#ofmd s2 ep3

[queerly-autistic]

The thing that gets me the most about this scene is that Stede doesn't rescue Ed. Not in the traditional sense. He doesn't grab him. He doesn't pull him out of the water. Heck, he doesn't even lead him out of the water.

No, what he actually does is just be with Ed, exactly where Ed is. And that's the most powerful thing he could do.

And, crucially, Ed is still underwater. Stede's presence hasn't changed the fact that he's underwater. But the difference is that the weight has stopped pulling him further down, and, most importantly, he's no longer drowning.

I've talked about how much I love the way that this show explores mental health, and this is just a shining example of that. Stede's love for Ed, and his unwavering supportive presence beside him, doesn't fix his mental illness. It doesn't pull him out of the water.

But, fuck me, does having that love and support make it all feel a bit more survivable.

[dimity-lawn]

Come back to me Ed Our Flag Means Death!

[crowleychild]

I just ask the media for a show in which a man thows himself overboard, stiff as a board, not thinking even about swimming, in order to find the love of his life

[achillesuwu]

I would like to thank David for putting a actual mermaid in OFMD because let me tell you I was STARVING to see some mermaid!Stede au and now I know some people will go insane over it

Like, can you imagine an au after the 2x03 where Stede is like « hey hum how to put this… I’m a actual merman 👉👈”

[thelosercenter]

ALL THE THINGS WE SHOULDVE SAID THAT WE NEVER SAID ALL THE THINGS WE SHOULDVE DONE THAT WE NEVER DID-

[funnyifwebothgotitwrong]

You don't understand, they didn't put the music of the scene where Ed lies on the beach in purgatory and the music of the scene when Ed comes out of the ocean in his leathers on the soundtrack! They're both just not there!

I need that music.

I want that music. It is fantastic music. Why wouldn't they put it on the soundtrack? Why make a soundtrack if you just leave the best parts out?

I know the Kraken-music is the Swede's aria from the season 1 fuckery, but it is not just the instrumental version of the original classical piece, it's very different. And they incorporated their own versions of Gnossienne No. 5 and Händel's Sarabande in this seasons soundtrack album, so why not this?

And I considered that the part playing over Ed on the purgatory-beach might be another classical piece, but now I doubt it, because no one seems to be able to identify it.

[dimity-lawn]

How would this look to non-fans?

I died

[teeny-tiny-revenge]

Thinking about the "you're safe" line again when Stede tries to wake Ed up. Because like, Ed's probably never had anyone tell him he's safe. No, it's not just that he hasn't ever been told, it's that he's never felt safe in his life I think. Not even as a kid! He grew up around an abusive father. Home was not a safe space. Then he went and became a pirate as a teenager/young man. He continued his growing up under a captain who fed life crabs to the cabin boy for being hungry.

And then he grew up all the way and became Blackbeard and that's the safest he's ever been because nobody really dares fuck with Blackbeard, but it's a safety he has to put work in to maintain. It banks on him being perceived as strong, all the time, because if he lets that mask, that fuckery, slip, a guy like Izzy will come for him with "Edward better watch his fucking step". Ed's Blackbeard fuckery works so well that he gets bored of the lack of challenges (of the safety it provides him), but the second he actually slacks off in the act it's very clear that Ed isn't safe. Never was. Blackbeard is safe. Ed has never been actually safe in his life.

And then he meets Stede, who protects him from passive aggressive aristocrats, who gives him a space to explore the soft things he likes, who forgives him and comforts him when he cries in his fancy bathtub, and for the first time in his life Ed starts to feel safe around another person. And then that person, that safety, leaves. And it probably feels to Ed like it was never real in the first place.

Like how fucking scary is that. I'm not even sure if Stede actually says the "you're safe" line or if it's part of Ed's dream/hallucination, but it's exactly what he'll need to hear, both in this specific moment and going on the next couple of days/weeks. Like, he's coming out of a severe mental health crisis that ended in a suicide attempt. He definitely needs a safe environment to find his footing in again.

[ghostyary]

he was the best guy around

[critdeeznuts]

SCREAMING. SCREAMING. SCREAMING. OFMD S2 IS SOFUCKING GOOD ALREADY

[queerly-autistic]

God, the moment when Ed fights desperately to swim up to the surface before being dragged back, pulled down by a weight that he can't disentangle himself from, is one of the most simple but gut-punchingly powerful symbolic representations of mental illness that I've ever seen.

I appreciate it so much that Ed's suicidality is not just portrayed as 'oh he's given up and wants to die', but is shown as something that he's actively fighting inside his own head to try and stay alive. He's weighing up the pros and cons of living vs dying, he's arguing with himself - one part of him pushing to stay stay alive whilst the other part, the part that represents all his self-loathing, steps in to push him off the cliff - and then he's trying desperately to surface, but is unable to do so, because he cannot free himself from the rope that's tying him to the great weight dragging him further and further under.

Not to be dramatic, or anything, but this silly romcom about gay pirates may be one of my favourite portrayals of mental illness of all time.

[dimity-lawn]

OFMD s2 spoiler Is the obsession with soup going to lead to Stede and Ed getting a tureen?

[novaae]

the amount of effort being put into renewing ofmd is insane like girl if you put that much effort into idk. palestine or maybe even smaller than that, advocating for your local homeless people

[achillesuwu]

I didn’t see anyone talk about it but the ‘orgasme’ comment is actually pretty interesting (because it set the tone, we will have stede and ed fucking) BUT It implies that Ed has unsatisfactory partners which a lot of women complain about (I never saw mlm complain about in any space I was but I did saw the ‘women with women/men with women/men with men topping sexual satisfaction > men with men bottoming sexual satisfaction > women with men sexual satisfaction’ graph (you know the one if someone have it please rt it))

It doesn’t automatically mean that ed is an exclusive bottom (or that he bottom at all) but it could mean that just like Stede, Ed actually have a pretty unsatisfactory sex life

[thelosercenter]

i knew the minute i saw that shot (once i stopped crying, ofc) that i had to draw it, so i did

[vampiratecore]

i'm gonna DIE watching s2e2. vico told me they want me personally dead