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confusedraven1 · 5 days
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Another thing that makes me lose it about the moment Ed goes to check on Stede in s2e6 - how casually Ed brings up the time he killed his father.
For Ed, killing his father is the defining moment of his life. It was a moment of violence that forever defines him and makes him fundamentally unlovable. When Ed remembers how Stede left him in the gravy basket, he assumes it was because Stede knows about that moment. He has explicitly only ever told Stede about it.
And the first time Ed told Stede, he has to try to distance himself, a bit. He still fell back on the kraken metaphor in s1e6.
But in s2e6. It's "hey, you okay? I was a mess after the first time I killed anyone. Well, it was my own dad, soooo...."
At this point in his arc, Ed is getting so much closer to thinking himself lovable. He no longer believes himself a monster. And he brings up this bit of shared knowledge so casually and gently. "Remember how I told you I killed someone? Remember how I was scared I was a monster? I'm not. You helped me realize I'm not. And you just did something similar, and you're not a monster, either."
It's so sweet. Ed is able to take this traumatic experience that made him so sure he was an unlovable monster and be like "that did not make me unlovable, and this doesn't make you unlovable either. And I know because I love you."
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confusedraven1 · 12 days
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NOTE TO SELF-SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!
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confusedraven1 · 19 days
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if a character means enough to me i will truly never stop thinking about them. i just retire them into a little back room in my brain and periodically bring them out to stare at them under a little light
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confusedraven1 · 19 days
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More Parts of the Revenge for OFMD Fans
Part of a series: Revenge Master Post.
This post is about stuff in the body of the ship, going more or less from top to bottom. I’m saving the sails and rigging for my next post. If you want to know more basic terms like fore and aft and bow and stern, look for “Parts of the Revenge” in my master post.
Obviously, using these terms is entirely optional, since David Jenkins et al. are free and easy with the ol' historical accuracy. This list is for pedants like me and people who like historical and specialized language. Enjoy!
Main Deck
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The low “walls” on the sides of the open decks were called the bulwarks—they were to keep people from falling overboard. On the Revenge, the bulwarks are topped by a rail (railing).
A gap in the bulwark, together with a set of rungs on the hull, was called an entry port. It allowed people to climb aboard from a dinghy.
The top edge of the bulwark was the gunwale, pronounced gunnel. The expression “loaded to the gunwales” is still used to mean very full. The top edges of a dinghy are also called gunwales.
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An opening in the deck is called a hatchway. I wrote about hatches a while ago, but what I didn’t realize was that the hatch is the part that covers the hatchway. The wooden grid that lets light and air through is called the grating.
In the bow, the curving rail that goes from the figurehead to the hull is called the head rail, which would’ve been really helpful to know for my toilet post. Oh well.
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Stede’s journal could at a stretch be called a logbook (or log). This was a book in which an officer noted details of the ship’s daily progress and journey. Probably a bit less fanciful than Stede’s version.
Weaponry
The Revenge has guns (the word used for cannons) on her main deck and her gun deck. Before a gun was fired, the barrel was cleared with the sponge, then loaded with gunpowder and shot and wads of cloth, all of which was tamped down with the rammer. There were different types of shot, or ammunition; cannonballs were called round shot.
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To fire a gun, a lit fuse (usually a slow match) was brought in contact with the vent at the top of the gun—called the touchhole—to ignite the gunpowder. (The wick added in OFMD isn’t accurate. Shocking, I know.) The slow match was usually held with a staff called a linstock, tucked into a notch on the end. You didn’t want to be right next to the cannon when it went off, because there was a non-zero chance it would misfire and explode in your face.
Despite what you see in movies, cannons didn’t produce a lot of fire and smoke; the cannonball did damage by going unstoppably through hulls, masts, and people—often many at a time—like a deadly Energizer bunny.
The gunpowder was kept in kegs in a small room called the powder magazine. (A magazine is an ammunition storage area.) This room was in the hull of the ship, below the water line, to minimize the chances of a stray spark sending the whole ship up in flames. The shot was kept in the shot-locker, a small room in the hold (though this word wasn’t recorded till 1805). As we know, Stede calls this the ball room.
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Besides the regular cannons, the Revenge also has swivel guns, small cannons mounted on swivels. These were too small to damage another ship; they were there to fire at boarders and approaching boats. Or, you know, to set off fireworks.
To take an enemy ship, sailors might use a grapnel (or grappling hook). These were attached to a rope and thrown at enemy bulwarks or rigging so the ships could be pulled together for boarding.
The Gun Deck
Everything on a ship had to have a special name: stairs were always called ladders; the floor was called the deck; and a wall or partition inside the hull was called a bulkhead.
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Some of you may know that a ship’s kitchen is called a galley. However, this usage wasn’t recorded until 1750; the earlier word was cook-room.
Likewise, the mess is where you eat on a ship, but this sense wasn’t recorded until the late 1800s. In OFMD’s time, mess meant “a group of people who eat together,” like officers of the same rank or sailors on the same watch.
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You might know a berth as a shelf or box to sleep on, like Stede’s (and Ed’s) bed, but this usage wasn’t recorded until the 1790s. The earlier meaning, used from at least 1706, is “a room where a particular group (such as officers or midshipmen) eats and sleeps.” So you might call Jim’s room a berth—except that it changes hands, and its name has been firmly established as the Room.
A berth is also a place in a port or harbour where you can moor (park) a vessel, and thirdly, the safety margin around another vessel or object, which gives us the phrase “to give [it] a wide berth.”
Finally, the area where the animals (remember them?) were kept was a small triangular area in the bow called the manger. This seems to be where the Revenge’s en suite is, at least as far as I can figure, but if you want to include the animals for whatever reason, they’d probably live somewhere around there.
Storage
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Some of the stuff on board was stored in casks, a.k.a. barrels. These could be any size, but a large cask was also called a butt. A scuttlebutt was a butt full of water attached to the deck for sailors to drink from. Unfortunately, the word wasn’t recorded before 1800, and the “gossip” meaning not till a century after that. But it’s a great word and you should use it anyway.
A keg was a small cask, usually less than ten gallons, used for things like gunpowder or rum.
A sea chest was a wooden box used to store an officer’s personal effects—or to confine a nosy hombrecito.
The Ship’s Bottom
(As it were.)
In several of my posts and diagrams I said the lower decks of the Revenge were the gun deck, the orlop, and the hold. But my friends, I made a grievous error: the Revenge has no orlop. I know!
In season 2, for the first time we get to see what’s below the gun deck. When Frenchie opens the secret passage in the kitchen, he reveals a set of stairs—sorry, a ladder—down to a grim, damp space. The kitchen is on the gun deck, so this is the deck immediately below it, and while on most ships that would’ve been the orlop, in this case it’s the hold.
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The hold was the lowest compartment of the ship, used for storage and cargo. It also sometimes held the ballast—heavy stuff (e.g., pig iron, gravel, stones, lead) put there to improve the ship’s balance. The lowest part of the hold itself was called the bilge or bilges—the area where bilgewater collected and had to be pumped out.
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Episode 3 shows the water on the floor—sorry, deck—making it pretty clear we’re in the bilges of the hold. On top of that, an Instagram post by crewmember Will Giles (shared on Tumblr by @ourflagmeansbts) mentioned repurposing the “bilge set.”
Which all proves that the Revenge’s hold is immediately below the gun deck, with no orlop in between.
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The keel is the structural piece that runs lengthwise along the middle of the hull’s bottom. Keel-hauling was to drag someone along the outside of the keel, underwater, as a punishment—very nasty, often fatal.
Also underwater, at the stern, is the rudder, whose movement makes the ship turn. On a dinghy you steer by moving the tiller, a horizontal bar attached to the rudder post. On a ship like the Revenge, you turn the ship’s wheel, which is attached to the tiller via cables, and that moves the rudder.
That’s all for now! Coming next: sails and rigging, in port, and more sailing lingo.
Sources: Wikipedia, historicnavalfiction [dot] com, Oxford English Dictionary
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confusedraven1 · 23 days
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the only reason i ever miss high school is because it produced genuinely hellish photos such as this one
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confusedraven1 · 29 days
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Alright 🥺 (S01E04 - Fun and Games)
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confusedraven1 · 1 month
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Just my beautiful baby defending his indefeasible right to be fabulous.
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confusedraven1 · 2 months
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I know the US government acts like a corporation but it’s not.
Not voting isn’t the same as a boycott. Because you can’t bankrupt a government by not voting. All you get by not voting is less control over what the money is doing.
The money comes from taxes, not voting. Abstaining from voting does nothing to reduce the governments ability to get money and spend it on shit.
So yes, sometimes you vote to reduce harm because not voting WILL NOT REDUCE HARM.
It’s not a boycot. Abstaining doesn’t take power from the government. It just reduces the number of people they feel answerable to.
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confusedraven1 · 2 months
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Ed's emerald ring, a love story
2x7
It's the morning after what I can only assume is (probably inadvisable) mind blowing sex and BOOM, close up on that emerald ring. Ed is also wrapped in an emerald green robe. He wants Stede all over him. This is not a man with regrets.
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This is the closest we have seen the ring and the moment a majority of fans noticed the ring. Many assumed Stede gave it to Ed the night before. And in a way he did. Now that Ed has been well and truly docked you better fucking believe that it's time for Stede's ring to shine. Ed wants EVERYONE to see that ring. There is no hiding now, their love is real and everyone needs to know.
We see it shine when Ed comes back with the breakfast for Stede. No hiding any of this from Izzy.
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It is also pretty well featured during the lunch scene, as our boys are still glowing from the morning.
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But this shot is my favorite one. Ed has put his right hand over his left, but he has intentionally splayed his fingers so he and everyone else can see the Emerald. If you watch closely you can actually see his finger land on the ring and then brush over it to allow it to be seen. Ed is SO PROUD and SO IN LOVE. Stede is also now wearing an emerald green shirt. I am 95% certain this is the first time Stede has worn green this season.
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Then we head to Spanish Jackie's and see the ring a few more times, out and proud amongst Ed's crew and friends.
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Shortly after this Ed sits with Spanish Jackie and we see him being to panic. (I feel i should also clarify that Stede was also being a dick but i'm focusing on Ed for this, so just know that I know).
After this point, when Ed is panicking and running away we barely see it. The camera is back to showing Ed from the wrist up and his hands are busy doing things and shielding the ring. He's freaked out, he isn't looking to the ring for comfort so we don't see it. Stede was there, but now Ed is pushing him away.
For the life of me I cannot tell if Ed is wearing the ring when he and Stede fight or if he has taken it off. All the cuts are so fast during that scene and every picture I could get is fairly blury, especially if I try to zoom in. In the pic below it looks like his ring finger is empty, but it's also possible that I just can't see the band well.
There is another shot when Ed's hands are by the railing but I wasn't able to get any clear images of his fingers.
If he has removed the emerald here, which it really looks like he has, it's the first time he's taken it off other then for 2x5, and we know in 2x5 he was feeling pretty comfortable and free.
My guess would be that part of him knows he is panicking, and he knows if he looks at the ring it's going to confuse the rush of emotions he is feeling even more, so he removed it. He has it back on in the beginning of 2x8 so if he has taken it off, it wasn't for long.
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confusedraven1 · 2 months
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There’s something really sweet and satisfying in the fact that Zheng is a part of Stede and Ed’s reunion on the beach. She’s been mocking Stede off and on for Blackbeard leaving him, but she’s also empathized with him over it. And she sees firsthand how important these two men are to each other. She sees probably the greatest, toughest pirate in the world (other than herself) shout across a battlefield for the man he loves—a man that she knows is ridiculous and soft and also commands such loyalty from his crew—then run across a beach and embrace him. She sees Blackbeard touch Stede Bonnet’s face and call him “babe” and tell him he did great in the fight. And she sees them choose each other over piracy and revenge.
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It’s so lovely and it does, in part, help her to understand even more that softness isn’t weakness.
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confusedraven1 · 2 months
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✨️ 1 0 0, 0 0 0 ✨️
That's our next petition goal.
⚪ Show these streaming services the size of our fandom. Show them how many customers they stand to gain if they come on board the Revenge.
⚪ Share with friends, family, everyone you meet. We need your help to Save OFMD
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PETITION LINK ⤵️⤵️⤵️
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confusedraven1 · 2 months
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I do appreciate that not only were the writers of OFMD kind to us, making sure to give us a hopeful, happy ending just in case, they also had their damn priorities straight. They had a limited amount of time, but they made sure we know:
Stede has horny dreams about Ed, so often and loudly that it frequently annoys others
Ed would still look amazing in a literal potato sack
When Izzy cries he just stares into the middle distance and whimpers like a kicked dog
Ed likes when Stede uses The Captain Voice and he gets a cute lil kitty cat collar. Not beating the submissive and breedable allegations
Stede FUCKS. Stede fucks so good it made Ed throw all his clothes off the boat
And I love them for all of that.
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confusedraven1 · 2 months
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Even at his lowest point, when Ed would have been perfectly justified in thinking of Stede with anger, all he wants is to touch him gently.
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I was almost expecting some kind of angsty moment where Ed would, like, thow the cake topper representing Stede away from him, because that's what another show would do - the sad babygirl version of tearing up photos of your ex. But Ed has never, ever wanted to hurt Stede. He just wants him back. He just wants to indulge in a little fantasy of getting to touch Stede's face and chest with so much gentleness.
The way the cake topper looks later, smudged with what looks like the black makeup Ed wears, like Ed's been holding it against his face...the way Ed paints the bride cake topper to look like himself with so much care...all he wants is to hold the man he loves, and all he wants is to be the kind of person who is capable of being held in return.
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In conclusion: we need a season 3 because we NEED to see Ed's dream come true! He's spent season 2 learning that he really is the kind of person who can hold and be held, that his gentleness is nothing to be ashamed of. We know where this is heading, but we deserve to see it anyway.
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confusedraven1 · 2 months
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🗣Ed’s arc is a recovery arc, not a redemption arc🗣
You really can't engage meaningfully with Ed's story in S2 without firmly centring his mental illness and suicidality, because that's inherently what the story is: it's the story of man having a severe mental breakdown and going to increasingly erratic extremes in order to achieve his end goal, which is to not be alive anymore...and then it's the story of his recovery from that.
And so much of my frustration with the way I see this being talked about (or, in many cases, not being talked about) reflects my more general frustration with how we talk about mental illness and neurodivergence, so buckle in because this got long (also I am going to be discussing suicide here, as well as very brief mentions of psychosis and ocd, so please take care). There's this trend when we talk about mental health: we go 'oh mental illness isn't an excuse' or 'mental illness doesn't make you do bad things' or variations thereof. These are, in my opinion, some of the worst things to ever happen to the discourse around mental illness. It's reductive. Absolutely mental illness can lead you to do things that you would not have otherwise done, even things that you would be absolutely appalled by, if you were mentally well. What do you think mental illness is if it's not something that impacts your brain and how your brain functions? If your mental illness doesn't directly lead to problematic behaviour, then that's fantastic, but that experience is not universal. It's not an 'excuse' - it's an explanation for certain behaviours that's vitally important to acknowledge and understand in order to try and mitigate harm.
There's also this thing that happens with discourse around mental illness where we assume that what you do in the grips of mental illness is reflective of something that's innate inside you. You were violent whilst in the middle of psychosis? Oh, it's because you're an innately abusive person and this just reveals who you really are. You have Tourette's and one of your tics is a racial slur? Oh, it's because you're an innately racist person and this just reveals who you really are. Your OCD is rooted in a fear that you're going to murder your family? Oh, it's because you inherently do what to murder your family and this just reveals who you really are. It's bullshit. What you do in your mentally ill state is not some deep philosophical reflection of your true character, and the idea that it is is something that causes really deep, dangerous harm to mentally ill and neurodivergent people.
So, now that that's over with, back to Ed.
Ed was behaving in ways that were acknowledged in canon as being extremely out of character whilst in the midst of a severe breakdown. Fang himself said that he'd 'never' seen Ed behave this way; even Izzy, who actively pushed for Ed to embody the extremes of his Blackbeard persona, ended up concerned because it became so extreme and out of character that it was impossible not to be concerned by it. The crew who mutinied on Izzy within a day didn't mutiny on him for months, not until their lives literally depended on it, because it's heavily insinuated that they were hoping he would get better. Because this wasn't the Ed that they knew (the Ed that we came to know in S1 - an inherently soft man who is caught in a culture of violence and is tired of it).
The show wasn't subtle about this. It didn't bury the lead. As well as the constant reminders that he was acting out of character in increasingly alarming ways, this was very clearly depicted as a breakdown, an almost total collapse of Ed's mental health. We saw Ed detached and numb and completely dissociated from the world around him. We saw him in private moments of despair, breaking down. We saw him behaving erratically in the grips of mania. We saw him display absolutely textbook warning signs of someone whose made the decision to die by suicide. We saw him smile and say 'finally' at the moment when he knew he was going to die.
The show basically painted a giant neon sign over his head flashing 'THIS MAN IS EXTREMELY UNWELL' in bright lights, and if you miss that, then it's because you're deliberately avoiding looking properly.
(And, important to note, that most of the people that I've watched the show with outside of fandom discourse absolutely took away from these episodes what the show was intending - they saw how unwell Ed was, they were devastated for him, and they desperately wanted him to get better.)
When Ed steered the ship into the storm, and threatened to put a cannonball through the mast, his clear goal was to create a situation where the crew had no choice but to kill him. I've seen people describe this scene as Ed 'trying to hurt the crew', and I think that's very much a misrepresentation of what the show was depicting. It was very blatantly a suicide attempt. He wanted to die, and he didn't care what he had to do in order for him to achieve that goal. That doesn't make it good behaviour, and it doesn't mean people didn't get hurt, but it does make it a very different situation than if causing harm had been his main intent.
There is a fundamental difference between 'he is doing this because he explicitly wants to cause harm to the people around him' and 'he's doing this because he's suicidal and beyond the point of being able to rationally consider who might be getting hurt in the process of ensuring that he ends up dead'. One of those is a bad person who enjoys causing pain - and the other is a deeply unwell person who can be supported and helped to recover and be better (and should be, for the good of themselves and the people around them).
And on that note, the failure to engage with this as a mental health story is also, I think, why I've seen some people get so upset about the show not doing Ed's redemption arc 'right' - because this isn't a redemption arc, and it's not trying to be. One day I'll do a separate post about how much I love that the show explicitly rejected a carceral approach, opting to essentially put him through community rehabilitation rather than punishing him, and even mocking punitive prescriptive measures (that rubbish youtuber apology speech was supposed to be rubbish and unhelpful), but that's one for another day.
The fact is that the show is telling a story about mental illness, and that inherently means that Ed's arc is a recovery arc, not a redemption arc. And if you're expecting a redemption arc, then you've fundamentally misunderstood the story that they're telling (and the revolutionary kindness at the heart of the show).
I have a lot of feelings about this because I genuinely believe that it was one of the best depictions of mental illness and suicidality that I've ever seen. Within the confines of it being a half hour, eight episode comedy show, they told a story about mental illness that was surprisingly realistic (with the obvious fantastical over the top elements of it being a pirate show - and piracy is explicitly depicted as a culture where violence is heavily normalised), and that didn't shy away from the messier, darker, more complex elements of mental illness (particularly of being suicidal).
And then, most importantly, after all that, the show took me gently by the hand said 'you are not defined by what you do in your lowest moment - you can make amends, you can recover, you are still loved, and you are worth saving'.
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confusedraven1 · 2 months
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Dreamlike Reunion, linocut
This is how I wanted the first one to turn out. I'm so happy with it, I hope you guys will like it too.
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confusedraven1 · 2 months
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Rhys Darby - Desert Sparrow - Karma (Music Video)
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confusedraven1 · 2 months
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