#zheng does it to olu
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Which member of your OTP bites the other casually to show affection? Like just chomps on their arm or something like this out of love?
#otp#guillermo does this to nandor#cas does this to dean#catra does this to adora#parker does this to hardison and elliot#jim does this to olu and archie#archie does it to olu and jim#zheng does it to olu#ed canonical catboy teach does it to stede#****** does it to ******
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sidebar .. if olujim is actually like over for good i might not be like cool or okay. just a heads up.
#this week was giving very much archimolu but jim hardly seemed interested in Being with olu ??#i understand being eager and supportive to get him back to zheng#cause being in a polycule does absolutely mean being a wingman for your boyfriend#but ?#they haven't kissed again yet i'm getting worried!!!!#our flag means death#jim jimenez#oluwande boodhari#archie ofmd#olujim
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i think Olu and Zheng are cute together but it seems like theyre setting this relationship up to fail right? like Zheng is such a badass and extremely skilled in all aspects of piracy, but keeps letting her guard down when it comes to Olu and it results in her failure after failure, and maybe they could work on things and she can find balance between her work and her love for Olu, but currently her one weakness is Olu. Most people arent fond of having weaknesses, but pirates are especially not fond of it, weaknesses can be used to control you, and it becomes an unknown variable in every plan going forward, so eventually she'll have to decide to either cut out the weakness, or embrace it, and i personally think she'll choose the former.
#i am very curious where they are going with all these relationships like which are going to be poly and which are just friends etc#cuz zheng does not seem to be chill with that kinda stuff and then jim and olu are they going to be separated for good are we saying bye?#wish we had more time to form some of these new relationships more naturally like we did with gentlebeard cuz it is a bit fast but i get it#zheng yi sao#oluwande boodhari#ofmd#ofmd spoilers#ofmd s2 spoilers
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crew of the revenge halloween party where everyone goes as a different flavor of captain bonnet:
wee john goes as stede’s fancy party powdered wig 1.05 look (but with more glitter)
frenchie replicates the cursed red suit (it’s only a replica tho so it’s fine, it’s not cursed, don’t worry you guys)
jim goes as all-white gut-stabbed 1.03 stede complete with a loosely tied piece of rope around their neck. remember in 1.06 when they fake tortured a dummy during the fuckery? imagine that much gusto being put into pretending to be stede getting hanged to death at random intervals throughout the party
olu goes as leather pants + slutty blue shirt stede and honestly? he kinda wears it better than stede does
zheng goes as the same stede but with a wooden board tied to the back of her pants to commemorate the time she publicly spanked planked him
fang goes as stede wearing ed’s leathers. this costume involves putting flour on his face to simulate how stede was suffering from severe blood loss in that episode
the swede goes as classic pilot episode teal suit stede and does a dead-on stede impression (picture stede in the background huffing “i don’t sound like that!” and ed kissing his cheek and lovingly saying “yes you do, babe”)
roach goes as 2.01 broke era stede. this costume also involves a pillow and a blanket and occasionally moaning “ed, oh ed” out loud
lucius goes as 1.08 stede pulling an all-nighter to stare at ed and jack through a telescope. nightgown, pink robe, makeup to emulate the bags under stede’s eyes, gripping a telescope for dear life (stede tries to argue “it wasn’t all night” but olu is like “no i was there, it was literally the entire night”)
black pete goes as 1.02 stede with his shirt all ripped up (ed voice: man it’s a good thing he’s already dead bc i could literally kill izzy for not telling me about this)
ed goes shirtless and wears an orange skirt. the crew is like “that’s not a stede costume” and ed’s like “no listen ok. one time i had a dream where stede was a mermaid.” the crew is understandably confused and ed’s just like “had to be there ig” and they’re like “had to be there… in your dream?” and he’s like “yeah.”
archie panics bc she hasn’t known stede for long and everyone took all the good ones that she was actually there for. jim offers suggestions but it’s all s1 stuff and archie’s like “i can’t do the treasure hunt look, i wasn’t there.” eventually she gives up and just shows up fully nude and is like “im stede on the night of calypso’s birthday”
about halfway through the halloween party buttons shows up and de-birds himself, at which point archie sees that buttons is there and is also naked and is like “bro no fair, i called dibs on this stede costume!”
#ofmd#our flag means death#gentlebeard#blackbonnet#stede bonnet#stede fucking bonnet#ofmd stede#crew of the revenge#txt#mine#og#j#holidays#fic(ish)#buttons isn’t even there for the party he just turned human for his monthly moonbathing
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My favorite thing about Olu is that, in a crew full of dramatic gays, he literally just minds his own business. He's the chillest guy alive. 99% of the time you can be pretty sure that if Olu is like "dude that's fucked up" then it's FUCKED UP.
Worst thing Olu ever does is kinda snip back and forth with Pete (and in his defense Pete called him babyface). He's the best guy ever. Literally everyone is planning a whole mutiny in the pilot and Olu is chilling with his arts and crafts. He's realistic. When Jim decides to leave he does some pining but he respects their choice. He's just an all-around great guy. He moved on VERY quickly to smooching when he initially thought Zheng was threatening him with swords. He is not easily rattled. His hat stays on during sex.
Genuinely Ed and Stede are my specialest guys but if you wanna chill and have a drama-free life then Olu's right there. I struggle to think of a more perfect man by most every criteria
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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
#ofmd#yes i am rewatching for the millionth time#just felt like talking about ofmd and how important it is for the milkiont time#it's not perfect but it is to me
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i saw some people say ed and zheng are master strategists while stede is just some guy with ridiculous luck, but i think that's unfair. sure stede's ideas are insane, but they fit the looney tunes ass universe of ofmd perfectly. they're mostly well-thought-out, well-executed and they showcase stede's strengths and growth! so allow me to talk about them:
1- ghost of the forest - 1x02
a fuckery™ before stede even knows what a fuckery™ is! this is amateurish and stupid in every way. he's not even threatening izzy with a real dagger-- that's a letter opener. does izzy actually believe that stede has a huge crew hiding behind the bushes? doubt it! but this weird little act is enough to establish stede as a (ridiculous) pirate figure to the legendary izzy hands and to accomplish his goal of taking a hostage back
2- lighthouse - 1x04
imagine coming up with the exact same idea at the exact same time as the most brilliant tactician of the seven seas! we don't know who came up with which parts of the plan (honestly it was probably mostly ed) but this is still bloody impressive
3- stark revelations - 1x05
stede's first big success! he uses his knowledge of the aristocratic world to get a shipful of rich assholes to destroy each other, but he's also showcasing what sets him apart from them: this plan only comes to fruition because stede talks to frenchie, olu and abshir as equals. as people he can learn from, as sources of inspiration
4- duel with izzy - 1x06
this one was absolutely unhinged, but its success was far from dumb luck. only stede could think of using a brazillian cherry wood mast and ed's weird stabbing lesson to win a duel, and that's what makes this plan so undeniably stede and brilliant
5- faking his death - 1x10
i love that he just had to "die" in the most dramatic way possible. a heroic fight (tiger), a realistic accident (carriage) and the most cartoony death in the book (piano)... not only is his triple-death able to convince everyone in barbados that he's dead for good, it also allows him to have closure with his family. it's filled with stede's ridiculous unique flair, but it's designed to be a fuckery™ through and through. ed would be SO proud
6- stealing jackie's indigo dye - 2x01
quick little stealth mission. did ricky manipulate stede into trying this out? sure. did ricky also ruin it? absolutely. but it was working until then! the swede isn't part of stede's crew at this point, but his respect for stede is what gets him to cooperate and risk his relationship with his beautiful wife. also, it's thanks to his love for fine things that stede immediately recognizes the value of "blue dirt"
7- prison break - 2x03
in my eyes no scene depicts stede's growth better than this one. knocking zheng's entire crew out with tea is the most stede thing out there, and this plan uses the cherry wood mast as well! this plan relies on stede's (unrealistic) tea knowledge, overly-fancy ship and ability to coordinate his crew. what makes it breathtaking is that he secretly sets this plan into motion while actively mourning the "death" of the love of his life. he's putting his life on the line to rescue ed's "killers" because he's emotionally mature enough to look at things from their perspective and forgive them
8- inciting a mutiny - 2x06
yet another brilliant plan that could only be executed by stede. this entire episode revolves around his idea of "turning poison into positivity" and here he, well, fights poison with positivity. stede captains his pirates with respect and care (best he can) which just so happens to be the opposite of ned. he exploits this and gently gets ned's crew to turn on him. he singlehandedly saves himself and his entire crew from a notorious pirate! oh he also literally invents walking the plank right after this
9- "it's only suicide if we die" - 2x08
okay, yes, this one didn't go that well (sorry iz). but it's not like ed, zheng or anyone else had any other ideas! stede's weird suicide mission, for the most part, worked. they needed to get through british soldiers to reach their ship and they did exactly that. if only they'd remembered to check if ricky had his gun... oh well, you live and you learn
sure, ed and zheng are legends and stede is a silly newbie with wild luck. but he's also quick-witted, creative, confident and brave! he's a damn good captain and he deserves to be recognized as a good strategist!
#ofmd#our flag means death#stede bonnet#ofmd meta#i love my boy so much i will not let anyone disrespect him thank u#🏴☠️
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Something that always strikes me rewatching OFMD season 2 is that Auntie's so clearly set up as a foil for Izzy, but I think it's supposed to be in a way that reflects well on Izzy, and this COMPLETELY backfired for me (as someone who went into the season expecting him to be redeemed & being fine with the idea!).
I think Auntie's meant to set up the father figure interpretation of Izzy by having a relationship to Zheng that's clearly similar to the Ed-Izzy relationship while also being much more obviously parental. She scolds Zheng for having fun instead of focusing on her career goals, she disapproves of Zheng's budding love for Olu who she thinks isn't good enough for her, and while it's hard on Zheng it's also all clearly coming from a place of love. So I assume you're supposed to look and this and think, if I can see Auntie sympathetically, maybe I should consider whether Izzy too is ultimately coming from a place of genuine parental-type love toward Ed.
But the thing is Auntie works as a sympathetic character BECAUSE of how nothing she ever does toward Zheng is even a fraction as horrible as the way Izzy treats Ed. She speaks harshly to her but never veers into verbal abuse, she never seems to be deliberately triggering Zheng's trauma or deliberately encouraging her to view herself as a monster who neither needs nor deserves love, she never tries to straight up murder Olu as Zheng watches in helpless terror, she never actively betrays Zheng to the navy while telling her this is for her own good. And Auntie never for one moment comes across as though she'd even be capable of any of that, either. Because she actually does care about Zheng!
So it comes across to me - and I know it's unintentional - but it comes across like Auntie's presence in the story is saying to me, "this is what a relationship like Ed & Izzy's would look like it were ACTUALLY based in genuine love and loyalty. This is how Izzy would treat Ed if he actually did care about him." Izzy's behavior reads as WAY more abusive when we have a counterexample right there! It just makes it feel much more obvious that Izzy's not motivated by anything like even actual concern for Ed's well-being (even if misguided concern), the way Auntie is toward Zheng, but by the fact that keeping Ed trapped in the Blackbeard role even if it's killing him benefits Izzy. (And we're told that explicitly, while there's never really any suggestion that the reason Auntie's overinvested in Zheng's career is because of the ways she personally benefits from it.) If Auntie's here showing us what an overly strict and demanding but ultimately loving surrogate parent acts like, then I can't help seeing Izzy in contrast as the kind of nightmare narcissist stage mom whose "love" is based on viewing their kid entirely as an extension of themself, and who didn't give a shit about their kid's OBVIOUS SUICIDAL DEPRESSION until it started causing problems for them. And that honestly makes him WAY harder to forgive than back when I saw him as just a scheming henchman with a weird crush on his boss.
So basically at the end of season two I always feel like the show is asking me "If you can forgive Auntie for the ways she was too hard on Zheng, why can't you forgive Izzy for what he did to Ed?" and I am left replying "Well, you kind of just explained it, actually? I was kind of ready to forgive him until you talked me out of it?"
#436.
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⚠️Ofmd S2 spoilers ahead⚠️
I’m just gonna say it:
Season 2 was painfully rushed. I didn’t wanna admit that fault, but it REALLY damaged the quality of the show. Part of what made S1 so great was watching the slow and steady character development and story arcs. We developed attachments to the characters because we saw them go through everything leading up to the end.
This entire season has had abrupt changes in character development (especially with Izzy. I love that they made him more human, but he went from masochistically devoted to Edward to terrified of Edward all within the span of a time jump we didn’t even see.)
Ed and Stede’s relationship shifts way too abruptly. And I know them taking it fast is part of their arc, but it still felt like they were just trying to move from arc to arc within the span of one episode each.
I also hate how none of the sideplots really tie into the story on a deeper level. (They have amazing parallels to S1, but aren’t great plot-wise.) Not to mention they almost completely abandoning the relationship they built between Olu and Jim. (I love the polyamory aspect, don’t get me wrong. And I love that they don’t blatantly explain the polyamory / tokenize it. But, the way Jim was willing to just give away Olu to Zheng in episode seven, even if they and Archie couldn’t go with him, made me upset. Not to mention that at times, it feels more like they’re trying to write off Jim and Olu as fwb, but that may just be me. And the two of them didn’t get a lot of screen time in general compared to season 1.)
The parallels to season 1 and overall symbolism were amazing, and I do still like this season overall. But it really is heartbreaking how Max sacrificed the show’s quality all for the sake of profit. I know David could have done much better with more resources.
The main reason this upsets me so much is because not only does it hurt on a personal level (damaging the quality of my comfort media), but it’s also the perfect representation of how streaming is KILLING the quality of TV. S1 was a masterpiece. The whole show is a masterpiece. But TV productions can only work with so much. And streaming services aren’t willing to accommodate to the demands necessary to make real art.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Be gay, do piracy 🏴☠️🍊🧜♂️(for legal reasons, don’t actually do piracy)
#ofmd#our flag means death#stede bonnet#blackbeard#lucius spriggs#jim jimenez#blackbonnet#gentlebeard#the gentleman pirate#the kraken#ofmd s2#ofmd spoilers#ofmd season 2#ofmd stede#ofmd 2#ofmd izzy#blackbeard ofmd#ofmd jim#ofmd lucius#black pete#izzy hands#zheng yi sao#pirate queen#lucius ofmd#taika waititi#rhys darby#con o'neill#vico ortiz#david jenkins#our flag means gay
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i absolutely love that jim is the one to keep the heart of stede’s crew alive while ed did everything he could to destroy it.
one of the first comments ed makes to stede’s crew in season 1 is “everyone’s covered in rope!” so what does jim do? literally covers themself in rope, to remind ed that, as long as they’re alive, that hope and love isn’t going anywhere.
not only that, but, in the bible, rope is a symbolism for trust and security. jim became a secure place for the crew to tie themselves to while just trying to stay alive.
of course, i then had to look into why they have a fishing net around their shoulders as well, and found The Fishing Net Parable from the Book of Matthew (13:47-52):
"Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.”
“This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
jim amputates izzy’s leg, despite having never done it before. they quite literally separate him from the rotten bits to save his life.
jim says, “he was your friend.” they separate ed from who he was before from who he’s allowed himself to become, not to punish him, but to remind him of the consequences of his actions.
jim tells izzy point blank, “you’re in an unhealthy relationship with blackbeard.” they aren’t trying to break them up; they’re just bringing to light whats true so things can (hopefully) get better.
jim shows archie that, just because pirating is normally done a certain way, doesn’t mean it has to—they separate archie from the toxic belief that “that’s just how things are, it’s just life,” and “why save him if he’s a dick?”
jim tries to separate the idea from the crew that ed is fine, because they immediately recognize that things are about to get much worse: “so, do we think he’s better?” “FUCK no!”
jim immediately says, “wasn’t the wedding thing a bit over the line?” they know they’re all pirates and have questionable morals anyway, but knows it was fucked up of them to massacre a wedding, an event that’s supposed to be joyful and full of life and beginnings, not death and destruction. they’re, again, dividing up the way things are vs. how they could (and should) be.
ed tries to pin them all dying on jim cause they wouldn’t kill archie, but they bite back with, “you would’ve done it anyway!” they know exactly where the lies are, and separates them from the truth, and ed can’t deny it.
jim separates themself (and olu) from the bounds of monogamy through their honesty. olu is still their best friend and lover and family even though they found and did things with someone else.
jim holds out their hand for olu to take when they’re escaping the red flag. olu’s interest in zheng yi sao isn’t bad and jim’s not trying to separate them, but is trying to keep together the things that are good: their family.
(later addition, edit) jim is also the one that “kills” ed. they’re the one to make that final choice, to say, “it’s you or us.” jim’s actions and choices entire first two episodes led them to that moment, like it was the “final judgment” of blackbeard.
jim is the rope and net of the crew. they’re trust and security and honesty, everything that stede was trying to get the crew to understand from day 1, everything stede is always trying to embody (and i dare say is starting to succeed at).
#jim jimenez#jim jimenez meta#ofmd#our flag means death#ofmd s2 spoilers#crew of the revenge#rope and nets#ofmd costuming#trust and security and honesty#god i love them#vico ortiz#david jenkins#characterization#costume analysis#character analysis#ofmd meta
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Just had a little epiphany about why Stede reacted so intensely the way he did on Calypso's birthday night.
We know from his past experience that he's been deeply unhappy for a long, long time. He has a habit of removing himself from a situation when he's upset/distressed, so he can hide away alone rather than face the scorn of others, which is cemented by the fact he was emotionally abused by his father for showing negative/'weak' emotions and bullied by the Badmintons for crying.
Mary said herself that she thought she had heard him crying sometimes when he was alone at night. Specifically it was in the past tense - she'd heard him and only approached him about it later.
Alone is the key part here.
He's always been on his own. He's never had people really show concern or check in with him when he was having a hard time. More often than not, they would laugh or belittle him for it, so he's become used to squashing down the emotions and taking them somewhere to hunker down and let himself have his grief and distress in isolation: after Jack upsets him, when Ed's shaved in the academy, after they escape from Zheng.
The crew had to help out in 1x01 but even then it was out of necessity and obligation. The closest we really came to anyone intervening before Ed was in 1x02 when he has a complete breakdown in front of everyone, so they don't have a choice but to stop and Olu explains what happened to the chief.
The only time someone actively comes looking for him when he was upset is at the academy. Ed finds him on the beach and says, relieved, "there you are" and we know how that scene ended.
No wonder Stede reacts the way he does at Calypso's Birthday - the scenes really do run parallel from start to finish:
Stede is distressed and runs. Ed watches him go, hesitates, then goes after him. Stede marinades in guilt/grief and seems surprised when Ed shows up. Ed reassures him and offers his emotional support and assurance that he'll be all right. Kisses.
Stede is distressed but he's no longer alone. He can be upset and someone will care enough to come after him and comfort him and love him enough to make sure he's all right. No wonder he got caught up in it, knowing that someone cares and cherishes him despite everything. And no wonder Ed reciprocated, seeing such a tangible expression of passion from Stede.
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There’s a little interaction between Stede, Olu and Zheng in 203 just prior to the Revenge reappearance. It doesn’t propel the narrative, but rather presents an aspect of Stede’s characterisation. It goes like this:
Olu to Stede: Yeah, the Captain’s [Zheng] got a bit of a packed schedj, mate…
Stede: I’m sure she does (picks up abacus). This is weird, isn’t it? Musical (shakes it).
And this little scene just makes me cry. Stede just does not have the social skills to understand the nuance here, and therefore does not follow up with expected behaviour i.e. leaving! And as someone who is probably a little neurospicy, I might’ve done something similar. Continued to hang around. Probably have played with the abacus too…
It’s such a small scene, but it tells us so much about Stede’s neurodiversity* and lack of understanding of social cues. But he’s also amazingly empathetic and intuitive when it comes to Ed; gets things so right in the 204 couch scene and the 205 YWFTW hand-hold. He also cares deeply for the crew, and is often shown to be the emotionally intelligent character in a situation. He’s so layered and complex. I just want to shout from the rooftops how amazing he is.
He doesn’t always understand social typicality. But Stede Bonnet helped me forgive myself for thinking I ever did anything wrong.**
*If you don’t read Stede as neurodiverse, I’m happy for you. But please don’t come and ‘correct me’. I’m not interested ** I’ve done many things wrong, just not these things
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So what’s with the soup in OFMD?
I’ve seen a few takes on what the soup symbolizes in OFMD S2 because it does come up a weird amount of times. I’ve seen takes that the soup is a lie and shouldn’t be trusted. Takes that the soup represents love and all that is good. I’ve seen takes that the soup isn’t anything at all, it’s just soup.
I don’t agree with those takes. But I do believe that the soup is more than just soup.
In my opinion, the soup represents community.
Community doesn’t necessarily mean love. A community can be arrayed against you as much as it can be with you. You can choose not to have a community, to break bread, with someone. But a community is something most of us desire and as Izzy notes in the trailer, being a pirate is about being part of something.
- Zheng Yi Sao makes damn good soup. Symbolically, I believe this is a reflection of how she runs a tight ship. How effective she is as pirate queen and in general as a leader of her community. People in her community are well treated. Her leadership style, like the broth of the soup, is balanced. Had Olu remained with her, he would have been well treated. She wasn’t being duplicitous with Stede and his crew. Her soup is great, her community is great, and they would have been well fed there had they stayed.
The soup isn’t a value judgement on anything beyond the quality of the community offered. Should they stay? What happens now that they didn’t? Not relevant to the soup metaphor. We’ll find out what happens when you reject Zheng’s amazing soup. At the very least, you just don’t get any more of it.
- Hornigold offers soup to Ed. Ed rejects it. He finds Hornigold’s community poisonous. He doesn’t trust it and he doesn’t want to join it.
It’s simple as that. The soup wasn’t necessarily literally poisoned. The more relevant metaphor is breaking bread with someone as a sign of trust. Ed wants nothing to do with Hornigold’s community.
Most likely where this is leading is a continued used of soup as a metaphor for Ed and Stede and the crew figuring out what kind of community they want to build together. Is the broth balanced? Is it poisoned? Is it too salty, too sweet? Who do we share it with? Who do we refuse to accept soup from? It’s all about community.
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jim helping zheng mourn all the crew members she lost when ricky blew up her ships and supporting her on her revenge trip bc they know better than anyone the need to avenge the people you care for. but also the whole time they’re hunting ricky down they’re making sure zheng is getting enough sleep and eating enough and spending time relaxing and hanging out with olu and auntie and the rest of the crew, bc jim also knows better than anyone how easy it is to get so absorbed in a revenge plot that you lose your sense of self and lose sight of what actually makes living worth it.
olu giving zheng space when she needs it but also encouraging her to open up and rely on him for support. reminding her that she’s not a failure, that she’s allowed to be soft sometimes. he stands by her while she does whatever she feels like she needs to go but he makes sure she always knows that she has a safe home to come back to whenever she’s ready for it, he will always save room for her by his side.
archie pulling zheng out of funks, helping her burn off steam and clear her head when the pressure gets to be too much. she makes her laugh even on some of the worst days, when the grief and the guilt and the doubt and the rage become overwhelming. zheng’s never made room for silliness in her life before but archie wedges the silly in there whether zheng likes it or not, and she realizes this isn’t just something that helps her feel better, this is something she needs, an essential vitamin that’s been missing from her diet.
#ofmd#our flag means death#garlic soup#garlic soup polycule#jim jimenez#ofmd jim#zheng yi sao#ofmd zheng#oluwande boodhari#ofmd oluwande#archie#ofmd archie#txt#mine#og#fic(ish)#🔪🍊🐍👑
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I've been thinking about the pacing this season, and I think a lot of the issues with telling instead of showing we've been noticing come down to two big factors.
ALL the episodes this season are sticking very strictly to 30 minutes or less. Most of s1 did that, too, to be fair, but some of the most important episodes - 4, 8, and 10 - are all closer to 35 minutes. It doesn't sound like a lot but that's extra breathing room that we're not getting now, it means some things that were almost important enough to make the cut had to get chopped. We're probably missing a lot of little lines that would've rounded things out because the writers had to bank on us getting it from context.
I wouldn't be surprised if the writers went in expecting a 10 episode second season and Max hit them with cutting down to 8 eps, or they had to make the hard choice to save as much money as possible to increse the odds of getting renewed and decided to cut it to 8 themselves. Either way, I definitely think they'd planned on 10 episodes and because of that some things feel rushed; it's really starting to show in ep 7 and I think that's because they just haven't had the space to set things up they thought they'd get.
I really think that we're missing an episode here, and I'm pretty sure it would've gone between 5 and 6. That would've been the logical place to let Ed and Stede's relationship breathe a bit between their second kiss and having sex in 6, and it would've been the right spot to wrap up some lose plotlines (when did Ed get off probation? How does he feel about it? The crew seem so much more comfortable with him in 6, does that make him feel safer and more loved?) and forshadow what's coming up (literally just one line with Olu feeling bad about what happened with Zheng Yi Sao would've made that so much less jarring).
On the whole, I genuinely think the writing this season has been smart and efficient, but not to the same standard as season 1 (which, to be fair, was a very high standard, but still). And I really think the things that matter (Ed and Stede's arcs) are largely done very well.
But it has still been so obvious that they tried to make this season as cheap and palatable for Max to produce as possible. I really hope it pays off. I think it will - like I said, I think the writers always managed to keep sight of what matters, and that's Ed and Stede's story. And I'm grateful that, despite trying to make this show an easy one for Max to make the decision to renew, they didn't compromise on the queerness.
But it stings. You know any other show that's so successful and has not only such a devoted fanbase but such a deeply invested cast and crew would've been renewed a long damn time ago. I am so, so happy we got s2, and I've loved it, really I have, but I'm still a bit sad thinking about what we could've had.
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Poison into Positivity: A List of What I Liked in OFMD S2
Hello hello everyone! Things have been a little rough around here. Even away from the more heated takes, I've still seen a few "down in the dumps" murmurs. To which, I'm giving y'all big hugs, but also offering up some little bits of warmth! I wanted to share quite a few bullets of the things I enjoyed about this season. Maybe it'll serve as a reminder, or maybe it'll just serve as a chaotic, silly little read as per usual PFFF.
But I invite you to read along, and even add some of your own points should you feel inclined! Also, this might not even be my full list; these are just the ones that came to me quickly/off the top of my head. Still, let's dive on down like a fantastical, dazzling goldfish, shall we?
All the callbacks/parallels. My goodness. When I tell you I'm a SLUT for metaphors/parallels/callbacks/etc etc. Seeing so many things and being able to just *Leonardo Dicaprio pointing meme.* I know people might not share that same opinion because some might view it to be excessive, but I personally LOVED being able to point at my screen and be like "oH EYYYYYYY!!!" Maybe because it makes for such immaculate gifset/meta material <3 SJKJDLHSK
The costuming and makeup. WHEN THEY TALKED AT ECCC ABOUT EVERYONE GETTING HOTTER, THEY WERE NOT KIDDING LMAO. EVERYONE LOOKED SO, SO GOOD. and listen, i am on my knees begging for them to give ed with his hair up back to us. i need Her back,,,ALSO, SOMETHING SOMETHING COMPLICATED EMOTIONS TOWARDS STEDE'S LATTER HALF LOOK, BUT ALSO...GOD DAMN, MR. DARBY,,,,,,
Speaking of Mr. Darby, the acting in this season. The ACTTTINNNGG. Everyone acted their ASSES off. Everyone put their entire piratussies into this season. Though, I'm PARTICULARLY impressed with Taika and Rhys, because again with their "oh we're comedians lol so idk drama can be Difficult Difficult Lemon Difficult." MMMM I THINK THE FUCK NOT, MY GUYS LMAO??? They both did SO well with all the drama and painful moments. The acting in episodes 2, 3, 6, and 7 in particular like...God. GOD!!!
I loved so many characters in this season, and I'll of course have to give two individual shoutouts to my two favorite new ladies, but man. LET'S GO FRENCHIE!!! ALWAYS A DELIGHT!!! FANG/KEVIN MY ABSOLUTE SWEETHEART. JIM SERVING ABSOLUTE FUCKING GENDER THIS SEASON. OLU OLU DARLING OLU. PETE NEVER MISSING WITH HIS ONELINERS. LUCIUS BEING SO THEATRICAL AHDJKSDK LIKE NATHAN PLEASE YOU KILL ME. ROACH MAKING ME LAUGH OUT LOUD NUMEROUS TIMES AS HE DOES. WEE JOHN AND HIS KNITTING AND DRAG!!! AND THEN OF COURSE MY DEARLY BELOVEDS, ED AND STEDE. I JUST LOVE THEMMMMM!!! But okay okay okay-
Zheng my beloved. I just love this badass pirate queen with her sweet little pigtails and her IMMACULATE LINE DELIVERIES SDHJKSKL. A lot of my favorite deliveries from the entire season came from her quite honestly. Please see: "Girl, how ARE you?" and "Hiiiiiii. I KNOWWW it's been a day" and "I've killed mediocre men. I've killed exceptional men. But you're the worst kind: a mediocre man who thinks he's exceptional."
AND ARCHIE MY BELOVED. She kills me because I remember seeing like, those ~*~audition tape whispers~*~ WAY back in the day, and subsequently thinking she was going to be quite a different character. Only for this silly goofy bubbly energetic darling to pop up and snag my heart. HER deliveries kill me also, like when she goes "Like...STEDE Stede?" and the whole "I was IN the fuckin' snake!" also hhngngngngnershkfhslkds tattooed ladies Hot :(
Speaking of which, the comedy. THE DELIVERIES. THE WAY I LAUGHED OUT LOUD NUMEROUS TIMES THROUGHOUT, EVEN WITH THE DEEP UNDERCURRENT OF DRAMA/ANGST. The whole bit where Stede is in hysterics over his cursed coat is just hsjkdhsklds; it will NEVER not make me wheeze. And then, like I said, almost EVERYTHING Pete says this season kills me; another thing that will never not make me laugh is "a doggie...?" weird little pirate show with weird little humor my beloved
The ROMANCE??? I genuinely was going into the season with the expectation of getting maybe like, one or two Gentlebeard kisses. Imagine my shock and utter delight when we ended up with FOUR, AS WELL AS AN INTIMATE SCENE, THE LETTER SCENES, AND THE LOVE PROFESSIONS. Like, one of them dropping a legitimate "I love you" felt like an unrealistic expectation--the HIGHEST dream tier really. And then wouldn't you know it. And that doesn't even account for all the rest of the couples either! The murder wives having their chaotic little moments of fucked up affection??? LUCIUS AND PETE GETTING ENGAGED AND THEN MARRIED??? HELLO??????
The sets! I know people have pointed out that the world felt a bit simplified this time around, due to budget restraints and what have you. But I still loved what they did with the world even with the various constraints. The market in episode 6 is a PARTICULAR favorite of mine; it's just so lush and colorful. I also love what they did with The Revenge during episode 6 too!
Also, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I really actually liked that they filmed on location. First of all, love that the Kiwis got to be right at home in Aotearoa. Love that they have an even more special connection to the show now. But second of all, I just like when scenery is...actually THERE? It feels way more TANGIBLE. Don't get me wrong; that hugeass wraparound screen that they use to film a lot of sets is a technological marvel. But I'm a sucker for practical.
The deeper and more complex dives into character motivations/trauma. Like, homie lol...When I tell you episodes 6 and 7 utterly set my brain alight in the best way possible. I was CHUGGING through thoughts. You know those gifs where someone is walking around and ranting/passionately talking,,, yeah. Yeah. Maybe because a lot of it "struck a chord" with me indeed, but I love love LOVE getting brain food like that.
Speaking of brain food, in PARTICULAR, the deeper dives into Ed's self-loathing and into Stede's troubles with confidence and masculinity. A lot of Stede's choices were fueled by those two things, and it was SO friggin fun to catch all of them, put them in a jar, and shake them around. I've seen a lot of people fearing his actions in the latter half were out of character, but to me, I don't see it that way. I just see a man who has been so spurned, so left behind, and SO deprived, a man who is stuck thinking he has to be someone else to mean something. And I think that plays a lot into even the EARLIEST developments we saw in season 1, so it was just so intriguing to watch everything messily play out.
THE INNKEEPER. THE INNKEEPER MY BELOVED. SO much about that episode absolutely has my heart. All the different developments, the stakes, the pacing, and the payoff at the end. Not to mention that I had a FEELING that mysterious figure in the trailers was Hornigold, so it was so SO validating to see him pop up PFFF. And also, all those dream/gravy basket sequences were so so good too. I don't know if it's the chemistry between Taika and Mark, or the deeper symbolism, or the lines that have become vocal stims for me SJKDLS (please see: ooOOoooO eddie eddie eddie...you're laying some heavy shit on me, bro), but man. MAN.
And this one gets its own bullet because of course it does: the fucking mermaid scene. Like, are we kidding. ARE WE KIDDING. THE ROMANCE OF IT ALL? THE FANTASTICAL-NESS INDEED?? THE WAY IT WAS ALL FUCKING PRACTICAL AND RHYS SWAM DOWN TO TAIKA AS A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GOLDFISH AND THEY HAD TO THROW HEART EYES AT EACH OTHER UNDERWATER??? WHAT THE FUCK!!! And don't even get me started on Kate Bush lol. This Woman's Work might easily be one of my favorite songs, if not my FAVORITE song from the season. And man. Man. The whole meaning behind Ed seeing Stede as this beautiful, sparkly being, and not some hypermasculine/extraordinary thing. He fell in love with Stede for who Stede really is. And so I ADORE that acknowledgement.
Speaking of songs, the MUSIC!!! Absolute bangers all throughout. And I loved how there seemed to be even more intermixed within the episodes. Like God... "These are the kids..." 🗣️ HELLO MY LOVE I HEARD A KISS FROM YOU 🦗🦟🦗🦟🦗🦟 . And all the beautiful classic piano pieces and NINA SIMONE AND JUST HSJKDHSFJKLHSKD????
Okay, I've always had and STILL have complicated thoughts and opinions on Izzy, but man, seeing him interact with the Revenge Crew was really something. Seeing Stede's influence come over the lot of them like a warm blanket, extending its welcoming and familial hands...It was just lovely. I love seeing our little sea family care for each other so much. They've probably all hurt so so much in different ways, so to see them all being a collective heart is just so nice.
Speaking of which, the queerness of it all, the queer celebration of it all. The way the whole crew is just...a representation of queer people finding each other, and subsequently finding love and family in each other. Like, when the whole world wants to cast you out, you pull each other in. When no one else wants you, you take refuge in each other. And just...the joy, beauty, and wonder that can be found in that.
And speaking of which x2, the overall care that was put into the entire thing, the effort that was put into the entire thing. I know Max fucked us over with the budget, which subsequently fucked things like the intricacy, the amount of characters, and especially the pacing. But, I don't know; I personally could still tell everyone involved was trying so so hard to deliver for us. Based on the little details, the little callbacks, and the little moments that felt so catered to us, it just seemed so...gifted to us. Not to mention of course, the way they so deliberately chose to end on a hopeful note in case we never get a third season. They care about us. They've always cherished our excitement and passion, so it just...idk; it feels so special to have a bit more of an intimate connection like that. I've never been involved with a piece of media that so avidly SEES its audience, and celebrates along with us. So, despite everything, despite any sort of troubles, despite any sort of lows, that's a big part of what has me clutching all of this so closely to my chest. And I really hope they can still see that love, because I want nothing more than for them to see this beautiful story through.
Also, getting to enjoy this with everyone. Getting to ride the wave from the beginning of filming, all the way through the finale. Getting to see all the excitement, all the theories, all the art, all the fanfiction, all the gif sets, all the meta, and everything in between. It has carried me through some nastiness in my personal life, and has subsequently served as a very welcomed distraction. It's been such a pleasure getting to delight in this new content with you all, and I hope we get to do so into the future. <3
#OFMD#OFMD Season 2#not tagging spoilers on this one so Ye Be Warned#i'm starting to Ween Off TM#OFMD S2#Revenge Rambles#Gentlebeard#Blackbonnet#Edward Teach#Stede Bonnet#Taika Waititi#Rhys Darby#Roach#Frenchie#Wee John#Archie#Oluwande Boodhari#Jim Jimenez#Lucius Spriggs#Black Pete#Zheng Yi Sao#Fang#Murder Wives#Benjamin Hornigold#WHEW#MUCH TEXT HSDKLSDSL#SUCH TALKING#to the point where tumblr was starting to get angry at me/was starting to snap about the text block limit#BUT WE PREVAILED LMAO
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