#and NEDS DEATH

[swugflower]

I can’t fucking people that in the year of our lord 2023 there are still people out there thinking that it was SANSAs fault that Lady got killed and that STILL blame her for Neds death.

My friends, did we watch the same fucking show???? Because I think the fuck not

[greenbloods]

love how both tywin and ned are genre definingly different from the predecessors from their houses. lannisters have always been the clever house, from lann the clever swindling casterly rock to tyland lannister splitting kings landing's treasury. but tywin's 'low cunning' and use of brutal crushing military force to solve his problems which he employs in the reyne-tarbeck rebellion and the scouring of the riverlands and the red wedding is different from the historical version of house lannister. it's a new brand of lannisterism, tywin's version, and it is this version of lannister legacy that he passes on to his children.

ned on the other hand very much likes to distance himself from the stark features of the wild and the wolf's blood, which other starks like brandon and rickard and cregan and even lyanna are defined by, adopting instead an ethos of duty and honor more like the tully words or his foster father jon arryn. he does this because he thinks that it is this wolf's blood that killed them in the end. just like the lannister kids contend with their father's idea of a good lannister, the starklings contend with their father's idea of a good stark.

[mwagneto]

i love you period accurate media

[v0idwraith]

the amount of historical references they’re making this season is giving me LIFE

[vivitalks]

ned chicane is sooo character. he's a skilled burglar but he's broke, he's a sensationalist and a cryptozoologist, he's a pathological liar who's just as persuasive when he's telling the truth as not, he refuses to harm a fellow human being, he runs a terrible and weirdly popular late-night TV show, he constantly tries to protect a town that does not return the favor, he is canonically in possession of george clooney's oscar, he's a self-declared coward who will always put himself in harm's way if it means protecting his friends, he has multiple fake IDs and passports and no one knows his legal name, he's the smartest dumbass you've ever met, he takes a bullet for dani as penance because hurting aubrey was his greatest regret even before they knew each other and he can't hurt her again, he can't let anyone get hurt again, he will not let someone else die because of him. he will not.

[laniidae-passerine]

Our Flag Means Death Season 2 Episodes 6 + 7 Reductress Headlines

[llutik]

That night he dreamed of the feast Ned Stark had thrown when King Robert came to Winterfell. The hall rang with music and laughter, though the cold winds were rising outside. At first it was all wine and roast meat, and Theon was making japes and eyeing the serving girls and having himself a fine time…until he noticed that the room was growing darker.

[edscuntyeyeshadow]

[bizarrelittlemew]

couples who roast together stay together <3

[temporal-discounting]

I vividly remember the first time I saw this scene. Right after Ned falls, the camera lingers on this shot of Stede

I was absolutely convinced that he was going to jump in to try to save Ned. Not for Ned's sake, but for the sake of the little boy who liked to pick flowers, and who was traumatised by witnessing a goose slaughtered in front of him.

This is not the face of a man revelling in scoring his first kill. It's not the face of a man who is celebrating becoming a 'real pirate'.

It is the face of a man who is deeply horrified at his own capacity to take a life - even the life of a sadistic psychopath.

I still remember how my stomach sank to the floor as Stede turned and walked away. I was so heartbroken for him, knowing that his entire self-concept had forever shifted.

And absolute props to Rhys here for portraying such a depth of emotion here. He just plays this scene so damn well

[smudgeandfrank]

Evelyn cat is ready to hold with her kitten, Ned! ❤️🐈‍⬛🐆✨ Evelyn can be a little feisty, especially when she defends Mary cat. She believes that murder is a natural cause of death… so watch her claws. ❤️🐈‍⬛✨ Ned, however, is just a sweetie with a knack for theatrics. 🐆✨

[eddie-redcliffe]

[spenglernot]

STORIES TELLING: NED LOWE AND THE DEATH OF POOR REPRESENTATION IN OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH

In history, Ned Lowe was one of the most sadistic and violent pirates in the early 18th century, so he’s an obvious choice for a villain for season 2, episode 6 – Calypso’s Birthday.  What is interesting is what the OFMD writers chose to do with him.

Lowe announces himself to the crew of the Revenge with great fanfare (cannon ball attack) and gets right to the point.

Ed is thoroughly unimpressed.

Cut to Ed and Stede tied up while Ned attempts to set the mood so he can monologue about why he wants to kill Ed.

Ed knows what’s coming. He is going to suffer but he still can’t be arsed to meet Ned with anything but vaguely bored dismissiveness (and Stede is happy to play along).

Up on the deck, Ned prepares the crew for his big, dramatic moment of symphonic torture.

Note that the Revenge crew is tied down, braced by vices and generally unable to protect themselves from imminent torture and possible death, but their spirits are up. They don’t seem terribly fussed.

Then Stede uses his people positive management style to happily orchestrate a worker uprising in Ned’s crew.

Ned’s crew responds instantly; severing their allegiance to Lowe and telling him off.

The crew sails away and talks profit sharing while Ned dully threatens to hunt them down.

Ned is now a prisoner of the Revenge crew and seems entirely disinterested in his own survival.

And Ned sinks to the depths, without struggling at all.

There is a lot going on in this episode: pay and labor equity direct action, gay love engagement bliss, kink humor, Stede being a hero and saving his crew by playing to his strengths, then having to decide whether to kill in cold blood and feel the consequences of that choice. Ed having one more reason to be done with piracy (while being so impressed with and fond of Stede), and then watching his man make a fraught choice and having to deal with the fallout from that. (And, damn, I haven’t even mentioned the passionate sex bit.) Anyway, back to the point.

Now for the the meta part

The Ned Lowe sequences are perfectly in keeping with OFMD’s signature blend of madcap violence, humor, and big emotional gut punches. But something about Ned Lowe just strikes me as off for this show.

Ned is seriously threatening the crews’ lives, so why don’t they take him seriously?

Why does Ned have such a boring, throwaway backstory?

Why is Ned so nonchalant about his own death; like it’s a foregone conclusion?

Why does Ned have a silver violin and silver spurs on his slip-on dress shoes?

Why is Ned sartorially monochromatic?

And then I realized who Ned reminds me of.

This guy,

Earnst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film Diamonds are Forever (1971)

And this guy,

Scar in Disney's The Lion King (1994).

And this guy,

Xerxes, 300 (2006).

And it sure seems like Ned Lowe isn’t just an episodic villain. He is an archetype of the one-dimensional, stereotypical queer-coded villain that has been endemic in film and television throughout history. The OFMD writers have a lot to say about what to do with this kind of character:

Don’t respect him.

Feel free to openly mock him.

Don’t let him take your joy, even though he will hurt you.

He won’t disappear on his own. You have to throw something at him (take action) to make him go away.

Once he’s in the water, he’s content to drown. He’s not into what he’s doing any more than you are.

Oh and, just to be clear,

The LGBTQIA+ community has a very long history of turning shit media into better stories. So, hey, big media, prepare to have your crap characters wrecked (improved).

Now, back to our transformative pirate show with rich, complex queer characters and a multi-layered plot that surprises me every week and makes me feel big feelings - most of all, joy.

Final thought: I do wonder if Ned Lowe is monochromatically silver as a tribute to/poke at, Hollywood and the silver screen.

This meta was written before OFMD season 2 has fully aired. No idea what’s going to happen in the finale (and I’ve generally fled social media to avoid spoilers). I’ll be back, looking at everyone’s fascinating posts after episode 8 airs.

[vivitalks]

we don't talk about it enough but duck and billy's relationship in amnesty is truly a tragic one.

imagine: you rescue a mindless drone. you save his life, you give him autonomy, you give him language. you teach him trust. you protect him at your own expense. you name him billy. he knows three words in your language, and one is your name. you promise to keep him safe, and he betrays his programming to help you in return. he defies everything he was designed to do in order to aid you.

you save him from being a drone, but in doing so, you kill him. he was never supposed to be here this long. you gave him freedom at the cost of rapid decay, and now he's dying. and if he could just go back to his home planet, he would live, but he doesn't want to. because you're here. duck newton, his first friend, his savior, his guardian. you showed him that there is a better way to live - with free will, with pizza and playstations.

he's damned if he stays and damned if he goes. but you can't watch him suffer. that's not who you are. you're duck newton, local beefcake, defender of the disadvantaged. so you wait until he's engrossed in his video game - in humanity, in freedom of choice - and you strike him down out of mercy.

billy reverts to his original form: a four-armed being of light, once a drone, now a friend. he's beginning to disintegrate, but he has unfinished business here. he never finished his video game. and you give him one last gift of mercy: you lie to him. don't worry, you tell him - that character you're worried about? she's fine in the end. no, i know it seems bleak now, but she turns out okay.

you can't give him anything else, so you give him hope. it's the same thing he gave to you, all those months ago when you saved him.

[aha-my-villainous-thoughts]

Breaking News!

Local Recently-Resurrected Rich Idiot Gets Absolutely Fucked Up By Neighourhood Chad Jungle Cat!

I am probably never going to finish this series (as much as I'm trying my best) so imma throw this to the pit of raccoons and deal with it. I mean... I love it, but it's been so challenging (I drew this like... in March? And I've done fuck all else with it)

[alicentflorent]

seeing helaena and alicent together during the riots, Alicent immediately concerned about helaena, trying to shield her, protect her and keep her safe and then we have helaena also showing concern for her mother, grabbing her hand when they were running away and worrying about her. It just reminded me of what we could’ve had if blood and cheese had been close to book accurate

Just imagine Alicent terrified for helaena as she sat there tied up and helpless knowing she couldn’t help her daughter and sweet helaena walking into that room with her children to say goodnight just to see her terrified mother held hostage and gagged, she instinctively wanting to help her before she quickly realises that she and the children were the targets. Alicent silently breaking down unable to do anything to help her daughter, just watch the torment as we see the fear, despair and anger flash through her eyes. Helaena going through a mothers worst nightmare, Alicent witnessing what they did to her girl. We wouldn’t need to see any gore or traumatised children because Olivia and Phia’s face acting and silent communication would have impacted us just as much as the horrific act of psychological torture and the innocent toddlers murder.