#or getting to kiss stede again

[lumiilys]

hey hey hey i just remembered that the little finger battle scene after the moonlight kiss in s2e5 was improvised and i wanna melt into a little puddle again

[o-wild-west-wind]

okay so i know the trailers have already snapped us like twigs and ground us to dust from the realization that our lovers are finally coming back to us but. I urge you all not to forget. there will ALSO be lesbians. plural.

stay strong folks.

[sleepymrshmllow]

the amount of times I've watched the last scene of s2 episode 3 is honestly concerning atp

[fxckin-blackbeard]

ᒥ🦑ᒧ—       "It tastes so bad," He remarks before drinking more. He was probably drinking it too fast, as his stomach and head began to feel warm, fuzzy already. "I think it's workin', though..." He couldn't focus on the pain much anymore, just a dull ache that throbbed here and there left.

Edward then moves back to laying down, smiling to Stede. "Could ya come here, mate?" He wanted to thank the other for not just the rum, but the reassurance and compliment. Of course, there was only one way he knew how to say 'thank you' to humans.

Once the human man does, indeed, come close he leans up to place a soft peck to Stede's lips. "Thank you...For everythin'...Rum, compliments, showin' me the clothes. You're just...Fascinating, man. I've never met anyone like you before. It's refreshing to meet someone so...gentle and kind." Seems the rum really got to him, or at least thats how it would look from an outside perspective.

Edward's smile is warm, gentle, and bright. He's genuine, shown in soft brown eyes looking into Stede's.

“I do, I really do,” he says with a gentle sort of conviction.

Stede remembered when he first came across the fabrics. Bold and bright. Something that made a statement. That he was there, and he deserved to be there. But he never did find the courage to wear it out into the world. And while he’d only known Ed the better part of an hour, Stede knew those colours belonged with him.

“Oh, but it would. It would suit you so wonderfully. I’ll tell you what, once your up and about you can try on the whole ensemble. See for yourself. And there’s so much more I can show you downstairs.”

He watches Ed then, curious at the way he eyes the rum. The way his expression shifts and body shudders as he drinks. It reminds him of his youth. Of stolen liquor and a dare to chug from the bottle. The burning and bitter taste to which he grew accustomed.

“Maybe just one glass will do, must have grabbed one of the strong ones.” It wasn’t, given the way he’d seen sailors in town gulping it down readily as water. Just another mystery about Ed that Stede had yet to solve. Not that he was exactly trying.

[dean-winchesters-clit]

Been thinking about the kiss scene and Ed asking to go slow and Stede reaching out to hold his hand, asking if it's okay.

Yes, it's awesome that Ed is setting boundaries and Stede is honoring those boundaries, but I think there's more to it than that.

Stede tries to initiate more during their kiss. He's the one who grasps Ed's hair, the one who takes the kiss from chaste to passionate. Stede is a man who has been denied human connection and intimacy for most of his life. He's a man dying of thirst in a desert and Ed is the beautiful oasis he's stumbled upon, so of course Stede wants to drink his fill. Who wouldn't want a piece of Edward Teach? But then Ed pulls away, uses Stede's own words against him, and you can immediately tell that Stede is scared he's being too much.

I've been a very physically affectionate person my whole life. I love hugs and giving cheek kisses and snuggling so much. I still sleep with my baby blanket so I have something to hold at night. I'm always afraid of being too much for other people. I've overstepped other people's boundaries before and it feels awful to do so. Because of this, I've often compromised my own need for physical affection, always letting other people set the boundaries and never telling them if I need more. This became a big problem in my last relationship; I accepted less than crumbs even though I was starving.

Stede is clearly starving for any physical contact with Ed. He sits close to him on the couch in Anne and Mary's house, always moving and leaning closer. He tries to initiate more during their kiss and even grabs Ed to keep him from moving away. So, when Ed sets a clear boundary, Stede is terrified to even initiate another touch. He's afraid of being too much, of scaring Ed off.

Which is why it's so fucking brave of him to ask if holding Ed's hand is okay.

Ed jokes about them both being the fish that wants to get caught and Stede visibly relaxes at the familiar banter between them. So, he takes a risk and reaches out for a point of contact that he needs. Because he's scared of being too much, scared of scaring Ed away, scared of never being touched ever again. He needs reassurance, needs to make his own need for contact known, needs to make sure he's not too much.

And it's almost like Ed realizes this and immediately takes Stede's hand, immediately says "this is perfect this touch is perfect this contact is perfect your touch is perfect." And then Ed initiates even more touching by stacking their hands, by initiating play that Stede immediately latches onto. Ed sees Stede's desire and says "I'm not ready for more yet, but I can meet you halfway. I can give you reassurance and contact in simple ways until I'm ready for the next step."

And that is just so beautiful. It's not just the boundary setting and boundary honoring, it's the recognizing of needs and making a compromise to meet someone halfway.

[and-fishing-equipment]

ED WEARING WHAT STEDE WEARS VS STEDE WEARING WHAT ED WEARS

THE SILK AS A SYMBOL OF WHO ED HAS ALWAYS TRULY BEEN AT HEART VS THE FISH AS A SYMBOL OF WHO ED IS WORKING TOWARDS BECOMING

THIS TATTY OLD THING VS OH THIS NEW THING

“YOU WEAR FINE THINGS WELL” AS A SUGGESTION OF WHAT COULD BE VS “YOU WEAR FINE THINGS WELL” AS A MEMORY OF WHAT COULD BE AGAIN

WANTING TO KISS HIM VS GOING FOR IT

FULL MOON (HAVING EVERYTHING) VS HALF MOON (WE’RE GETTING THERE)

GOING SEPARATE WAYS VS WALKING AWAY HAND IN HAND

[edandstede]

it keeps hitting me that stede knows he’s in love, has known since he talked with mary and had his revelation. he knows that he loves everything about ed, he thinks about him constantly, he hopes ed is thinking about him as well, he knows that he loves being near ed and breathing the same air. he is fully, wholly, completely head over heels and he is saying it and showing it with his whole chest. what is going to be like when he sees him again for the first time? when he hears ed’s voice, makes him smile, gets to hold his hand, hold him altogether? this man kissed his message in a bottle, eyes closed, full of hope, so what is he going to do when he can kiss ed again for real, knowing he’s been dreaming about being that close since he left? like do you get it? he knows he knows he KNOWS how much he loves and wants ed, and he is willing to fight to get back to him, and it’s going to hit ed with the force of fifty storms.

[follows-the-bees]

Stede's journey screams demisexuality to me. (And as someone who is demi, I love it.)

I've posted about a reading of Ed as demiromantic as well.

Stede doesn't leave to find (romantic) love. He set out to find himself, to find a community. And he finds that! His crew becomes his family (it's also part of why he starts crying and really starts to self-destruct in 2x7 when they start to leave.)

Along the way he finds not only a best friend, but the love of his life: in that same person. Stede's journey is a blatant queer allegory: a man who has never fit into society, who is treated poorly for not fitting into *pick your societal norm*, who finds himself through community, fixing some of his past relations, but also discovering his sexuality: gay and demisexual.

Stede and Ed's connection is based on friendship — their emotional journey. We see an instant connection in 1x4 where both of them are fascinated by each other.

Stede tries to be open with the crew beforehand, an open door policy to the cabins, various other rooms, and the library. He tries to form that connection with others (to varying degrees at first.)

But when Ed enters the picture, they immediately have that connection. They are interested in each other and their idiosyncrasies.

We see their friendship grow over the course of the next few episodes. They remain equal in all things, learning and teaching each other. We see the deepening of friendship of course in the big scene of the bathtub.

Ed shares his biggest secret (secrets technically), trusting Stede with it. And Stede responds in kind, using the term friend for the first time. Their emotional intimacy grows deeper here.

We also see their connection and friendshio in the small moments. From how well they match each other with playing/riffing off of each other, finding in one another a partner. Something they always wanted. Someone who gets them for who they are, but also meets them at that level, letting them unmask and have fun.

And in small gestures such as learning basic things about each other: Stede knowing exactly how Ed likes his tea. That Ed will be cranky that he has sand in his beard. That Ed would set the world on fire or die trying, etc.

So much of Stede's s journey is having an emotional connection to Ed, and from there a sexual one. But it takes him a while to figure it out. I don't read his season one trek as repressed but rather not ever having that connection with another human being before — particularly a man. He knows about same sex relationships (he presumably went to boarding school and is on the queerest pirate ship in the Caribbean🌈) but I don't think he ever attached it to himself.

Their friendship crosses the line at their first kiss. But the focus of the kiss isn't sexual, it's emotional. It's that sigh at finally finding the thing you always wanted but simultaneously didn't know you needed. That feeling of oh, there you are.

We don't see Stede show (romantic/sexual) interest in anyone else. (Same thing with Ed in a way, but Ed's journey is another topic.)

Even during their time apart, they are both pining for each other, no hints of feelings or acts with others.

Stede is having sex dreams about Ed at night and writing gorgeous love letters during the day. And when they finally connect again, Stede and Ed take it slow. Stede tells Ed exactly how he feels about him, and it isn't about how he wants to jump his bones. He tells him he just likes being near him. And respects Ed's boundaries, never crossing them and telling him he doesn't have to say anything back.

One of my favorite things about their relationship is their consent and bodily autonomy respect in each other. He knows Ed and respects Ed. Ed knows and respects Stede.

They are friends first and lovers second.

At the surface his dreams may be about becoming a pirate (not really being a pirate but rather using the stories of pirates he read in books to achieve his dream of getting community), but ultimately, his dream is just really getting to be himself, love himself, and in the process, he picks up a found family. It's mutual.

Stede no doubt knew about sexual attraction, particularly others having it, but not so much himself having it nor acting on it. Not until Ed at least. And when he does discover and puts into words those feelings, everything going on with his sexuality, Stede does not hesitate, he does not doubt. He goes after Ed, after love.

Watching Stede discover love for the first time, a deep emotional friendship that then evolves into a romantic and sexual one. His demisexual journey over the two seasons (so far) has been wonderful to watch and connect with.

That's my demisexual king! And queen! Everything!

I've written pieces of this before, but I wanted to combine all of it together into one post.

Happy Asexual Awareness week, loves! 🖤🩶🤍💜

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

It really, really sucks that so many online OFMD spaces are echo chambers of negativity to the point of people feeling like they have to add disclaimers for liking the show or liking the ending. I figure it's well past time to get some season 2 positivity going around again!

We got to see Ed and Stede fight to each other across a beach! I remember cautioning myself after the teaser like "maybe they won't actually be fighting to get to each other...although that would be cool..." and then they were!

Seriously, s2 gave us what we wanted and more. We were well fed. Beautiful kisses! Touching moments!

Stede Bonnet, romantic hero. Right out the gate. Kissing the bottles with his letters in them before he tossed them out to sea remains one of the most romantic things I've ever seen.

"I love everything about you! Just being near you! It's nice, feels good."

Ed in his lil kitty outfit :3

Every word out of Zheng's mouth, honestly. She's just fantastic!

Auntie describing Ed as having "hair of silver," perfectly poetically to immediately enter everyone's lexicon when talking about his hair

The cake toppers! Holy shit I still can't believe they did that. Ed painted a bride cake topper to look like himself, with a heartaching degree of tenderness. It's one of the most haunting things I've ever seen.

Ed and Stede got to end the show feeling safe and happy, and they're getting to start their new lives together. It was never supposed to end there, but it's such a kind ending. It's not an ending, not really, it's their new beginning.

Season 2 is great. We're lucky this show ever got made, and season 1 was phenomenal, but faced with extreme budget and time cuts in season 2, they delivered a damn excellent story. Everyone involved in this show should be proud, and I'm just glad every day that I'm lucky enough to have been here to watch it and be in this space with you all!

[chuplayswithfire]

was it a bad decision because ed started having doubts shortly before, or because it generally too fast? 🤔

It was a bad decision both because they are moving too fast, as Ed pointed out, but also because it was clearly a trauma response.

Stede and Ed were tortured in front of each other, and Stede had to watch the man he loves be insulted and put down and then right after achieving success, derailing the threat, Ned Low mocks and insults him again, which is the driving force behind Stede's choice to murder him. It's equal parts him being protective and him feeling humiliated and wanting to regain his sense of control and power after being hurt.

And then after, he exits the situation, clearly not okay, and Ed opens up, wanting to talk it through - and Stede grabs him, they start kissing, they're against a wall, and then they're in bed together.

The sex was as much relief at being alive as very much not wanting to talk about and get into his emotional reaction to it all. It was avoidance. It was pushing away bad feelings in favor of feeling something else, anything else, that was better, with the bonus of him of course loving and being wildly attracted to Ed.

The sex was consensual. They were both interested in each other and Ed definitely wasn't coerced or anything like that - but it wasn't the right time for them to be having sex and it wasn't the right reason and like Ed said, he wanted to go slow, and he wasn't ready.

It was a perfect beat in their relationship. The writing choices were excellent on this, it was a fantastic build for a parallel situation to the kiss, because it means that Ed and Stede are once again not on the same page about their relationship and their feelings, but without putting them back in the same exact emotional space.

[portraitofadyke]

I think Our Flag Means Death is a very unique show in a way that they don't care to cater to mainstream media. And yes, by mainstream media I mean the general straight people.

I think it's very important that we have feel-good shows like Heartstopper. A few years back, a tv show about two queer boys in high school would be unthinkable. But its plot generally revolves around explaining queerness. Sure, it's nice. It's definitely the show I would watch with my family if I were a teenager and wanted to come out again (I had to watch glee with my mom to do that. not optimal). It's the show where teenagers find love and themselves, but sexuality is constantly discussed, explained, sanitized. It's the show straight people will watch. And that's good. We do need shows like that.

But Our Flag Means Death doesn't even bother trying. It's a show about mostly middle aged people, most of them not white, most of them queer in one way or the other. It's really a game of spot the hetero, like someone said. And the characters are not sublte about it. They have sex for fun, something most characters don't have in tv shows, definitely not queer characters. They make dick jokes. They are not all conventionally attractive and they know it, and the writing doesn't care. They are all people before they are queer representation.

Stede's storyline in s1 is in a part about discovering himself and his sexuality, but it's not obnoxiously repeated. Instead, it's played in a natural way. Stede's storyline is ALL about finding himself, yet it's not just about that. Just like Ed's storyline, it's about toxic masculinity and allowing himself to have fine things and self-hatred and finding his place in a world, something most of us can relate to. Hell, none of us were even sure the main characters were going to kiss and end up together, we were all so sure it's a queerbait. But this show doesn't bait its audience. It's not afraid of weirdness. It embraces it instead. There is a nonbinary character. No, they are not a mermaid. Call them jim. That's it. Yes, Lucius and Pete got engaged. Everyone there knows what mateolage is, congrats. Olu and Jim never break up and then Archie shows up, then Zheng, and we all know. We all know.

Two men nearing fifty have a deep, romantic moment where one of them appears as a mermaid, and it's treated as the profound scene it is without ridiculing it. This would never fly in a 'mainstream' media. It would have to be downplayed. Here, it saves Ed's life.

The show tells you racists suck, but it doesn't tell you in a condescending, finger-waving way catered to the white people. Instead, it sets your ship aflame and burns you alive, runs a knife through your hand, puts poison in your drink and kills you.

This is a show for adults, for queer people of all kinds, and it does not give a fuck if anyone else gets it. It's so rare to find a tv show that caters to us, yet alone a tv show that's genuinely good and caring and so well loved.

This is a show that basically straightbaited its audience in the first season, that's how much they don't care.

Idk, I just feel that it will take ages for another show like OFMD to exist in a world full of MCU and media that tries so hard to be liked by everyone it loses its personality and charm. Rant over

[fuckyeahisawthat]

I love how much of OFMD s2 is about do-overs and second chances. Like obviously the message of the whole show is "you're not too old and it's not too late" and "everyone is capable of positive change." But I love how many specific moments the characters get to do over from their missed chances and fuckups in s1.

Stede tells Ed to wait for him in the woods while he goes back to the ship to convince them that Ed can stay another night, and it's so obvious that Ed is scared af that Stede is not coming back, that he'll be left waiting for Stede alone in the dark again. But Stede does come back! And invites Ed to come with him this time. "You wear fine things well" but this time they both know that's an overtly romantic line, they get a do-over of their almost-kiss missed connection and this time they do kiss and they both know how much it means. The lyrics of "This Woman's Work" that they use ("Give me these moments / Give them back to me" and "All the things we should've said that we never said / All the things we should've done that we never did") in the context of the scene get transformed into hoping against hope for another chance, just come back to me and I'll say and do all the things I was afraid of before, please give me another chance to make it right. And they get it.

Even Izzy fucking Hands gets a do-over of his worst moment from s1, acknowledging the harm he caused and getting to touch Ed's face and say "there he is" in the context of telling Ed to go live his authentic life.

And of course Ed and Stede at the end, Stede saying without hesitation that he has no second thoughts, that he's sure this time, and we know it's not about running an inn or any other scheme they might cook up together but about building a life together.

When we talk about OFMD as a kind show or a hopeful show this is the kind of stuff I think about. It's not that no one ever suffers or dies or gets hurt or fucks up; it's that the characters can fuck up massively but they get another chance to keep trying, together, keep swimming toward the light even when things look real dark. I know you've got a little life in you left.

[nerd-elf]

Alright

ALRIGHT

SO!

We all know this beautiful, breathtaking, touching scene

Right?

RIGHT???

Okay

(I’m a little excited about this)

When they’re kissing, Stede gets very passionate, yes

And Ed takes a step back, yes

THEN WE GET THIS FACE

THE REGRET

THE GUILT

And I realized I had seen this before but I didn’t remember when, so I needed to watch the series again (oh no, how sad!)

SO I FOUND IT

RIGHT HERE!!!! YEAHHH!!!!!!

And it’s beautiful. Because Rhys really portrays how Stede feels bad for hurting Ed. He understands, and he just can’t stop blaming himself.

Right before this scene, in 2x04, Ed says:

“I was all in”

And he was. He wanted to run away to China with a guy he barely knew because for the first time in his he was actually happy, then Stede Bonnet boned it (ha!).

And even though Stede says they moved too fast and he knows it, I love those small moments where you can see the regret in his face, because now he really wants to touch Ed and hug him and kiss him and maybe run away to China, but it’s too late.

Now Ed needs time. And he’ll give to him, because he loves him, because he deserves it, but we can also see how it hurts him deeply.

I love Rhys for giving us Stede.

Bonus: He’s so in love I want to cry!!!!

[our-flag-means-love]

we can compliment the writing of ofmd all day (and yes, i will continue to do so until the day i die) but the acting really soars too- especially in season 2, in my opinion. rhys and taika are both fantastic, and perhaps i'll share some more of my favorite acting moments of theirs in the future, but for now i want to focus on one in particular.

specifically, stede during the moonlight kiss.

in just a few short seconds, rhys's face manages to convey a pure tidal wave of emotion without a single word of dialogue. the arch of stede's eyebrows, the desperation in his body language, the way he pulls ed impossibly closer.

it's like ed is an oasis in an endless desert, or a breath in the lungs of someone barely treading water.

it's as if stede's been replaying their first kiss over and over in his mind—thinking about how good and right it felt, but how awkward and clumsy he was, how he didn't know what to do with his hands and just kind of let it happen to him—and as if getting to try it again is the only thing he's thought about for the past three months.

his face during that kiss says so much more than just a few words ever could—i'm sure he could've filled a novel with his thoughts and then some.

"i missed you more than anything."

"i dreamed of this moment every single day."

"the thought of feeling your lips on mine again has kept me sane."

"i already know that i want to spend the rest of my life with you. i've known it for months. you're the only person in the world for me."

"i love you. i love you. i love you."

[saltpepperbeard]

no because i'm actually going insane. like, in retrospect, it makes so much sense that ed and stede would both be glassy-eyed/crying after their first kiss, because they're both feeling so much. it's so new to them and subsequently so scary but so exciting. it has them both feeling so vulnerable but so intrigued by all the implications and future possibilities.

and then like, ed is feeling the most free and the most like himself that he has for years and years, if not his entire life. the world is his oyster in that moment. the horizon is open and endless. there's nothing but forever and his newfound love at his side. it's so much. it has him so vulnerable. it's something he thought he'd never get to have. and yet there it is, right beneath his hands, right there on the sand next to him. no more masking. no more threats of violence. no more having to hide himself away. just love.

and then stede. he's absolutely petrified that he's ruined ed, that he'd messed up horrendously like he think he has for the entirety of his life. but then he's also just experienced something that he thought he'd never get to have either. he never thought he'd get to feel actual love. he never thought his prospect of "marrying for love" could actually be something tangible. he never thought someone would look him in the eyes and say "you make me happy." and yet there all of that is, right there on the sand next to him.

so of course they're both crying. of course. they're running through the full spectrum of emotion and right back around again.

but also. WHAT.

[yergink]

i know this is retreading old ground but i'll seriously never be over the fact that we got a reprise of "you wear fine things well" complete with an actually real kiss in the moonlight. i'm sorry, it makes me insane. this moment that was so integral to ed and stede's developing relationship in s1 being taken, examined, redone.

"we didn't get this right the first time, let's do it again." it's forgiveness. acceptance. a second dance. "let's try one more time."

and it's not the same--it can't be--but it's not just an idealized memory anymore, a feeling as big and round and glowing as they found the moon that night, but real and tangible.

i just. if we'd gotten a s3, do you think they'd've done it once more?