#Edward Teach Character Analysis
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I want to talk about Jim during this part of Calypso's Birthday.
We see Jim's transformation this season and especially in this scene. They become more comfortable with themselves and their self expression.
From someone hiding behind long hair, a floppy hat, a fake nose and beard, and mute to all but Olu to someone who is in drag and loudly cheering and goofing around!
And while Archie is the one who hands the drinks over to Ed and Stede (showing how the crew is okay with Ed on board now) Jim is right behind, getting into Stede's personal space for a bit of fun. I love how their relationship has changed as well. Jim disliked Stede at the beginning, reluctantly helping him out, calling him a bad pirate, and now they are goofing around with him, matching his level/energy.
I love seeing how free Jim is in this scene, and how close the crew is.
#ofmd#our flag means death#stede bonnet#jim jimenez#calypso's birthday#gentlebeard#ofmd edward teach#ofmd stede#meta#meta analysis#ofmd meta#jim jimenez character study
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Also it is driving me insane that Ed's body language goes camp again with Frenchie as his first mate. Like he really, truly policed his presentation around Izzy I'm going to eat drywall
(And how he was camp and still scared the shit out of Frenchie!!!! 👀)
#let him be soft and camp#ed character analysis#ofmd meta#ofmd season 2 spoilers#ofmd#izzy hands#indrid talks#edward teach#frenchie ofmd
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Why Izzy’s death doesn’t work as Ed’s redemption
This show that was so good before with avoiding overused tropes really did the “redemption arc for the antagonist just for him to heroically -well actually just without any point- die” trope, as a season finale, mind you! Just to give Ed a redemption free pass?
Because if the character he arguably did the worst things to forgives him, then of course everybody else including the viewers also has to. And if Izzy says that actually it was all his fault/that he is the one who is sorry, well then obviously that also has to be true./s
-Sorry for what? What is this, 101 how to be the perfect abuse victim?!-
“bUT iZzy SYmbøLiSEs êdS…..”- NO! Stop right there, that’s not how this works: “the kraken killed my dad”- does not take away Ed’s responsibility for killing his father. Him sinking his leather clothes to the bottom of the ocean to symbolically kill Blackbeard, how he is talking of “Ed” and “Blackbeard” as if they are two different people, the whole time Ed is pretending that the things he can’t face about him self are not actually part of him. This is obviously very unhealthy and I was sure that the storyline of the show would let him face these things and learn how to accept himself with all the good and the bad(!) he’s done.
But nope- the show seams to agree that projecting all his flaws onto something (in this case somebody) else is a legitimate solution and then immediately kills that character off, so Ed is redeemed with in seconds, without actually showing any character growth??!
I am sorry but this just does not make sense! And I’m not even going into how you can use Ed clothes or the silk in S1 or a petrified orange as a symbol but not ACTUAL PEOPLE.
And “you are surrounded by friends?” No Ed is actually quite right, Izzy at this point is his only friend (not saying that Izzy always was the most helpful or supportive friend, but he stood by him no matter what). The crew on the other hand clearly does not see Ed as a friend, rightfully so. He did nothing to rectify his actions towards them, hell he didn’t even apologize properly because clearly Stede wrote his apology speech (that’s why he doesn’t know what a fucking safe space ship is). So no character growth/ taking accountability on that front.
If Ed would have actually gotten just the tiniest bit of character growth, if he had actually faced that HE is the one who did these things, the least DJ could have shown us, is him saying that he is sorry too/disagreeing when Izzy, even now while dying, is taking the fault for Ed’s actions yet again.
But he doesn’t because he still believes “the kraken killed my dad, I didn’t kill them the fire did, Izzy made me cut of his body parts and become evil”.
This scene successfully ruined the complete character arcs my two favourite pirates supposedly were going through this season: Ed wanting to change and find out who he really is as well as completely undoing Izzy’s emancipation from him
#forgot to post this is it to late now cause other people have said it way better probably but whatever#ofmd edward teach#ofmd izzy#ofmd season 2#ofmd spoilers#ofmd s2#izzy deserved better#ed deserved better too!!!#stop ignoring my babygirl! Izzy is not the only character we need to safe from the evil monster that the s2 storyline is#ofmd critical#ofmd analysis#ofmd#our flag means death spoilers
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The fact that some people seem to think Ed was genuinely healing during the breakup-robe era and that Izzy is what made him swing so hard into the Kraken is literally driving me insane.
Was he trying? Maybe. More likely he was in denial and repressing the worst of it. Which is why, when it did all explode, it hit more like a nuke than a firework.
But like. If he was healing at all, he wasn’t nearly at the stage some people seem to think he was. He wouldn’t have been capable of becoming the Kraken if he had been, regardless of how ‘mean’ Izzy was being (’mean’, god this is fucking ridiculous, they’re pirates, they’re all mean Izzy’s just blunt).
No, Izzy didn’t help. He threatened to leave, he reminded Ed of the necessity of Blackbeard (no -- shut the fuck up -- listen to me, Blackbeard is important. Izzy doesn’t just want him back because he’s horny for violence not opening that can of worms but god is that read twenty types of wrong too. Blackbeard is their meal-ticket, he’s their armor. At this point, nobody wants to risk going up against Blackbeard, and there’s safety in that. In such an dangerous profession, whatever safety you can get is absolute necessity.), he brought up the one thing that was hurting him the most, in a particularly painful way.
But he didn’t make him do anything. Ed has his own agency. For the love of christ please stop infantilizing Ed for the sake of demonizing Izzy. And just. In general. He’s not, and has never been, a precious uwu baby who has never hurt people or wanted to. He’s fucking Blackbeard and you don’t get to be Blackbeard if you don’t ‘love a good maim’.
It does such a disservice to the character to pin all his faults on Izzy. It flattens them both (and Stede too, since, if it’s all Izzy’s doing, he doesn’t have to reckon with Ed’s fucked choices and how he feels about them).
#the dork is being a dork#izzy hands#edward teach#spare nuance? can anybody spare some nuance?#how about some character analysis?#media literacy?#anything?#can we at least pay attention to the damn show then?#can we examine why some of yall are so determined to pin all the blame for every wrong done in the show on izzy?#the man has done a lot of things wrong#but christ he's not the only one#(i know the actual answer is 'because he threatens our ship')#(but like)#(fuck man)#(i like ed/stede TOO)#(and i can still see that izzy's not at fault for EVERYTHING)#im so tired of the bad takes
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i think izzy might get to be happy for the rest of the season. the whole crew made him feel genuinely appreciated for the first time since he stepped foot on the revenge.
they always thought he was a dick, of course they did, but he never got to hear jim say "he's our dick." while they and archie helped take care of his leg. even if he's an asshole, they kind of all are!! they're pirates!!! he's still integral to the ship and the crew knows that; he's knowledgeable and arguably the most skilled fighter on the ship. aside from ed he's been pirating the longest just from the virtue of life lived. the crew may have known this since season one but they never expressed their appreciation for him because he was SO mean.
but in episode four they all see that he's genuinely depressed and fucking struggling, probably has been since they've known him. like jesus he became a fucking alcoholic for like three days😭
i think it really comes down to the resentment and jealousy he has for stede; stede is a fucking LOSER. i love him so much but i feel like that's just. canon. he's not a good pirate by any standards, it's a miracle he's alive, and ed fell for him in a week when izzy's been right by his side for DECADES. he's got everything izzy wants and he didn't even have to try. he was living unhappily for months while he watched the man he loves literally fall into the arms of another—someone who is everything izzy isn't.
and then ed was pretty fucking horrible to him the entire time he captained the revenge!! why was that?? BECAUSE OF STEDE. AGAIN. out of everyone izzy was the most mutilated, disrespected, manipulated, and made a fool of. but he accepted it because he loves ed so greatly. and then fucking stede comes back and that's all izzy can take.
he never felt love from ed, not like he needed. i think he believed that ed was the only person in the world who could have. once izzy realized he never would, he thought he was unloveable. worthless. so when the crew made him a sturdy, hand-designed, hand-painted prosthetic, they showed their love for him. that's all he ever needed. having friends other than ed will be SO beneficial for his mindset, because let's be real, izzy was ALWAYS too dependent on ed and ed absolutely took advantage of it every chance he got. they are not good for each other, at least not alone. if izzy finds himself loved and valued among the crew, the lack of love from ed won't consume him anymore. he can be free i fucking know it
#i neeever thought i'd care this much about izzy hands being happy🤷🤷#i don't even think he deserved the love of fans in season one#he had done nothing to prove that he was acting like a shithead all the time for an understandable reason#but i am so so glad david and the writers have begun to use him to his fullest potential as a fleshed out character#things have happened in the past five episodes that change how we can view him in the first season and that's amazing#izzy hands#meta#analysis#character analysis#our flag means death#edward teach#ed teach#blackbonnet#stede bonnet#blackbeard#long post
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i feel like ppl (izzy fans especially) rlly get hung up on the toe scene and seeing it like "what if this happened in real life??" or even just "what if this happened in a realistic show that placed moral judgement on characters for enacting physical violence??" and like YEAH in real life i think having your toe cut off and fed to you would be Pretty Fucking Traumatizing and you'd probably be the victim of the situation, not the guy feeding you your own toe. and in MOST shows, if someone's feeding ppl their own toes, that's probably a bad guy
but one of my favorite things abt ofmd is how it DOESNT make moral statements about physical violence. like, ever. this show never takes a stance on when it's okay to kill people, or how much violence you can do while still being a good person. because all the important characters are fucking pirates! if this show tried to take a realistic approach to the morality of physical violence it would get really hypocritical really, really fast!
what matters in ofmd isn't whether the characters are physically violent or not, it's how the characters feel about being the ones to enact violence.
buttons and roach both enjoy violence in a slapstick goofy way that's meant as comedic relief. jim clearly has no regrets about murdering the man who killed their family, but they're not that enthusiastic about going on a whole revenge killing spree and hunting down six (or five, now) other guys. stede at the beginning is somewhat afraid of violence, and is insecure about how afraid he is, but i do think his feelings about violence are changing and will continue to change in the next season(s).
izzy considers violence a requirement to be a real pirate (aka a Real Man) and is loyal to ed so long as he thinks ed is willing to use violence to maintain power and control
and ed. ed actually doesn't like physically hurting people! he's deeply traumatized by murdering his own father, so much so that he's made up weird rules about when someone's death is his fault as a way to distance himself from the violence that is necessitated by his profession! when those rules are called into question, and his responsibility in people's death scrutinized, he gets uncomfortable! all ed wants is to leave behind his violent lifestyle and go enjoy a hedonistic lifestyle for the rest of his life!!
but it's not that ofmd doesn't have a moral compass. in the fictional world of ofmd, "morality" (aka When Characters Are Rewarded/Punished By The Narrative) has two axes: colonialism and emotional vulnerability
the first one is pretty straight forward and has been talked abt a lot already so quick summary: in ofmd, when characters are explicitly and maliciously racist (british navy in e1, rich french people in e5) or side with european colonizers (izzy in e9), they face physical harm. british soldiers in e1 get beat up, the french ppl in e5 get their ship burnt down, and izzy nearly gets thrown overboard in e9, and in e10... yknow. toes.
as for Emotional Vulnerability, that's the whole fucking core of the show. people being their authentic selves, openly expressing their emotions and clearly stating their emotional needs, that's the end goal for every character who's gonna get a happy ending. characters denying parts of themselves, suppressing their desires and contorting themselves to fit into a certain box they feel obligated to get into—that's what our protagonists are trying to unlearn.
in e10, izzy is trying to force ed back into the blackbeard box. he demands ed return to the role that makes him unhappy, a role that requires physical violence to maintain. and ed goes, and we know, we are told, like, multiple fucking times before and after that this is not what ed wants to be doing. ed has stated, over and over again, that he's tired of being blackbeard, that he wants to pack it all in, that he wants to do the things that make ed happy. we learn in e6 that he's actually been traumatized by his OWN PHYSICAL VIOLENCE!!! and he even talks about feeding ppl their own toes as a fucking example of shit he Does Not Want To Do!!!! and the last fucking shot of him we have is him literally sobbing his eyes out!!!!!!!
yes, in real fucking life, and in almost any other story, izzy would be the victim of the toe scene
in the fictional world of ofmd, in the narrative of a slapstick pirate romcom that we're being told, ED IS THE PRIMARY VICTIM IN THE TOE SCENE. ED IS THE ONE WHO IS SUFFERS MORE IN THAT SCENE
#ofmd#our flag means death#ofmd meta#izzy hands#edward teach born on a beach#edward teach#blackbeard#dizzy izzy#if this post is in the izcourse tag no it isnt u just dont know how to use tumblr#mine#txt#og#meta#izzy critical#WOW i got. kinda heated there fhjgkshylrykghbkugl#anyway get some fucking reading analysis skills for the love of fucking god. this gay pirate show is not real life#physical violence in ofmd is not held to the same moral standard it is in real life. bc it's a fucking show about pirates#and also not all violence is physical!!! emotional abuse and mental trauma are both forms of violence!!!!#and some ppl reach SO FUCKING HARD to claim ed emotionally abuses izzy#when like. if you're thinking like that. youve fallen into the ''looking too hard at the characters as real ppl'' trap#and u gotta take a step back and remember what the story is about. remember that ed is a romantic lead and a main protagonist#remember that izzy is a main antagonist and a personification of toxic masculinity#and tell me how it benefits the story for ed to be emotionally abusive towards izzy
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Can we talk about how emotionally devastating Izzy losing his leg is? I don’t know if it’s just me, but my first thought was that Ed did it. I have hope that he didn’t, but what else am I supposed to think? The only context we have that is even at all relevant is Edward cutting off his toe (multiple in season two, now that the scene of Izzy getting that hug from Fang came out [which I’m fucking obsessed with]). That scene shown in season two (as mentioned) had to be before the leg went, since he’s shown in the scene with his leg still, and doesn’t have a bandage like we saw at the end of season one.
All of his shipmates are worried for him because he has a toxic relationship with his captain, who he is very clearly in love (in some way, shape, or form, whether that be idolization, which I really think it is, with some hint of actually romantic love, which I do also agree on) with but won’t admit it. So he’s forced into a bearhug which brings him to the verge of tears (assumedly because he hasn’t felt genuine loving touch in so long that it’s horribly overwhelming to him).
And if not Ed, then who does it? Stede? I don’t think so. A crew mate? They would for sure be killed. He’s Blackbeard’s to maim. No one else’s.
(Have a drawing of me figuring out how his prosthetic works)
#ofmd#ofmd 2#ofmd season two#ofmd spoilers#Izzy hands#israel hands#ofmd blackbeard#stede fucking bonnet#stede bonnet#edward teach#prosthetic design#character analysis#con o'neill#taika waititi#rhys darby
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i keep coming back to episode 4 whenever i see discussions about Ed’s mental state. because the subversion of everything izzy tells us about Ed, while not groundbreaking, is so beautifully executed over the course of the episode
when we truly meet Ed, we’re supposed to be intimidated by him. we’ve only seen him in glimpses, either in the shadows or striding out of the smoke on the Spanish ship. and while he watches stede sleep, he’s quiet and contemplative. only breaking his vigil to tell Lucius to count backwards. which honestly came off as a threatening power move of sorts. like, do as i say and get out of here or else. no real rhyme or reason, just trying to scare him, right?
but when he meets the crew, when he finally talks to stede, he comes off as a little silly. kind. fun. compassionate. he’s ecstatic over the fact Buttons is a bird guy. fascinated by stede’s eccentricity and the auxiliary wardrobe. casual and cool and excitable about stuff like model ships. watching the clouds and finding funny shapes in them. and then of course he asks stede if he wants to do something weird
the bit with the wardrobe change really drives home what izzy is saying at first. oh, he’s distracted. oh, he’s just messing around. he never takes it seriously. he’s flighty. unmanageable and hard to work for. this little role play seems totally out of left field and like they’re just wasting time when their lives are in danger. the Spanish are coming! so of course izzy is mad!!
but then izzy’s argument unravels so beautifully in one scene. Ed asks Stede “what is Blackbeard going to do?” because that’s who stede is playing at right? Lucius strides back into frame and suddenly his counting down comes into sharp, terrifying focus. they’re out of time. stede doesn’t have a plan. he holds everyone’s life in his hands and THAT is what Ed is dealing with on an every day basis, not izzy. the crew is looking to blackbeard, now stede, and he’s failed them by not taking it seriously
but Ed has. the entire time. he used Lucius as a timer. the clouds to tell the weather. he was well aware of what would happen with the fog based on the date and the sky alone and knew how to save them before anyone even brought the threat to his attention. all of these little idiosyncrasies and quirks purposefully and masterfully sprinkled throughout the episode, leading to this moment where we realize the brilliance he was capable of the whole time. he makes one mistake with the leap year. but then in a scene that’s a testimony to where their relationship will go, he works with stede in a way he never could with izzy to hatch a backup plan. leads stede and the rest of the crew through it and even gives them positive feedback to boot
and then, of course, the final scene with izzy. i’ve seen a lot of talk about how Ed never had a plan to kill stede, he comes up with it to placate izzy. but i don’t think that’s true. he asks stede to swap clothes right after stede introduces the idea of retirement. we’ve just learned how fast Ed’s brain works. he says to izzy what if they found a body about the same size as mine, but unrecognizable? burned and mangled? what better way to find a match than trying on their clothes? do i think he was ever going to follow through, especially with his murder related trauma? no. you could already see the regret in his eyes. but i think he thought he could convince himself. oh the fire or someone or something else will get him, not me directly. and then, of course, a fateful boat party, a scrap of silk, and a spark of hope tucked gently into his chest. he was history
all of this to say: the writers took an entire episode to prove how wrong izzy was. to show how capable, competent, and confident Ed is at his job. they introduce us to a scary storybook blackbeard to turn that narrative on its head multiple times and give us a picture of the full, complex man. is he bored? sure. doesn’t care what happens to him? absolutely (don’t even get me started on the guess i could try dying of it all. honey, that’s suicidal ideation). it’s too easy and he needs excitement. but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t take it seriously. so WHY do white fans keep insisting that we should feel sorry for izzy and that he’s just doing his job and taking care of Ed?
izzy being surprised by Ed’s capability lets us know he’s unreliable. acting like he does all the work (even though he failed at his job 2 episodes in a row) and needs to keep an eye on Ed who is perfectly capable of taking care of himself. the writers use this episode to show us this is BULLSHIT. so even when Ed becomes the Kraken, we know from all of this previous context they’ve given us that he’s perfectly in control. he’s wrong and he’s heartbroken and he’s hurting. but he knows what he’s doing and it sure isn’t izzy who’s going to knock any sense into him
izzy wants power. he wants Ed to show a semblance of instability so he can jump in as a toxic white savior and take the credit for the legend of blackbeard he’s played very little part in. start questioning why people chose to take the white man’s narrative at face value when he’s proven wrong time and time again. and next time you see someone going on about how izzy is so right about Ed needing him as a voice of reason, go back to the text and see what the writers intended that voice to say
#edward teach#blackbeard#izzy hands#our flag means death#if you're doing an actual analysis of the text then actually look at the text!#and authorial intent!#i love izzy as a rat bastard he's a great character#but the extent to which i see people sympathize with him and villianize ed is frankly racist#just start unlearning which narrative you naturally trust!!!
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What do you think it is specifically about the Stede and Ed relationship that just resonates so much with so many different people?
You’ve got two guys who don’t really know who they are in terms of who they should love and what love is to them. And a guy who takes a ridiculous risk, leaves his wife and kids to go and become a pirate, but is still very, very fancy and is from a background that is hard to get out of. So he can’t really change, but he needs someone who is basically the opposite to be able to change him. And that person, which if you look at Blackbeard, he’s got a very deep and dark background as well, and he’s looking for the opposite to change himself and they meet in the middle. And I think that’s why it’s so special.
And I think there’s some really resonating aspects to it with people who don’t have confidence or aren’t in the right group, don’t fit in, things like that. Everything that resonates for the LGBTQ community. And I think, on top of that, you’ve just got this beautifully made show and there’s no queerbaiting. We go all the way. This turns into a romance between two men and I think it just ticks the boxes for everybody. And the fandom online proves that this is what people want. And it feels good to be delivering that. When we were making it, of course, I didn’t know. I knew what we were doing and I wanted to do my best job at doing it. But I had no idea how much love was going to be given. So yeah, I feel really, really proud.
Obviously, the writing is there and the characters are there, but how much credit for the chemistry between Ed and Stede goes to you and Taika having known each other for so long, and the kind of intimacy of friendship and knowing someone?
Oh, it’s a huge factor. I mean, if either of us were actors that were just cast that didn’t know each other, I don’t think the chemistry would be there. Because we are playing people that are falling in love. And we know what that would be like with each other because we do love each other as friends. We’ve had each other’s back for a long time and we’ve been on this journey coming from New Zealand and trying to make it in Hollywood and make it in America, conquer the world, sort of together. He’s had my back and I’ve always been there for him whenever he needs me. And so it just felt like a natural thing.
On top of that, we are both perfectionists. We’re very similar in a lot of ways with how we create our art and how many takes we want to do. But also, at the same time, we want to make it up as we go along because we like the instant magic you get from improv and things like that. So we did these scenes together, and especially with the dramatic ones, we are challenging ourselves to make it feel as real as possible. And it’s easy for me to get upset or for him to get upset when we see each other upset because we know each other. And so yeah, it digs deeper and I think that’s why it’s come out so well.
- Rhys Darby, Uproxx, 2nd June 2022
#rhys darby making me cry yet again with his character analysis#our flag means death#ofmd#rhys darby#taika waititi#stede bonnet#edward teach#blackbeard#taika and rhys
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Something about Ed's character I think is pretty interesting is his tendency to dismiss and ignore his problems and his own actions.
When Izzy brings up the fact that they lost quite a lot of crew Ed's response is to say "well yea they're pirates :/". Completely dismissing the lives of his OWN crew and dismissing Izzy's real and valid concerns.
And when Fang brings up Ed making him MURDER HIS OWN DOG, Ed literally says "no I didn't". Flat out gaslighting and refusing to acknowledge that he did even that. And this could?? Be read as Ed literally forgot he did that but the concept that Ed would force someone to do something that awful and traumatic but he viewed it as so mundane that he fully forgot is equally as bad tbh.
Ed's main coping mechanisms for dealing with being a serial murderer is to come up with delusional excuses as to why its not technically his fault. Ed didn't kill Lucius, Lucius just wasn't a good swimmer. Ed didn't kill those guys, the fire did. And so on and so forth.
I fully expect this to come up in s2 with Izzy's toe. I don't know how exactly it will go down in canon but I think it'll likely be Izzy being in a very toxic victim blaming mindset where he thinks he deserves it and that he was technically "asking for it" by antagonizing Ed like he did and Ed will likely go along with this narrative, both to avoid dealing with his own guilt and to more easily reconcile with Stede.
I can only hope that this very toxic way Ed deals with shit is actively challenged and we see some real growth on his part and genuine help for Izzy.
#THATS RIGHT#IT WAS A IZZY APOLOGIST POST THE WHOLE TIME#anyway lol#i really do like Ed#he's a bad person but very interesting and fun#ofmd#our flag means death#izzy hands#edward teach#character analysis#ofmd s2
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I have a running theory, I haven’t tested it yet. But there seems to be a direct correlation between Ed’s hair being down and him having a mental break.
Down- not doing good
Up- doing great!
#ed teach#our flag means death#ofmd#edward teach#blackbeard#the gay pirate show#hair equals mental health#character analysis
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The contrast in the sound and meaning of the doors in the bathtub scene in 1x6 is such a small moment that offers a huge emotional punch.
The first is of pain, of leaving, Ed's dad slamming the door closed, as he moved away from his family.
The second is of hope, of returning. It's Stede breaking down the door TO GET to Ed and take care of him.
These sounds are back to back, and while slightly different, offer such a contrasting sensation and emotion to Ed and the audience.
Ed is rendered mute as a kid from the trauma and while adult Ed is following in his footsteps, locking and hiding himself away and becoming as small as he can, while covering himself up with something soft, this time it's different.
This time the sound of the door is of someone coming to him, to comfort him, not to hurt him. He uses Stede's robe to cover himself in a sense of security and now that security has broken down a door out of worry for him, asking if he's all right. You can hear after each noise, Ed trying to steady his breathing.
Ed immediately speaks, telling him the truth. Something we learn later is a dark secret he's kept, and only now tells another soul.
One door offers pain and the other hope. Stede has always been Ed's hope and this is one of the loudest (literally) signs of it.
#ofmd#our flag means death#stede bonnet#ofmd stede#ofmd edward teach#gentlebeard#blackbonnet#Blackbeard#bathtub scene#1x6#the art of fuckery#ofmd meta#meta analysis#ed teach character study
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As somber as the conversation was, I'm still amused that Lucius tried to use Ed's list of crimes as a reality check. Beheadings, when they've seen Ed maim people and Lucius has no reason to think Ed didn't murder on the reg before. Arson, as if Wee John isn't part of their crew.
Like hon at that point the worst thing Ed's done in Stede's opinion is what he did to you and you're both mostly blaming Stede for that one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I am glad that Izzy's comments about Ed having terrorized them to the point of mutiny and that it's put their lives in danger re: Zheng landed, though, and I'm so proud of Stede for how he handled it all, especially after finding Ed.
Our boy's really coming into his own as a leader 🤧
#our flag means death#ofmd#ofmd season 2 spoilers#lucius spriggs#stede bonnet#izzy hands#edward teach#gentlebeard#ofmd meta#stede character analysis#indrid talks
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further thoughts on character weakness and desire via OFMD: Edward Teach
previously: intro and Stede Bonnet's self-doubt
intro/reminder: what's this about, eh
Right, so: it’s really interesting to look at a character, pinpoint a weakness, and interrogate all their desires through that quality.
CHARACTER: Desires X, does Y; character's [quality] expresses itself as [generalized action, internal or external] and [method of subverting own desires]
Ed’s side of things is a little more interpretative for me. The show is so much with Stede and his past that I simply had more to work with for the analysis, which let me sketch the framework in the previous post. Yet I don’t have Stede as intuitively in my writer brain as I do Ed; I’d written like 3,000 words from Ed’s perspective before I started on this character interpretation bender? And I think you’ll find the next bit is more The Ed I Wrote rather than strict canonical interpolation.
character study: Ed Teach and self-loathing
When it comes to Ed… oh, Ed:
desires (the safety of) power, resorts to intimidation
desires novelty, creates chaos
desires fine things, dismisses them in front of others
Ed's self-loathing means there are other things he doesn't let himself desire, like kindness, like softness; he treasures the brief glances of these things he gets but doesn't expect them, doesn't try to keep them, and is knocked sideways when they are freely given to him.
(Doesn’t even bother desiring respect (rather than power) because he thinks of that as another thing he's unworthy of?)
Ed's self-loathing means he may well know his own desires but undercuts them out of defense, of not being worthy of receiving them
Looking at a second character clarifies how the desire pairing works. It’s not that key weakness(/strength) dictates how the desire is inverted. Rather, it dictates what that equation is entirely.
Stede’s self-doubt creates opposites, questioning and overcorrecting his own desires. But if you’re full of self-loathing, what do you think of your own desires? You see them, and they come from deep within you, which is a person you hate, and so you hate and love those desires. You try to fulfill them as you try to deny them. Deny you even have them. Desires get distorted.
A desire for the respect you never had (because you were poor, because you were a child, because you were your mother’s son) mutates into power instead, because power can come through strength and violence, but where does respect come from? Hierarchy, and worthiness, and goodness, maybe. Who would respect you? But you sure as hell can learn to wield power over them.
There are plenty of things that Ed wants and gets. That’s kind of a piratical thing: see a ship, want the ship, take the damn ship!!! But I wonder: did Ed let the best tapestries burn? Did he bloody the silk shirts? The things he does take for his dimly lit cabin, does he let himself enjoy them like he wants to, or does he hide them there, in the shadow of flickering candles and pipe smoke, both loving and hating them? Are they even the things he wanted most?
(By the way, if you haven’t paused the early scenes on Blackbeard’s ship in order to deeply study the barely-visible set design in the captain’s quarters, whoo boy, you’re missing out.)
But just like Stede’s self-doubt is undercut from the moment they meet, Ed’s self-loathing is tempered, too. Where Stede couldn’t hide behind theatricality or run away (because he could barely stand), Ed is overloaded by finery and by Stede’s enthusiasm for it, and for the slightest hint that Ed might tolerate said enthusiasm. It’s bullet point 4, up there: that he is thrown off track by Stede. And in a way, he can let it happen because of that desire for novelty, which hides the fact that Ed is being destabilized in other ways. His self-loathing is tricked and quieted: This is exactly the chaos Ed lives for! Some weird rich guy doing shit Ed’s never seen before! This isn’t the start of a hugely transformative relationship! Right???
So after being clad in fine clothes and given more novelty, having charmed a different kind of attention if not respect, after the suggestion that he is worthy, he can wear fine things, of course Ed steps forward. Of course Ed knows what he wants: this fine person, this gentle man. And of course, at the slightest sign, he remembers he doesn’t deserve it, and bails.
And this is the end of the season, too. He dared to let the soft parts of him want, and the world cut him back down. It’s two poles of how the arc can go: Stede’s self-doubt is quieted, his internal compass validated, and he ends with a hopeful return to what he now knows as his honest desire. Ed’s self-loathing is confirmed, multiplied, and he falls back into the protective habits that deny and twist the desires he can’t destroy in himself.
conclusion: if you want to use this framework, here's an idea
This was kind of about broader writing thoughts at one point. Let me reiterate:
Ask what your character thinks they want. But then: what are they doing about it? Where do they fail in those desires, or shy away from them?
What is the line that connects the desire to their failure to achieve it? It’s probably a key character quality you should jot down.
How do the characters around them upend that key quality? How do they reinforce it? Poke at that to see how it might evolve into an arc: an epiphany, a tragic downfall, etc.
In conclusion, I want to see more Frenchie songs and cons in season two. This has nothing to do with anything. It's just my heart's desire.
#our flag means death#meta#edward teach#character analysis#multipart essay#writing#character development#ofmd#character arcs
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Confessionals
Tangerine x Reader
Word Count: 1,438
Summary: After saving your ass on a job, you end up on a long car ride with Tangerine and Lemon. Some things can’t stay hidden forever.
A/N: Yes, I did spend more time than necessary on the Thomas and Friends wiki page.
“Ok, can I be honest with you?” You leaned forward.
“Of course.” Lemon leaned forward, too. Being the driver, Tangerine tried his best not to pay attention to this weirdly philosophical discussion.
“I feel like I’m an Arthur. I’m too paranoid about failing and I’m too obsessed with being perfect. I think being an Arthur is my downfall, though, because if I never fail, I’ll never grow as a person.” You said. Lemon snorted and shook his head.
“Mind you, I believe you’re wrong. You may think you’re an Arthur because you’re only focusing on your negative qualities, but I think you’re an Edward. Wanna know why?” Lemon held up his finger as if this was a teaching moment.
“Why?” You asked, eyes wide.
“For fucks sake.” Tangerine sighed.
“Because everyone can count on Edward. Just like Tangerine and I count on you all the time if we ever get in trouble. Edward is kind and reliable, just like you.” Lemon went on.
“Aww, do you really mean that?” You beamed.
“Cross my heart.”
“Well, if you’re calling me an Edward, then I’m calling you an Oliver because you learn from your mistakes and are reliable and hard-working. You let it go to your head sometimes, but you take care of others, like that time you helped Tangerine when he had a hangover.” You said.
“I thought we all agreed not to fucking bring that episode up again, you shit.” Tangerine gripped the steering wheel hard.
“He’s acting like such a Gordon right now.” You rolled your eyes.
“Yeah, Tangerine can act like a Gordon, but that’s only sometimes. I mean, he did pull you out of that job just now.” Lemon reminded you. He didn’t need to tell you twice. You had been sitting in the back of their car for the last hour with your arm in a makeshift sling since it got broken while you were in the middle of a high-stakes job. You were in over your head and had to call backup, enlisting the Twins since they owed you a favor.
“I’m not a fucking Gordon.” Tangerine looked back at you through the rearview mirror. “You take it back right the fuck now.”
“I will the fuck not.” You snorted.
“I’ll kick you out of this car right now if you don’t take it back.”
“Wow, you’d throw out an injured friend just because you don’t agree with your Thomas the Tank Engine character analysis?” You put your hand over your mouth in fake shock.
“That’s cold, man.” Lemon shook his head.
“I can’t believe you two. Like a bunch of children.” Tangerine shook his head.
“Hey, you’re the one getting upset because you’re a Gordon.” You shrugged.
“Stop calling me a Gordon, you twit.”
“Wow, nice insult. Did your mom pick it out for you?” You shot back.
“Don’t talk about our mom.” They both chimed.
“Ok, my bad.” You raised your good arm. “How far away is this safe house?”
“We’re almost there.” Tangerine grunted. You continued to chat with Lemon in the back seat, the sky darkening until it was pitch black out. The safe house you’d be staying at with them was out in the middle of nowhere. Lemon had fallen asleep by the time you arrived. You were nodding off, leaning on his shoulder for support.
“C’mon, you two. Get up and get out.” Tangerine put the car in park, shaking his brother until he woke up. Lemon almost hit him out of reflex. Your eyes felt heavy as you pulled yourself out of the car. Lemon took the keys and went to open the house up, while Tangerine held the door for you. The house was small and dingy with only two beds. Lemon took one bed and passed out without even changing his clothes or taking his shoes off. He must’ve been tired after the whole rescuing thing.
You set your bag down on the floor and looked around, not sure where to sleep. You set your jacket on the small couch when Tangerine grabbed it from you.
“Bed, now.” He demanded like an authority figure.
“Where are you gonna sleep, then?” You asked.
“We’ll share.” He shrugged. “I’ll leave you to change.” He walked out of the house, lighting a cigarette to smoke outside. You changed out of your dirty, bloody clothes in the bathroom and walked over to the door. Lemon was out cold, so you didn’t have to worry about being too quiet. Tangerine was sitting on the steps leading up to the house, smoking.
“Those will kill you.” You said quietly, sitting down next to him.
“Your job will kill you first if you keep getting in over your head.” Tangerine scoffed. You were silent and he wondered if he hit a button he wasn’t supposed to touch.
“Can I ask you something?” He finally said.
“Yeah?”
“You’re usually so careful. Why’d you take a job you knew you couldn’t handle?” His voice was tense. Not judgmental, but you could feel his jaw tighten with every word he said. It felt like you were being scolded.
A deep sigh left your mouth. “I wasn’t lying when I said I get paranoid about being perfect. I didn’t want word to get out that I rejected a job because of the danger-factor. I just. . . I worry what other people will think of me.” You quietly admitted.
“You’re a fuckin’ assassin, love. What people think about you should be the last thing on your mind.” Tangerine told you, looking up at the dark sky. You couldn’t see any stars or even the moon. Honestly, you could barely see Tangerine in the dark.
“I know.” You muttered. “I’m an assassin with some anxiety issues. How’d that work?”
You looked at Tangerine and he looked at you and you both laughed quietly.
“Did you mean what you said? That I’m a Gordon?” He asked.
“Wow, my words really hurt you, didn’t they?” You smiled.
“No fuckin’ way. I just don’t want to be compared to some shitty-”
“Why do you care so much about what I think? You’re a fuckin’ assassin, love.” You laughed, mimicking what he said. Tangerine glanced at you in the dark, stubbing out his cigarette. He raised his hand and cupped your cheek, letting his thumb run over your skin. You froze in place.
“You know, I could get anything I want. I have the money, the skill, the charm. Yet, things always seem to be just out of reach. Lemon is lemon because our clients like to deal with me instead of him, no one likes lemons.”
“That’s not true-”
“Let me finish.” He took a breath, waiting to see if you’d stay quiet. When you didn’t make a noise, he continued.
“Lemon is lemon. You come waltzing in and you two become best fuckin’ friends. You like him more than you like me, it seems. Everytime I get closer to you. . .” Tangerine trailed off, pulling his hand from your face. Before he disappeared on you, you reached out and took his hand. You could feel his rings and watch under your fingers.
“Stop.” You whispered.
“I’m sorry if I upset you, love. It’s just how I feel.” He moved to get up. But your grip on his hand tightened.
“I don’t. . . I didn’t mean stop like. . . just. . .” Your mind was moving so fast and your arm throbbed and you were at a loss for words.
“I fucking like you, too, Tangerine. Look, Lemon is my friend and he’s easy to understand, but you? You’re like a closed book and I’m dying to get my fingers between the pages and open you up.” You admitted, then cringed at your metaphor.
“You want to open me up? How morbid.” Tangerine suddenly laughed.
“Yeah,” you said, tension easing away. “I want to dig into you like a bug and hibernate in your chest cavity.”
“You’re sick.” He snorted.
“And you love me.” It came out before you could stop it. Love. Love. Love. The air had that sudden tension again and you regretted it so much. You shouldn’t have said it. He was quiet. He was staring at you. Jesus, why did you have to say Love?
“Yeah, I fuckin’ love you.” Tangerine said, barely audible, yet you heard it. You heard those words and you felt like your world expanded. You let go of his hand and leaned your head on his shoulder. Tangerine wrapped an arm around you, keeping you warm in the cool night air.
“Hey, Tangerine?”
“Yeah, love?”
“I love you, too.”
“Well, it’s about time you fucking said it.”
#my writing#dragoneye01#confessionals#bullet train#bullet train imagine#bullet train x reader#tangerine x reader#tangerine#tangerine imagine#tangerine bullet train#lemon and tangerine
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I've been reading ACOTAR again these last days and I can't stop thinking about Elain, as a person, and Elain with Lucien.
I've been out of the fandom for a while, and I think we're completely missing something big with the ship war going on with Elucien and Elriel. I think SJM has an insane opportunity to give such a message to her readers. I'm mature enough now to take some steps back on the story, but it might not be the case for everybody. At least it wasn't the case for my younger self.
Elain gets a lot of hate because of misogyny, right? Because she's traditionally feminine, loves her flowers and her baking, is a very social person, and isn't a strong empowered warrior protagonist. I'm not saying those carcters are bad. They are necessary to break gender stereotypes and inspire girls to do what they want in life and not to be afraid to be themselves if they don't align with the stereotypes. But I've noticed that this type of caracter has become so mainstream now that it has lost its meaning and is no longer a perspective of choice but an expectation.
This ship war reminded me of Twilight. If I remember right, Bella says at some point that choosing between Edward and Jacob is more about choosing what version of herself is the one she wants to be. So, of course, she chooses an extraordinary life, rebels against the norms, and becomes a vampire. That's good for her. It carried the right message at that time.
But with Elain, SJM can completely change that message around. If Elain chooses Azriel, she chooses an extraordinary life too. She gets to become an active member of the Night Court, probably will be trained as a warrior or a spy at some point and become a revelant political figure with her seer abilities. That's an attractive life, and would probably allow her character to evolve a lot. But it once again perpetuate that idea that you have to become a very warrior type of character for you to have some value. So we're teaching teens that they have to be extraordinary for people to love them and value them, putting a lot of pressure on them, and encouraging them to, in the end, embody the new stereotype of women that we have created.
All the beauty of the idea lies there. If Elain chooses Lucien, she won't have to have that dark, alluring life but can choose an ordinary one. She won't be expected to stop her gardening, to act or speak differently. She doesn't have to completely change her personality, and she is still loved and cherished, but for exactly who she is. Even if she can become that super cool person, but not in alignment with herself. It could show that you can be loved even as an ordinary person with an ordinary life. That quiet lives are just as important as epic ones. And that a simple life can still be filled with happiness and beauty. It's a tolkienesque idea, but it's so important to celebrate ordinary lives.
If SJM writes Elucien, she can create a whole spectrum of representation. You can be a queen, a warrior, or a lover, and each of them is just as good as the other if it feels right to you.
And, by writing all of this, I don't even want to take part in this Lucien vs Azriel thing, or even go deeper in the characters. It's not about the characters themselves. There are a lot of amazing people who have done precise analysis of the canon text already. I just felt that it was important for me to share it somewhere, and I've seen no one talking about it already.
Please don't hesitate to interact with this post because I would love to talk about it with someone. Thanks for reading if you made it that far :)
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