anti-imperial activist, but that's simply not the case, and Ed's mum is so clearly an example of an older conservative christian indigenous parent who had to believe the lies told by their coloniser in order to survive, but is now passing on that trauma to their children. and I just...

if I read one more fic where Ed's mum is a perfect loving supportive angel who always believed in her kid and always supported and protected him, I'm gonna scream. yes, it's sweet, and it's fun to sometimes veer from canon and give your blorbo nice things, but it's still veering from canon. and yet, I see very few people acknowledge that, or actually talk about the nuances of Ed's mother, and how she definitely tried to protect him, but was far from sweet, doting, and unconditionally supportive.

2. Ed's loving look when Stede is picking food from his beard in 1x07

like most of these things, I enjoyed it as a joke or exaggeration at first, until I realised that people were actually being serious. but every time I watch that scene, I see Ed looking absently-mindedly over Stede's shoulder, because a) that's what you do when someone leans in to pick something off you, and b) surely the point of the scene is that they're so comfortable and easy together that they don't notice the intimacy of what they're doing, but Lucius, an outside observer, thinks it's obvious. right?? I can't be the only one seeing it???

[sigh]

anyway. finally, the really really big one:

3. Ed is a soft uwu babygirl princess femme bottom sub who loves her cat collar and is teaching Stede how to dom him in the "say you're the captain" scene

I mean, there's not much to say except to link to duke's absolutely phenomenal twitter thread about "how the 'babygirlfication' and infantilization of ofmd ed teach is an extension of racist perceptions of indigenous men being inherently violent and thus needing to be emasculated to be considered sympathetic"

but especially That One Fucking Scene, good lord. talk about taking shit out of context. everyone looked at a slowed-down gif of one shot in the trailer and cried "babygirl!! he's such a simp, he just wants to be dommed!!", when actually that scene is about how a) Stede is cringefail and terrible at being a typical harsh, commanding pirate, and b) Ed is lovingly embarrassed by this. he encourages Stede to assert himself (and give Ed something to do during his probation/help him make amends with the crew), but like. normally. he's acting perfectly normal in that scene, and mostly annoyed by the outfit and embarrassed by how badly Stede fails. but just because he's sitting down while Stede is standing, and he happens to take a breath in that one shot (because, you know, people breathe sometimes), everyone's doubled down on their "submissive babygirl" bullshit, and I can't get the fuck away from it.

which - listen, it's fun for me, too! it's fun to explore exaggerated aspects of a character, it's fun to read/write/draw that angle in smut, I get it! but I keep seeing people keep claim it's literally canon, and I cannot stress enough that that is Straight Up False. for the love of god, please just watch the show without your (potentially kinda racist) bias glasses on, and remember to treat the characters with respect instead of projecting onto their every interaction a shallow dom/sub binary just because you find it hot.

Our Flag is a show very specifically about masculinity, and what it means to be a man; how assumptions about that can harm and restrict men; and how men can grow beyond them. it's a nuanced and sympathetic examination of this. the whole point is that Ed is allowed to like nice fabrics and be tired of violent piracy and still be a man. the point is that two men fall in love - equal, honest, sincere love - and are still men, still exactly who they are.

(on that note, insisting that Ed is canonically trans or femme because of these things often ends up just leaning into gendered stereotypes: men are harsh and active and dominant, and women are soft and passive and submissive, and if Ed's not the former, he must be the latter, right? it also tends to hetero-ify the central relationship, casting Stede as "the boy" and Ed as "the girl", needing one to be masc and one femme. not always, and again, I understand and have enjoyed transformative works that take those elements and run with them, and explore what the story could be like if Ed were trans/nb/etc - but it's still a transformative interpretation. it's not canon.)

relatedly: those fucking wedding toppers! it seemed blatantly obvious to me that half the point of those scenes was that Ed is distraught and blaming himself for Stede leaving because he wasn't the ideal partner. it's his entire arc for the first half of season 2! Ed hates himself and believes there's something wrong about him that makes him unlovable. so he keeps and then discards the wedding toppers, painting himself onto one of them, because he's projecting himself onto an image of ideal/successful romantic love that he thinks Stede wants, and in which he doesn't fit. he's trying to mould himself into someone else to make himself lovable, not realising that Stede already loves him for himself.

so it's important to the whole narrative that Ed's yearning for/projection onto the wedding toppers is false, and born from his insecurity. he gets drunk, and play-acts a stereotypical image of romantic happiness into which he doesn't fit, but real love looks nothing like that, because real love isn't found in stifling hegemonic cultural structures, but honest, emotional connections between people allowed to be their whole, vulnerable selves. Stede is not like the groom, and Ed is not like the bride, because they shouldn't have to be. Ed should not (and does not) have to warp himself into a demure bride in order to be worthy of love: he's already lovable and loved exactly as he is! that's the point!! of the scene!!!!!!

like, it's important that the groom figure isn't actually like Stede, either. yes, it's blond and has a nice, peach-coloured suit, but a) Stede was very specifically unhappy in the posh, heterosexual, married state the figures represent, and b) Stede by this point looks nothing like that figurine. it's directly contrasted with the image of him in the rowboat, scruffy and plain and earnestly in love, rather than fancy, cold ceramic.

[EDIT 29/12/24: I ended up writing a whole Twitter essay about the wedding cake toppers that I then gussied up for Tumblr; so if you want a clearer, more substantial, and better supported argument about those, check that out!]

but no, I have to wade through swathes of art and fic and meta about how badly Ed wants to be a sweet little demure kitty princess, how he wants a wedding night and a ring to prove he's Stede's property, and acting as if this is somehow canon, because people on the internet have zero reading comprehension and are scared of brown men.

the whole point of Our Flag is that you don't need to compress yourself into prescribed social roles, and in fact, doing so will only make you miserable; and that racist, patriarchal, colonial institutions should be resisted and dismantled at every opportunity.

so tell me again why the ultimate message is that Ed and Stede should get married under an arch in front of an altar and their lined-up friends, with flowers and rice falling around them, all dressed in white, one in a suit and one in a dress, with rings and a kiss and a honeymoon after, before they move into a detached house with a yard and a fence and re-adopt the kids that Stede abandoned? and this isn't about promises, fidelity, or even monogamy - I'm specifically talking about everyone in this fandom who seems to think that the ultimate goal is the most stereotypical 20th century cisheteropatriarchal christian wedding, but with the name "matelotage" slapped on top, as if that takes away all of the underlying baggage.

just - I know we're all meant to hate men and masculinity and yadda yadda yadda, but actually, to be earnest for a second, men deserve respect too, because all people and all genders do. and two men are allowed to be in a relationship and still both be men - complex men, with their own, layered relationships to their gender - without having to fall into neatly-arranged dom/sub masc/femme roles, or seal the deal with a hegemonically-approved ceremony.

so please, stop reducing an indigenous lead character to a caricature of a femme uwu princess bottom just because he has long hair, wore a robe once, and you're too scared of brown men to imagine him with proper agency. and then please, for the love of god, stop claiming that that interpretation is canon.

[zaahvi]

some more interesting stuff that stood out to me from the IGN video!

(previous post)

this set of dialogue options makes me think "spite" is the demon that is possessing lucanis! that's definitely not one we've seen before yet!

this looks like a red lyrium ogre, but it's also possible it could be a qunari based on the qamekmaster we see later and the fact that this is in treviso (based on the surroundings and the crow's road rooftops location tag). i'm sticking to ogre though as it just looks more like one! it's interesting that it has a name though...

the qamekmaster in question ^^ qamek is a qunari poison used on mages. this qamekmaster must've been a qunari 👀 i talked about this more in detail here if anyone is interested.

sticking to treviso for a bit, these symbols - which i assume belong to the antaam? not even sure what they're supposed to be honestly. but the top really looks like ghil's head shape.

there's also one in the crows hideout here. maybe taken as a trophy? and hey that statue looks so cool??? i wonder who it is...

viagooooo!! and "the butcher" was mentioned before in the short story as we fly!

it seems that the antaam managed to invade so quickly because a traitor let them in 👀

beloveds mentioned <3

moving on from antiva, the way i audibly gasped when i saw this 😭 i've seen theories about it being the regret demon and i agree!! i think the boss itself is a revenant (as mentioned in the video), which are corpses possessed by demons - in this case the regret demon probably, but who was the corpse?

at a different point in the video you can see this, it looks like a tear in the veil like in the prologue but red? and it looks like there's tentacles on the other side

this statue in the hossberg wetlands is elven, and judging by the map marker i'm guessing it's either a fast travel point or party select point. it's blurry so hard to make out, but the crown looks like it could either be mythal's or the "nib" evanuris head shape (which i think is dirthamen). also is that a hand in the top left wtf

had to include this because 💀💀 lmao yikes

this line from harding was used in promo for her vows & vengeance episode last week!!

who or what is a rathera 👀

this seems like it could be a personal quest for neve!! or maybe a sidequest you can help her with

elgar'nan symbol above the bookshelf in the lighthouse library :) it's right in front of the elgarmythal mural in fact.

pics aren't very good, but you can see two more of what i assume are the "regrets" murals. the second one looks particularly interesting, though i can't make anything specific out

[spark-circuit]

working getting my captain ocs back in LobCorp so i can get proper transparent pngs of them for shitposts (Nine should be in Extraction) but!!!!! the squad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bonus image:

*cheery Rema voice* "Just the two of us!~" *deadpan but still sincere Piper voice* "We can make it if we try.~"

[bookshelf-in-progress]

There's always a danger of caring too much about a story, and then getting paralyzed by the need to do it justice, so it never gets written.

I've solved this problem in the past by writing stories so fast that I don't have time to get too invested, or writing stories that I'm not that attached to.

But maybe the trick is to love the story so much that I want to share it any way I can, even if it's imperfect. To feel that any version of this story is better than the story never getting written at all. To get out of my own way and stop worrying about what other people will think of my writing, or even what I think of my writing, and love the story for its own sake, love the readers enough to want to have the joy of sharing the story with them.

Maybe it'll work. Maybe it won't. But so far it feels like a much better approach.

[fvckw4d]

The concept of queerbaiting annoys me. I was told that it refers to a work of fiction pretending to cater to a queer audience but then pulling back from it to avoid alienating homophobes, which is an incredibly specific thing. But a lot of people seem to think that it instead means "any time there's any gay subtex, metaphor, or ambiguity" or "whenever something from 1995-2012 was being a normal amount of homophobic for the era."

[sapphire-weapon]

update: i am Unwell

[lusalemaart]

[ferahntics]

Hey guys, it's me my new account,

Today I will would like to apologize for mistake and hateful anything okay, here some story about Why send of Death Threat for not drawing dragon fire Kirby sleeping and not taking request,

Here some story

On June 2, 2023. I sent the Request dragon fire Kirby sleeping at inbox as anon to ferahntics.

Moment Hours later, Ferahntics didn't draw dragon fire Kirby sleeping and not taking request. Ferahntics said "I'm sorry anon, I will not taking request, if I do I will post on future"

Five Months Later On Nov 30, 2023. He was so angry for not drawing dragon fire Kirby and not taking request since five months ago, I used on phone and sent to death threat as anon,

Moments Later. Ferahntics is saw the death threat and hateful message for not drawing dragon fire Kirby sleeping and not taking request, and then ferahntics is posted said "What is Happening"

2 hours later. Ferahntics is Blocked me for sending death threat and Hateful Message.

And Later, I used on another account on Computer, I using Website and Pixlr E, then I Edit on profile picture, these are Photos like Michael de Santa from GTA V, and Unknown Hanging image, and I send to inbox and hateful message as anon,

And moment later Ferahntics is posted and said "To anons sending me death threats, and gore images and wishing I get killed or s'xually assaulted"

7 Hours Later Ferahntics are Posted and repost two times and then Hundreds of User are Blocking Me,

8 Hours Later on Dec 1, 2023.

I Tried to Apologize like a childish or Logan Paul like saint, or something? And I posted and tried to apologize three times,

5 hours later, Ferahntics has reposted said "I'd love to leave this post alone, but they had the guts to make another account and send me the most insincere, most childish, most ridiculous '''apologies''' that make Logan Paul look like a saint. New account is sleepinglovers293return so block that for ya'll safety too."

And then Hundred of User are Blocking me Again,

That's all of story.

Ferahntics must be proud and support

Thanks to all of support and I'm appreciated for Blocked by Hundred of User.

And I'm sorry for sending hateful message and death threat and g*re image.

I Promise I will not sending death threat, g*re image, and Hateful Message,

Hope you like some story

So I was gonna ignore this but this just pisses me off an unbelievable amount, so a lot of swearing incoming.

You sent me endless messages wishing I die, how you'll kill me, how you'll SA me, how you'll torture me all because I didn't want to draw your request because my requests were closed.

And you know what? If my requests would've been open, I PROBABLY would've done it! Cause I didn't think anything of it, I didn't know it was a fetish thing, I learned that later. And after all of this, absolutely won't do it.

And now you have the fucking audacity to spam me once again with the worst apologies with fucking gifs of Homer from Simpsons begging, still use the false identities as to apologize - as if that somehow undoes anything??

Do you think I'm just gonna ignore this and pretend like nothing happened and let bygones be bygones? After all of these disgusting messages about actual things that can impact people VERY badly and cause them spiral? Or go through a traumatic episode just because you got a little bit mad cause I didn't indulge in your fetish which I didn't even know about?

You wanna know what would be the best thing for you to do right now? Stop making new accounts, quit spamming me and anyone else, and take a long-ass pause and reevaluate yourself and how you go about it, because none of this should be thrown around so freely. I don't care 'its the internet, who cares' - because no matter how many times you say that, there will always be people who will get scarred very badly just because you can't handle your hissy fits.

And if there is anything I can do about it, I WILL make this shit known, because I'm lucky enough to not be mentally affected by your nonsense. Someone else, however, might take it extremely badly. That being said, I WILL mention all of your account names, because I REFUSE to let someone else have this shit spammed.

Until you can prove you've changed and matured, I will not accept any apologies - I don't owe it to you - and I WILL keep updating with your account names.

Sincerely, get the fuck off of my page.

[byanyan]

vibrating in my chair bc i think i might just be able to finish up the carrd tonight... think i'm juuuust about finished the bio, which means!! just the timeline left after that!!! ...and then proofreading + fixing anything that needs it ig, but!!!!!! ;u;

[anthromimicry]

[mercymaker]

i know i've been yapping about the long fic for literal months at this point BUT!!! i am writing it!

it ain't much but it's honest work

[shirogane-oushirou]

i have so many doodles to post when i've finished queueing all of my drafted friend posts. it's joever for all of you.

[pardonmydelays]

i also think it's kinda cool how tyler makes me want to learn stuff

[phoenix-corgi-abomination]

Me trying to explain to my dad that being non verbal is not a choice