#OFMD meta

[crimson-and-clover-1717]

Ed & Agency: Poison into Positivity

In response to these posts by @ourfag here and @piratecaptainscaptainpirates here which are spot on, but broke my soul nonetheless, I want to look at how Stede and Ed interact in the final scene, and Stede demonstrates what healthy companionship looks like.

For me, it’s so important that the show finishes with an attempt at the Innkeeper dream because (other than Stede) this is the only want Ed has ever been shown to have which is truly his and which comes from a healthy place. It’s born of his own internal locus, not a trauma response, not coerced, and not an act of avoidance. Ed lacks assurance in speaking about the realisation of his ambition, but it’s significant how Stede confidence-builds subtly throughout this exchange, supporting Ed’s agency, and gently counteracting any negative talk. The difference in how Stede interacts which Ed compared with Ed’s father / Izzy / Jack / Hornigold / Pop-Pop… is startling and reassuring.

I’ve tried to traffic-light the speech with my interpretation of the emotion or tone. (It’s subjective, so cool if you read it differently).

positive neutral negative

S: So, we’re innkeepers then?

E: I thought we might give it a go, unless…you’re having second thoughts

S: I’m not, no.

E: It’s a bit of a shithole, I know S: It’s a fixer-upper. Good bones

E: Come on…Let’s try and find something to eat. Maybe there’s a feral animal or something we can cook up for dinner S: I love that idea. Place just needs a little elbow grease.

E: Jesus, what is that smell?

(my subtitles say Bonnet inhales and I find this ridiculously positive)

S: Smells of the future…to me

E: Yeah, love that

S: Me too… but we should actually find out what’s making that smell

E: Urgh! Fuck that’s strong!

S: Maybe we just air it out a bit

Ed often makes a neutral comment and then loses confidence, following with negative ideas. Stede offers positive or calm neutral responses, and Ed returns to neutral, or once to positive. And each time Ed falters, Stede subverts and mirrors back an alternative take:

It’s a bit of a shithole / It’s a fixer-upper

What’s that smell? / Smells of the future

Fuck, that’s strong / Maybe we just air it out a bit

Stede’s practical without being negative. He gently reframes Ed’s pessimistic thoughts without removing his agency. -It’s Ed’s dream, and they’re going to do it together

-It’s Ed deciding on how to acquire food, and they’re going to do it together.

It’s not that Stede will never have an opinion. But he won’t have one for the sake of it if Ed’s way is fine. We also know that if Ed wants Stede to take control, he damn well will. And knowing Stede can and will catch him if he falls, will help Ed continue to develop his confidence and self-esteem in making decisions and demonstrating agency. There is no perform for me or plan, plan, plan. And although it might be difficult, if Ed ‘fails’, it doesn’t have the same life or death high-stakes as piracy or with an Angry White Guy. Ed’s safe to fail with Stede.

Stede’s instinctive and intuitive understanding of how to handle Ed’s soul still leaves me astonished.

[teeny-tiny-revenge]

This is how Izzy got hired as first mate. Ed, for some reason in need of a new first mate, somehow encountered Izzy, and since Izzy is never capable of being anything other than himself, Izzy was probably yelling angrily at someone for a banal reason or something along the lines of that, and all of Ed's father figure buttons got pressed and lit up like a Christmas tree, and that was that.

one largely overlooked piece of information that the pop pop scene tells us is that given the right emotional and material circumstances ed is capable of building his entire father figure trauma complex from the ground up around a brand new guy within 24 hours

[amuseoffyre]

"we always need a fucking plan, all right? And then what? Then we fucking execute the plan, then we get another plan, then what do we do, we execute that and so on and so on again and again and again and it's all so fucking boring"

Ed is just so tired of everyone expecting him to have a plan.

[asneakyfox]

when people don't like the father figure angle on izzy the argument i see a lot is that ed doesn't seem to care about izzy's approval. and i'm not sure i agree about that - i think you can interpret ed's attitude toward izzy in multiple ways but it's quite possible to put together a believable read where izzy's approval matters a lot to him - but also i just. don't think it actually matters to the whole father figure angle if it doesn't?

like, the implication in the way people talk about this seems to be that craving your parent's approval is the defining emotion involved in any parent-child relationship and i'm...not sure that's always true? i think people can relate to their parents in a lot of different ways and while craving their approval is certainly very very common i'm honestly not sure it's absolutely universal. even if it is i don't think it's always the MAIN feature. particularly for someone like ed whose relationship with his own father was pretty singular! like, maybe he yearned for his dad's approval at points during his childhood but i honestly do not think that is likely to be the primary emotion he felt toward his dad, based on what we know about their relationship.

like, imagine - this is not a take that i'm saying i personally subscribe to, but i think it's one possible take - imagine both of the following are true:

ed really genuinely does not respect izzy or view him as any sort of authority figure or care even a little bit about izzy's approval on any level, not even subconsciously.

however izzy's hair trigger temper subconsciously reminds ed of a less terrifying version of his dad's rages (particularly since they both tend to be triggered by ed failing to perform masculinity acceptably - remember his dad's cut line about "making my son soft"). when izzy flies off the handle and ed successfully manipulates him into calming down, ed subconsciously finds the whole process comforting, not because he's gained izzy's approval exactly but because he's proving to himself that he knows how to successfully handle this situation that was a constant source of terror throughout his childhood - taking this enormous childhood trauma and transforming it into something safe and predictable.

i think it would be pretty fair to say that this constitutes ed seeing his father in izzy! actually not just fair, i'd say that would be one of the most important things to understand about the relationship! and if people are going to be like "well ok izzy might remind ed of his father in some specific ways but that doesn't mean he's a father figure, a father figure has to be someone whom you view as an authority and whose approval you crave"...i mean i get where you're coming from, but that just seems like a pointlessly rigid semantic quibble to me.

[o-wild-west-wind]

ofmd is like not comedy as in sitcom but comedy as in shakespearean where it’s psychological trauma and conflicts of violence but with dick jokes and the promise of marriage in the end

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

"killing off izzy after he went through all this growth and finally got to be happy means all that healing was for nothing"

goddamn that is a bleak way to look at life. we all die, man. healing is still worth the effort.

[ulgapodatkowa]

I have so many thoughts but I at least want to address the "for the new unicorn" note. because first of all it's so incredibly gratifying for izzy to finally be accepted into a community. it was shown before that the crew cares for him in some way but it was the first time he really saw that. that he isn't useless and alone, that he still has a place on the ship. even more so the crew WANTS HIM to be on the ship. and also that they want him to embrace his disability which doesn't make them think any less of him.

but also the choice of words. because inherently it rings queer, unicorn as a symbol of queerness. and even if it may have a negative sound when you use it differently here it is extremely positive. izzy is not only accepted to the crew, he's also accepted to the queer community, to the family. the unicorn on the revenge was also the one that was leading the ship, so one can argue that they want him to take that role in their dynamic.

and you can see that he does so immediately. he puts himself together and starts helping the crew. he's still bitchy but no longer violent and cruel. he helps stede and lucius immensely because that is what he does now. he's part of the family. twat.

[lightbluetown]

i just love that ed asked for stede to stop

i love that stede was finally able to tell ed that their first kiss happened too fast and that he panicked. i love that when they kissed again, when ed leaned in for a quick peck but stede got passionate, ed was able to break the kiss and say "hey man, let's take this slow". i love that stede, of course, immediately stopped. i love that it didn't feel weird and they kept playing with each other's fingers and talking about their day

that was the most healthy, natural, realistic kiss i've seen. it wasn't romanticized for tv, it wasn't forced to be something it didn't have to be. it happened under a moon that wasn't full, on the deck of a messy ship, after ed complimented a piece of fine clothing that had lost most of its charm. it was as awkward as it was graceful

[edscuntyeyeshadow]

thinking about how ofmd took blackbeard, a historical (almost mythical) figure that has pretty much always been depicted in media as a super hypermasculine white cishet man, and turned him into a gay man of color who wears crop tops and silk gowns, paints his nails and pines for his boyfriend

[thetardigrape]

I wanna take a minute to talk about the Looks of the entire cast of OFMD S2.

I think we're all pretty familiar with the male gaze. Lots of skin, tits and ass, that sort of thing.

The female gaze has been debated, but it looks something like a sexy college professor or himbo househusband.

What OFMD S2 absolutely nails is the queer gaze.

Look at this man.

An absolutely beautiful man. Who wears crop tops and leather pants. Long hair up in a messy bun. He's wearing eyeliner. And pearls.

And here.

Drawn on facial hair. Spaulders. Bracers. Fishnet sleeves. A MOTHERFUCKING MULLET.

These badasses.

The teeth and chains. SO MUCH MAKEUP. Big fancy coat with nothing underneath. Glam met goth and fucked out these looks.

And THE SWEDE!

Cropped jacket. Ponytail. Asymmetrical button fly. Decorative chains (again).

All of this screams queer. If I saw any of these people in a bar I'd be like "Yep, one of us." The gender fuckery of it all. The feminine and the masculine all thrown in together in perfect combinations. Decoration for its own sake. Jewelry and flashy adornment and gorgeous peacockery.

And we love it. The fandom is going absolutely feral over these looks, these actors, as we very well should. There is not a single member of this cast who has not had beautiful art lovingly made depicting them.

Fuck the male gaze, fuck the female gaze. Give me the queer gaze. Give me queer creators making queer media for queer audiences and absolutely nailing it. These people are not at all what Hollywood usually thinks sexy looks like, yet we want to devour every one of them. This is what queer beauty looks like. What queer sex appeal looks like. What queer desire looks like.

Fuck yes. It's about time.

[stedebonnit]

Can I also say how touching it is that Stede said he believed Ed would he happier without him, who, even in his fantasies, could only picture Ed wanting him as a picture of masculinity with a beard and no hesitation to kill. Stede still, deep down, doesn't understand why Ed would ever want him as he is.

But who did Ed see coming down to rescue him? It wasn't a manly recreation of Stede with a beard, masculine style and a killing spirit, it was a merman. Someone bright, colourful, by all accounts a rather feminine perception of Stede.

That was who rescued Ed. It wasn't who Stede thought he needed to be, it was someone soft, and bright, and graceful, and expressive. Someone feminine, someone queer.

I just think that's beautiful.

[three--rings]

One thing I haven't seen a lot of talk about in the fandom so far is about the financials of this season.

It took us two whole months to get a confirmation of renewal from Max, and I talked at the time that I think there was probably a lot of heated negotiations going on at the time with contracts and that's why it took as long as it did.

I think we see a huge number of indications of the compromises that were made in order for S2 to be made. One obvious one that has been talked about is being making in in NZ instead of LA, to save $.

But there's also the eight episodes instead of ten. And then the cast aspect. One downside of moving overseas was having to fly out and house the cast, not just pay day wages.

We knew immediately about Guz Khan not coming back, losing Ivan as a character. At the time I was sad but I thought it had the air of a pretty harshly practical call. If you went through the main recurring cast and said okay which character will affect the fewest things, has the least character interactions of anyone? It would be Ivan. (With the only competition being The Swede IMO, but he's Stede's crew and therefore a little more central.)

And then this season started and we got first The Swede sidelined and taken out of major scenes. And then I noticed that different members of the crew were simply absent for long stretches, like Wee John isn't around for ep 5 at all. And then Buttons takes flight.

Lucius and Pete aren't at the party for most of it. Fang isn't in the torture scene. Roach and Fang aren't in the bar. Etc. SCHEDULING IS HAPPENING.

The new characters are almost entirely played by NZ local actors, which is great, but also...cheaper.

In other words there are big signs that they did everything possible to give us a giant cast of almost everyone we love from S1, and cool new characters, in the most economical way possible.

And I'm grateful for it. I'm grateful we got S2, and it looks great, and it's well written, I'm having a blast, and we get to spend more time with this awesome cast.

But I also kinda think it needs to be said that the cost-cutting shows. That it shouldn't have been only 8 episodes, the pacing is off. That we miss every time someone from the ensemble isn't on screen.

That despite what they've put on screen looking very good, there's far less costuming budget, there's less elaborate sets, and it's a little disappointing. And it's clear it's not a lack of will or talent or vision but blatantly lack of money.

Look, streaming networks want brilliant shows that people love (that will get them to subscribe) but they very don't want to pay anyone to make them. That's like, the whole moment we're having right now.

Max puts out promos about how great it is to not have unions messing shit up in NZ. Well I have friends who are union costumers in LA and guess what union costumers did amazing last season. This season, well, I guess Stede got three whole shirts, so that's cool.

So I dunno. It's just stuff I think about. I'm not trying to be negative about the show in any way. I'm extremely happy with this season; I love it more than well, possibly any show I've ever been in fandom for.

But I see you, Max. You're cheap. You weren't that cheap when you were called HBO.

[teeny-tiny-revenge]

Really so much respect for David Jenkins. He really went "historical accuracy"? "Realism"? "Laws of physics"? Nope, we don't need those here, everything in this story is Vibes. Dinghies can travel huge distances if necessary, except sometimes not, injuries heal immediately or slowly fester, whichever the plot demands for comedy or drama respectively, a character spends several days dead/in a coma/in purgatory and then just comes back to life when his beloved shows up. Nothing is too over the top for this story, cringe doesn't exist, we'll dial all those feelings up to eleven, and we're gonna play everything with 100% earnestness, and we're gonna have a merman and it's going to be so fucking romantic. And he's right about all of it! Really the best way to do fiction.

[blakbonnet]

Ed baiting Ned Low </3 oh i get it. the tally marks, ‘we’ve got a record to break.’ ed was baiting ned low deliberately. he had to know low would come after him: low was ed’s original passive suicide plan - @forpiratereasons

[dragonlands]

This isn't the face of someone who is sad or even unsure of what he wants. This is Ed being vulvenerable. His face is open and loving. This is the man who's had a lot of sex in his life but none of it had meant anything and now he gets to have sex that means EVERYTHING. This is the face of a man in love coming undone.

And also. This isn't the man turned on by violence deciding to fuck Ed on a meaningless whim. His eye are glistening from tears and there's so much going on but his eyes are filled with unbearable amont of LOVE. Yes he just killed a man, and there's probably adrenaline rushing through his veins, but this moment has been long time coming. And it isn't motivated by violence, it's motivated on Stede holding onto what's real and good in his life, and that's Ed. He doesn't know who he is, a gentleman or a pirate, the only thing he knows is that he loves Ed. Wants Ed. Needs Ed.

And I want to add that it's not uncommon at all that death and violence act as complex motivators for sex. Funeral sex is a concept - people wanting to celebrate being alive when confronted with their own mortality. Baby boomers originate from people historically fucking like rabbits after ww2. So yeah, I think the scene was realistic, consensual, and amazingly nuanced. I could not have hoped for a better first time for these two.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

godddd the way the original e5 “you wear fine things well” scene was backlit by a giant full moon that didn’t actually exist bc this was ed and stede’s fairy tale romance, the way they’re both all dressed up in finery and looking their best after a fancy night out (which didn’t go how either of them expected but that’s not the point the point is it was an Event it was a whole Thing they went to)

and then in the e5 “wear fine things well” 2 electric boogaloo scene the moon is a waxing gibbous because it’s real and stede’s wearing what remains of his fancy suit he had to get rid of and ed’s wearing a fucking. sack and a cat collar. and holding a fucking dead fish. and they’re just catching up after both of them had a pretty normal day doing their own things. this isn’t the picture-perfect fantasy from last season this is both of them grounded in the moment taking it slow because their relationship is worth handling with care. they want this to last and they want this to be real so they’re taking their time, being gentle. they’re not as completely absorbed by each other the way they were last season, they’re their own separate people who can exist in different plotlines for an episode and then come back at the end of the day and catch up, swap stories, kiss and hold hands and just hang out and enjoy being in each other’s presence.

now if you’ll excuse me. i have to go cry.