#ofmd s2 rewrite

[tizzyizzy]

OFMD S2 Rewrite Part 1 (???)

I probably should write out a whole, finished plot outline, but I instead I'm starting with my attempts at replacements of the first two episodes.

Episode 1:

On the Revenge, we see that Ed is on a downward spiral. He is drinking to numb his emotional pain, cares little about his own safety or the crew's, and keeps taking risks in an attempt to feel anything. This includes stealing a prize from right under Ned's nose.

Throughout, we see how much this is wearing out the crew, especially Izzy. His toe is infected, but whenever he suggests a break, or going to shore to resupply, Ed is dismissive and uncaring. It isn't until Izzy collapses from infection Ed realizes what's going on.

Meanwhile, Archie has been picked up at some point to join the crew, and her relationship with Jim is developing.

Meanwhile meanwhile, Stede is learning that he has to regain the loyalty of his crew. Without money, they aren't inclined to follow him.

But with the help of the mysterious Ricky, Stede comes up with a brilliant plan to steal a ship. Turns out Ricky actually planned to capture Stede and use him as bait to capture Blackbeard.

But whoops, Stede and co. captured the lead ship of the Pirate Queen, and she's still on it! Now they've got Zheng's fleet on their tail, and a traitor in their midst!

Episode 2:

Izzy, delirious, refuses to accept an amputation, saying he'd better take his chances with the infection than become useless and be discarded by Blackbeard. Ed shoots Izzy in the leg to make amputation the only option. Overcome by guilt and despair, he locks himself in the brig to drink himself to death.

Between Izzy and Ed's delirious dreams, we get flashbacks of their relationship, where it is clarified for the audience. We see how close, productive, and joyful their relationship used to be. Then Ed becomes depressed, lose interest in piracy, and stop taking his role as captain seriously. We see how this puts an unfair burden on Izzy who tries to keep everything afloat while taking care of Ed, but also how Izzy misunderstands the situation and makes things worse by nagging Ed and trying to force him to do something he doesn't care about anymore.

Meanwhile, a storm is coming. Ed is too depressed to care. The crew on the Revenge are struggling to keep Izzy and themselves alive in the gale. Jim and Archie kiss, believing they might not survive.

Meanwhile meanwhile, Stede is having a crisis of his own. As they sail into the storm, his incompetence is becoming clearer and clearer...but he just managed to regain his confidence with his splendid plan. Zheng says she can lead them through the storm, but that would mean letting her out of the brig. Ricky tells Stede not to go through the storm, that it's better to wait it out than trust in someone as dangerous as Zheng.

In the end, Stede is man enough to give up power and trust in the crew and Zheng. Zheng takes charge and Stede, unlike Ricky, willingly submits to her orders, doing every bit of necessary manual labor with the rest of his crew. They get through the storm, and reach Revenge.

On the Revenge, Edward, finally, takes charge to get them through the storm. After his dark night of the soul, he has overcome his despair to save Izzy and the crew. He's wet and miserable with streams of dark makeup down his cheeks, but he's done it.

The storm fades. There are the slightest hints of a rainbow as Stede and Ed stare across at one another.

Authors Notes:

So I would consider this Act I. Here are some advantages of this setup.

No Evil Ed: Ed went full on bonkers in S2, complete horrific torture, murder-suicide, and PTSD inducing behaviors. In TizzyIzzy S2, Ed's atrocities are toned way down. While he's still a brutal pirate, he's more careless than intentionally cruel. This means he's more sympathetic as a character, keeping more of the audience on board. It also makes redemption much less of an issue for him, which mean we don't need to dedicate too much of later episodes to it. Speaking of which...

Ed's Redemption & Agency: In S2, Ed ends e2 being "killed" after nearly killing the entire crew, is unconscious in ep3 and spends all of e4 with Stede. He doesn't start trying to make things up to the crew until 5, and his attempts are woefully inadequate considering the impact. In TI S2, Ed is starting to work toward righting his mistakes as early as the end of ep2. By shooting Izzy's leg and forcing him to agree to the amputation, he's already acting in Izzy's best interest to make up for his previous negligence, even if it is in a fucked up way. Having him overcome his despair and guilt to save the crew in the storm shows growth, because he isn't letting his despair allow him to neglect the crew again. Development! It is also triumphant moment that gives Ed agency, conquering both a metaphorical storm and a literal one.

Stede as Captain: A big question that doesn't really get addressed in S2 is "why Stede?" Sure, he's got a pleasant attitude compared to most other pirate captain's, but he's fundamentally incompetent. Without his money, what is he? In S2, he goes from getting the crew hired by Spanish Jackie, to trying and failing to steal indigo at Ricky's suggestion, to being rescued by Zheng because luck. While Ricky still helps here, Stede still takes the lead in this unspecified brilliant plan. Sure, he messes up because he ends up taking Zheng's ship, but the fact that they actually succeeded goes to show his potential.

Stede as Crew: Another of Stede's flaws is that he can be arrogant. He wants the crew to do what he wants, even if he does genuinely care about them. He still wants to be the guy on top, and he's still naturally insecure about his pirating abilities. In TI S2 e2, he gets to overcome this flaw. He even gets to apply what he learned with Ed: just because Zheng is a fearsome Pirate Queen doesn't mean she can't be trusted. While we do get some of this in S2, I feel we could do with some more Stede bonding with the crew instead of lording over them.

Getting Stede and Ed Together: Before s2, I wanted Ed and Stede to grow a lot before finally reuniting. S2 made me lose my taste for that. Now we're getting Ed and Stede together an episode earlier. With less time needed to redeem Ed and them together an episode earlier, their relationship can be more thoroughly developed.

Clarifying the Edizzy Situation: Are they they world's most divorced couple? Mentor and mentee? Friends with benefits? Idol and worshipper? I don't know, and neither does David Jenkins! This flashback picks a relationship, clarifies it, and sticks to it. We get to be sympathetic to Izzy, by seeing how Ed has taken him for granted, and sympathetic to Ed by seeing unhappy he's been. Maybe we even see that Ed feels compelled to keep being pirate lest he disappoint Izzy.

[follows-the-bees]

Izzy didn't need to die.

We could have had almost the same finale with a much better impact, message, and not the emotional trauma to the audience.

Ed and Stede could still try their innkeeper career. And Ed and Izzy could have almost the same speech, without the "I'm ready to go" but the heart of the speech: be Ed.

Then in a direct parallel to last season, Izzy would be the captain of the Revenge. Instead of the crew mutiny, they choose him, their unicorn. Izzy takes the best of both worlds, what he learned in his career and what he learned from both Ed and Stede and use that to be a new kind of captain.

Which will lead to next season when Ed and Stede join them for another adventure. And we merge all the kinds of love: romantic, familiar, and platonic. Because we need all of that, and Ed and Stede need their family, and the crew can value all forms of love.

The growth, the humor, the ensemble cast getting the chance to shine, while still having the emotional beats of growing up and together.

[san-sebastienne]

I don’t care that it’s been months; I’m still thinking of how to tighten up s2 and make it have literally any narrative impact/emotional growth. So here’s my chopped and screwed s2 rewrite that nobody fucking asked for, PART ONE:

The big, overarching change is that Ned Lowe is the BBEG of s2. We’re saving Zheng and, more pertinently, Prince Ricky for s3 (that’s definitely happening in my world, shhh). This gives weightier narrative stakes to the Kraken era, since the looming problem is predicated on Ed’s actions – much like the Badmintons as BBEGs in s1 were based in Stede’s actions/past.

The season begins the same: the trauma crew are raiding every day, never making port. The Kraken is making everyone’s lives difficult. They break Ned Lowe’s record, but it doesn’t seem to matter (also Lucius is hiding in the walls of the revenge, causing even more stress and probably trying to haunt Ed. Let’s add a little levity.)

Stede and co in the ROP. Stede’s bartending at Jackie’z and hears someone talking about blackbeard… but they’re being very complimentary. Calling him “fascinating,” “a dedicated man” – not the kind of language that Stede’s gotten used to arguing about. Who’s this gent who seems to actually GET Ed? His name is Ned Lowe, and he’s looking for his old pal blackbeard.

Stede and the crew hitch a ride out of the ROP with Ned, since they all have the same goal – finding Blackbeard. Besides, Ned is genteel. He seems to have the same sort of appreciation for finer things that Stede has, and it’s nice to see after spending so much time cleaning up vomit at Jackie’z. Maybe Stede and Ned have a dinner in the captain’s cabin a la Barbarossa and Elizabeth Swann in the first PotC… everything is grand and well laid out, but something is very wrong. Stede tries to ignore this, but his “this guy is bad news” senses from being a gentleman are tingling.

Meanwhile, back on the trauma ship, Jim is trying not to mourn Oluwande. They’re very “everyone I’ve ever loved is dead; why would he be any different?” They’ve thrown themselves into pirating as a way to double down on their hardened I Am Vengeance persona, and this growing thing with Archie as a rebound.

Leg thing/Frenchie is first mate now/crazy storm thing/let’s kill Blackbeard are all the same. Except Lucius is there, probably spending a lot of time hiding with drunk/sick Izzy (there’s some hurt/comfort in both directions, as much as izzy can be lucid for it). He also shows up for that final shot of the crew looking down at Ed while Jim hefts the cannonball. Ed’s not worried about hallucinating anymore; he’s finally about to die!

It’s Ned’s ship (plus Stede et al) that comes across the storm wreck of the Revenge. Our crew still has to escape over to their old ship, not because anyone found Ed’s corpse but because Izzy, in a moment of clarity, is like oh shit, Ned Lowe is super bad news, we have to get the fuck out of here right now. This way we get the beginning of a basis of trust between Izzy and Stede, since Stede listens to the insistence of the Trauma Crew and takes Izzy’s advice on when to get out of a bad situation.

Gravy Basket happens.

Someone (Lucius?) tells Stede that Ed’s body is still onboard. MerStede happens.

Jim is extremely overwhelmed that Olu is alive. The two of them have a very sweet romantic reunion. They confess to Olu about Archie, but insist that she was just a rebound. Archie tries to laugh the whole thing off – it’s fine! This didn’t matter! Shit things are bound to happen to everyone! Jim feels mega guilty and starts to realize that maybe it wasn’t just a rebound – they might actually care for Archie.

The uicorn leg half of “fun and games” is pretty much the same, the big division between the crews being that The Trauma Crew wants to banish or straight up kill Ed, but they’re still very much being chased by Ned Lowe. Stede’s crew insists that getting distance here is more important than adjudicating that mess.

We do all still come together to give Izzy his new leg.

Ed is locked in some kind of makeshift brig, making everyone tetchy and uncomfortable. Except for Stede, of course, who sees this as his chance to explain himself to LITERALLY captive audience Ed. Stede has the “I love everything about you” scene with him there, and explicitly tells Ed that he didn’t go to the dock bc of Chauncey (holy shit, how does he never fucking bring that up in the actual s2). Ed is moved but not convinced to forgive Stede… yet. They do the hand holding thing here, but don’t have the conversation about taking it slow. Instead, offering his hand thru the bars of the brig is the only thing Ed does to show that he’s heard Stede and is considering forgiving him.

The other half of this episode is the crews re-integrating emotionally. Jim/Olu/Archie explicitly discuss their relationship structure. Jim can be with both of them. Lucius and Pete get to have a moment about how Pete thought Lu was dead; Lucius admits that he kind of thought he was too, since all he did was hide and hang out with a guy who was too delirious to even really recognize him.

Somehow we still get Ed in that catboy collar. Nonnegotiable.

Part two incoming…

[chonkymoth]

to YOU he's dead. to me he's out living a lil critter life alongside buttons 😌

[sweet-bazzle-bean]

.

[hang-on-lil-tomato]

I love you for this!

wow I'm so happy with this scene that was totally shown after the end credits of the S2 finale and doesn't just exist in my imagination (Izzy is immortal now btw)

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

I just wanna say, if you're one of those people doubting your own eyes because the canyon has been so loud with their "Ed is abusing Izzy" take -

You're right. Our interpretation of canon is based on what the show actually tells us and not just on fanon speculation. In the text of the show, Izzy is Ed's abuser, not the other way around. Izzy was the one who called the cops on Ed and his boyfriend and then threatened and goaded Ed when he was in a very vulnerable place. He's the one responsible for what happened after.

Izzy even says this! With his mouth! Losing his leg "served him right" and he knows it.

The kind of takes in the canyon exist because they've spent over a year making up a show that doesn't exist and rewriting OFMD to fit around their favorite White guy.

I know this because I've watched the show with my family and friends, people who don't interact with the fandom. Every single one of them had absolutely no sympathy for Izzy after what he did, even if they liked his s2 arc.

You're not crazy, I promise!

[amuseoffyre]

The more I write of my OFMD speculative S3 fic, the more I realise how much the writers were constrained for writing S2, by budget and executive interference about content and the limited time given by 8 episodes with reduced duration caps - I hadn't realised how much shorter some of the S2 episodes were than S1.

It makes me spit tacks thinking how much they could have done with the full 10 episodes, how so much of the stuff that felt rushed or pruned down or even fully cut was because too many CEOs spoiling the broth and forcing them to speedrun (and censor) so much.

We know they had:

a reunion scene with Jim and Olu - Samba mentioned it in WJW. Roach bringing them the soup and Olu crying on Jim's shoulder.

scenes setting up Zheng and Olu in the Republic from the press stills so it wasn't just hacked and slashed down to "you're the break in my day"

Wee John had more scenes with a through-line through multiple episodes about being tired of just being the Big Guy/muscle.

the entire planned polycule during episode 6 that was fully vetoed to the point that the cast and writers had to resort to slipping in coded references ("we've shared before" / "he's my anchor")

episode 6 originally meant to be a wedding episode where Ed actually pays for Lucius and Pete's wedding which again, vetoed, and we were only given a 2 minute ceremony tacked on the end - the fact that "Calypso's birthday" is literally "something you just made up as an excuse for a party" because they had to rewrite the episode

Ed and Stede actually spending episode 6 with them both not dealing well with "going slow" but it also being vetoed because Heaven forfend showing positive sexual desire between gay characters. But sure, lets show them being tortured instead. Max likes that.

Related to this is the 24 sexathon. Originally, it was meant to be Jim/Olu/Archie but it was shifted over to Lucius and Pete. Look at S1 when we had naked Olu and Jim snuggled post-coitus and Lucius drawing dick-pics and flirting shamelessly, 'we don't belong to each other'.

By comparison, S2 was pared back to a handful of kisses, one fade to black and a 60-second wedding. Nothing says sterilising the queer sex experience like having two people standing two feet apart, fully-dressed and not touching while saying "Oh yeah we had so much sex" 😤 THEY COULD HAVE BEEN CUDDLING IN BED. WE DESERVED CUDDLES. THIS GOES FOR EVERYONE.

But no. You may only have [this] much open queer affection in this show and then we shall destroy it because we never wanted to give you S2 in the first place.

[hang-on-lil-tomato]

It might just be me, but I don’t think this scene was about piracy. 🧐

Con O’Neill is an international treasure! Hope he gets TONS more work out of this stellar performance! He’s great in Telstar. He seems to like to play guys who are over the edge!

You don’t know the first thing about piracy, do ya?

[izzysheavingbosom]

One thing that baffles me about the OFMD fans who can't accept any criticism about the show, not even mild criticism, is that even if you loved every second we got on screen, we know it's not the version of S2 Jenkins and the others wanted to make.

We know there were last-minute rewrites. We know that Jim/Oluwande/Archie were supposed to have a sex marathon. We know Pete and Lucius were supposed to get married in ep 6. We know the crew was supposed to push Ed and Stede together.

So how can you go 'this season was perfect' when it's not the season the creator wanted to make?

[figmentof]

so i've been seeing a lot of people ask "what streaming service would want to pick up a show that only has one season left?" and i think that's a really valid question

now i'm not by any means a media analyst nor do i know the inner workings of the streaming industry but maybe my logic could help alleviate some of that anxiety

ofmd has a solid and very loyal viewer base. the ratings of both s1 and s2 have proven that, especially s2. s1 already outperformed in every way by running circles around MCU projects like Moon Knight and Loki, left both SW shows The Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett in the dust, and did exceptionally well for a freshman series when going up against existing IPs. now we know that that alone was what got us s2 with max, but even then max/WBD went and slashed the budget by 40% 😬. BUT, even with this limitation and the pacing getting fucked up by rewrites/cut downs for the last three episodes, s2 still came through and delivered record breaking numbers, rave reviews across the board with major media outlets, and outdid their s1 performance that max officially listed ofmd as their max original flagship show. the unfortunate thing however is that none of this made a difference, we still got dropped last minute when the bts crew was already gearing up for pre-production

just because WBD/Zaslav doesn't respect or see the value of the show, doesn't mean other networks/streamers don't. a huge reason why i pushed for apple tv is bc they're a service that i've noticed cares about letting a show do their thing and not as much about viewership. apple tv did get a lot of attention and money from Ted Lasso though, and it was their flagship show for the three seasons it aired. i'm sure their 45 minute per episode season 3 was granted to them mainly because the show brought so much attention to their platform, so i think they'd absolutely do that for ofmd too what with it also being a feel good rom com with positive messages

ofmd also has a huge social media presence. the most recent and very successful example DJenks could use within his pitch is the astroglide incident. within an hour of astroglide tweeting about ofmd, fans are already photoshopping their product into screencaps, editing them into clips, and drawing fan art-- free advertisement delivered to them just because they gave us some attention. the fan tweets with astroglide reached thousands of eyes and astroglide was trending. any service that chooses to pick ofmd up isn't just getting a fanbase that would save them some budget in terms of marketing, but also help them market their lesser known shows too. and Casey Bloys said so himself, albeit very tone deaf and for all the wrong reasons, the twitter gays are the ones who have the power to bring attention to a show (queer word of mouth is no joke)

sometimes all a streaming service needs is a show to push people to subscribe, and i think a lot of these services have good shows but no one is looking for them. ofmd fans are pretty good at browsing through what a service has to offer but you need to give them an incentive, as would any business, that makes them want to spend money. i just think that picking ofmd up is only ever a win for a streamer and it would be stupid of them not to

of course, if you want actual insider knowledge with stats and more realistic talks of what might happen (cautiously optimistic!), you know to check out thecozypirate and meowzawowza_ on twt

[epersonae]

fic etc (new version!)

[update March 21, 2024]

These days I'm writing fic for Our Flag Means Death.

Longfic

I have three finished long pieces, in order of connectedness to canon:

Hungry for love, ready to drown (T, 33K) - a Stede POV retelling of season one starting with episode four, lots of missing scenes (so much with clothing but also wound care! dream sequence!). My love letter to canon; I watched those episodes so many times in little bursts to really absorb the writing and acting, and I'm very proud of the results. Goes well with S2 prep, if I may say so. Will probably definitely most likely get a sequel, but it's taking me a while to figure out how to approach it.

the devil's threeway (E, 30K) - Ed POV, starts with a pre-canon encounter with Jack and (non-canonical) Anne Bonney, follows up with a post-S1 meet-up with Anne and (also non-canonical) Mark Read, and then a somewhat unusual reunion with Stede. Includes the fic where Ed would not. Stop. Crying. There is a reasonably likelihood that I will write something similar or equivalent with the canon versions of Anne and Mary, but it's still marinating.

for the benefit of all the broken hearts (E, 62K) - the not RPF but not not RPF that is maybe the best thing I've ever written in any medium for any reason: a fix-it fic for the gorgeous and weird Water Flowing Underground, told from the perspective of the unnamed second wife. My exploration of the aftermath of tragedy, the possibility of repair, and varieties of love. Read the tags, read the author's note, read WFU first (or don't, I'm not the boss of you, and I do know someone who read them out of order and still enjoyed it), but please give it a shot. Posts tagged #carlita coded content are related to this work, sometimes very obliquely. There is also a follow-up fic of missing scenes, end up several worlds away, that still has one chapter remaining (I SWEAR I'm going to finish it), and a short sort of non-linear AU, back on my beat, that explores some alternate endings.

Some favorite shorter pieces

I have begun to long for you, a "mutiny against Izzy succeeds" canon-divergence AU

nice either way, my contribution to the Beard Discourse

Commit to the Bit, modern AU blackbonnet engagement and wedding

Season 2 and post-S2 fic

I spit on your grave - post-S2, Stede and Ed have a serious conversation, starting with how Ed didn't "happen" upon Stede being gut-stabbed, and going some tough places from there

lost and found - post-S2, featuring beach comber Stede and those cake toppers

Through the storm - the crew of the Revenge between episodes 2 and 3. slow and creepy!

in case I never make it through to where you are - bad ending AU set at the end of 3. MIND THE TAGS, it's a rough one.

Other stuff

Occasionally I post OFMD fic recommendations, which started as a weekly thing but, you know. They are still posted in sets of five on Fridays, when I do them, and tagged #five fic friday. (There's no particular system to my listings, just stuff I like that's not PWP.)

Not fic: I am doing a little project where I make/recreate recipes that I have written down but haven't made in a long time (or ever) - that can be found under the tag #food as play. Includes my rewrite of the 40 Orange Cake Recipe!

I have also written a lot of fic for The Adventure Zone, my favorite being The Reckoning Arrives, a 77k fic in which Lucretia, Taako, Merle, and Carey go looking for Kalen.

I wrote quite a bit of my TAZ fic with my late spouse Ryn (@taakovapes). Ryn died in September 2021; here's the post I wrote the week they died. I often post/tag about them and death and grief. (See tags #not all exits are made equal, #[grief dab], and #posts I wish I could send to Ryn in particular.)

[ladyluscinia]

Anyway having finished the fic it was a good read, and it's absolutely horrendous what the author went through because they dared to write a popular fic that engaged with Edward as a complex character.

Edward's central arc is both strong and intensely sympathetic, Izzy's characterization (imo) never stops being grounded in a good faith read of his culpability both in series and in the fic's timeline (even when it skews critical - good faith doesn't always mean positive, just defensible), and I'm still simultaneously 1) shocked it's not an "Izzy fic" that actually orbits around his character / POV, and 2) completely un-shocked to have found yet another instance where pulling back the sheet on some Izzy-related harassment incident reveals that actually the antis were flipping their shit pretty much exclusively over takes on Edward that refused to conform to their "my blorbo cannot be problematic" worldview. The "Izcourse" was always about punishing fans for liking the wrong things about Edward. 🤷‍♀️ Poor Izzy just got scapegoated.

Hell or High Water is a lot more... "Izzy critical" is not the phrase I'm looking for - like, the fic is not being unreasonable about him - but it's definitely landing on the more critical end of what I would consider good faith reads than I was expecting. Given all the baseless accusations. Like I know just treating him like a normal dude was considered heresy but they harassed the author so much for saying he was a shitty dude with complexes???? Simply because he wasn't treated as evil???

I mean, I know a lot of it was also the daring to engage with Edward's violent impulses during peak "how dare you taint my pure blorbo by suggesting he would do bad things unless he was under active duress???" era, but fucking hell.

[myhsterie]

can i be a hater rq.

ofmd s2 was not good after episode 3 (even that’s debatable), and while hbo definitely fucked them over i’m happy with the series ending here (if happy was more like “oh thank god it’s over”).

fans got TOO involved with the woodwork of the show and in its actual storytelling. the story itself began to change based on what they thought fans wanted to see, not what was satisfying. i have gripes with izzy and jim in particular being actor-ified: that wasn’t izzy and jim, that was con and vico. not saying they’re bad actors but their journeys and characters did not make logical sense even for a comedy, based on the previous season. it felt like they were tailoring the character arcs to the actor’s public persona in order to entice fans. i mean what the fuck was that non-resolution to the jim & oluwande storyline? what the fuck was IZZY’s entire thing? change isn’t (generally) that quick. and i’m not izzy’s biggest fan but killing him off after that storyline felt like cheap sobs. nothing was EARNED. nothing was SATISFYING. it was empty calories when the first season was a home cooked meal. a pale imitation that didn’t seem to understand what made it a good story in the beginning.

i love the first season. i have a full handmade ed cosplay. i wrote thousands upon thousands of words of fanfiction (that i then used to secure actual writing jobs lol). i’ve paid to meet nathan foad at a con as the kraken. i had art on my walls and still do. let it be known i’m not talking out of my ass here. i loved this show.

but i’m also a screenwriter and a director and a storyteller. i’m a working professional in film. and they did not use this second season effectively. episode order cut short? rewrite. don’t try and cram 10 episodes into 8. just cut it down. and don’t waste time either, which it did a lot of. nothing felt justified, nothing felt earned, it all felt like pandering, and it made me stop watching. it read like they’d been exposed to far too much fan content and had let that poison the integrity of the show and i’m not sorry to say it! the fandom’s proximity to the creators did not help s2 at all and likely harmed it grievously! and none of you want to hear that!

i’m not sorry for fandom wanking all over your timelines. i’ve had these thoughts and critiques for a long time but felt like i was going to be shot in the street like a dog if i said them on here lmao. but it has to be said. it wasn’t a good season, and even though the studio’s intentions on ending it were not fully pure there were still pretty damn good reasons to end it. you are all insufferable and embarrassing, and i hesitate to identify with the ofmd fan base anymore because of the utter lunacy i’ve seen. hope this helps!

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

I need a question answered by the broader OFMD fandom:

Did Jenkins write S2 knowing it would be 8 episodes?

If not, did he not have time to rewrite it???

[nanoland]

ofmd s2 incoherent rambling ahoy: about tealoranges

ok so.

i get it.

i get why jim and oluwande didn't leap back into one another's arms upon reuniting.

see. at the end of s1, the show did what i in hindsight think was kind of a stupid thing. it had THREE couples. and it separated ALL of them.

and i suspect the thinking went 'well we can't have all three couples reunite at the same time when the crews meet up again! that'll be repetitive and boring!'

and that's fair. it would be.

(which is why separating all three couples was stupid)

so they decided to have three DIFFERENT reunions:

Ed and Stede, a troubled, stormy, hugely passionate reunion, epic romance, merman etc

Lucius and Peter, a rocky but much less volatile 'oh thank god you're alive! marry me!' reunion

and Jim and Oluwande, a super chill 'oh hey, missed you' type reunion, where the separation ended up undoing the relationship

if you're going to have 3 similar story events occur at the same time (which.... you shouldn't, but if that's the corner you've written yourself into), then you want those 3 events to be as dissimilar as possible.

i get it.

here's what i would have done instead:

swap J+O with L+P

because J+O are the more interesting relationship; the one s1 spent more time getting us invested in. it makes sense that it should continue, or at LEAST get a big, heartbreaking ending, instead of them basically breaking up offscreen. imo THEY should have been the couple that got married in s2! that seems obvious to me!

and L+P..... well, i like em, they're cute, but like, a. the audience is naturally less invested in them because we didn't see them get together, b. 'we don't own each other' but suddenly they're monogamously married eh?? and c. lucius on the whole didn't work in s2.

see

it really

reallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly

wasn't a good idea to have Lucius be horribly abused in his time separated from the crew and then profoundly traumatised. it wasn't, i'm sorry. it wasn't treated seriously or respectfully, it had no lasting ramifications, and it doesn't fit his character's core comedic role which is to be a chill lazy cute lil bitch who sucks at pirating

s2 lucius is not fun to watch. he's angsty and despondent. which would be fine if his story was going to be treated properly as a story of overcoming trauma, but it's not, at all. so watching him just makes me sad and grumpy.

but JIM?

Jim's core comedic role has, from the start, been The Serious One with the Big Dramatic Quest!

give JIM the rocky, passionate reunion! let Oluwande leap into Jim's arms! let Jim be angsty and recover! let Jim propose marriage!

doesn't that fit much better? and Jim's already gone through the trauma of Blackbeard so, like, we can have J+O be The Overcoming Recent Trauma Couple to E+S's Overcoming Old Trauma Couple, and then we can have L+P just being easygoing once-lovers like 'oh hey it's you! <3 still wanna date? nah? ok, cool, love u <3'

and it'll be fine because Lucius doesn't need a wedding to fix his psychological wounds because - BECAUSE - because because because ACTUALLY this is all actually a sneaky way for me to suggest that we COMPLETELY CUT the shit Lucius went through!

all of it!

completely!

hand puppet joke? hand puppet nope! didn't happen!

he fell overboard, he was picked up by Zheng's ship, he's been chilling with Auntie this entire time! yay!

...... yeah so i guess this has now kinda turned into me rambling about how i'd rewrite the whole season huh :/

(but like, again, the ease with which the story could have just had Lucius go from 'thrown overboard' to 'chilling with Auntie'?? IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO EASY? why include The Horrors at all? what do they add??? all they amount to in the end is one more reason for Lucius and the crew to hate Ed, which, a. THEY ALREADY HAVE TEN MILLION REASONS TO HATE ED and b. if you want them to be Ed's FAMILY by the end of the season maybe you want to start CUTTING BACK on reasons to hate him!)