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sarucane · 5 months

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Why didn't Ed always protect Stede?

I'm a bit late to the party and only really got into OFMD with S2, so I've started watching S1 really thoroughly only recently. And I've noticed that there's this narrative in the fandom that Ed and Stede are super protective of each other, particularly Ed--but as I've gone through S1 (number redacted) times, it's been driving me nuts how much Ed doesn't protect Stede.

Sure, there's the meme we all love when Ed stands in front of the firing squad--but for most of the scene before that, he's been standing and watching Stede beg for his life. He's upset, but he doesn't intervene until it's nearly do late. And before that, Ed doesn't say or do a thing about Calico Jack treating Stede like shit--sure it's believable that he just doesn't notice the passive aggression, but not even catching the "Steve" thing? That's something that isn't even intervening, Jack could be making an honest mistake. But the thing no-protection moment that's really driven me nuts is this moment

In the scene before this, Ed and Stede have just had an incredibly emotionally intimate conversation. Ed is clearly at least half in love with Stede at this point. This is a relationship that means something important to him, this is a person he cares for deeply. And…and Izzy almost murdered Stede in front of him, because of him, and he just looked away.

But at the same time, Ed does love Stede, he does intervene to protect him from the English--at great personal risk and cost. By the end of S2 Ed's much better about this kind of thing (though I'd argue he's never as super-protective as I've seen suggested).

So what was going on here? Ed's a total softie inside, especially with Stede, so why was he like this?

And I've got a theory! Here goes:

Mr. "greatest pirate who ever lived" is, in fact, an overachieving rule-follower (cough teacher's pet cough).

Ed doesn't intervene to help Stede because Ed conforms himself to the rules set by whoever has the strongest personality in a room, or whatever "code" is being pushed on him/is easiest to follow.

I think this is part of why Ed often struggles to identify what he wants, or hold onto a firm sense of his self-identity. And I think it's a lot of why he's so attracted to Stede, and why that relationship is so important to his development: Ed is much less likely to follow the rules when he's one-on-one with someone, and spending a lot of time alone with Stede gives him much more mental space to understand what he wants.

And just like Stede is most successful when he doesn't try to follow the traditional rules of pirating, Ed is most successful--in his relationship with Stede and outside it--when he doesn't obsess over bending to the rules, and instead picks and chooses which ones to follow and which ones to discard.

I have a partly-written super-long version of this where I go episode by episode looking at how the rules theme works with Ed's character mechanics, but I'm just going to focus on the topic question here (I might get around to posting the long version, but I also might be distracted by something shiny;) )

So let's start with The Art of Fuckery and the thing that was driving me crazy.

Ed's core conflict in this episode was whether he'd going to send Stede to "doggy heaven." Why would he follow Stede to doggy heaven? Because according to Izzy, Stede is categorized as a pet, and Ed has "a policy regarding pets aboard your vessel." It's a rule. Ed has to follow it.

And Ed fully intends to follow it, right up until the kraken turns up and the rules go out the window. And then he's in a safe space with Stede, drowning in memory of the good rules he broke (don't kill people you love). But Stede rejects the idea that Ed breaking that rule makes him a bad person. He appeals, instead, to friendship. And offers his own rule: that they could pretend the murder thing never happened.

Because that's the amazing thing about Stede: he lives at the intersection of aristocratic and pirate rules (which isn't supposed to exist, and which drew Ed to him), and he makes up his own rules.

When Ed's with Stede, he can follow different rules, unlike anything he'd imagined. Can even sometimes make up his own rules. Can actually pay attention to himself, think about what he wants, what he likes and fears.

But when Ed's in a crowd, or alone with someone trying to impose something on him, he conforms. So when Izzy invokes Pirate Rules and steamrolls Ed ("no you're not doing this,") Ed lets him.

It's a character flaw, and it's a serious one...but it's also one Ed works on when he stops complaining about the treasure hunt business. And when he and Stede discuss the idea of co-captains, and arrangement that would break the rule that "a ship has only one captain."

Which Ed is able to do because he's in a safe space. Calico Jack disrupts that, and introduces a succession of games with clearly defined rules, which Ed follows one after another. And Ed has so little self-awareness, is so easily swamped by Jack's personality, that he doesn't notice how Jack's treating Stede, let alone defend him, and he bows to every hint of pressure.

And all that culminates in Ed having to make a decision: follow pirate rules, where everyone's just at "various stages of screwing each other over," or do what he wants. Go help his friend, the guy he loves.

Which just ends up with him being absorbed right back into the pirate system of rules. He tries to use this at first, faking a confession on the grounds that he's a "life is cheap sort of guy." But Izzy's outsmarted him, and Izzy invokes pirate rules again: that Ed told him the rule for a first mate was "above all loyalty to your captain."

Ed doesn't call out for the Act of Grace until the last minute. He could have done it at the trial--he didn't. This is a hard thing for him to do, because he's surrounded by rule-following pressure, from Izzy and from Chauncy. The last time he was in a situation like this, Ed just looked away and let Stede die (he thought).

But the thing about Ed is that he's "half insane." For years, he used the combo of being considered "mad" and also having Izzy around to have his cake and eat it too with rules, to be the world's greatest pirate and also hang onto his own authentic self.

As a result, Ed got good at finding loopholes. Places where you can follow the rules and break them, at the same time. Getting run through, but in a place that missed "all the important bits." Being sentenced to death, but asking for an Act of Grace.

It's a big deal when Ed steps in front of Stede like that. He's acting against pirate rules, risking being absorbed by the rules set by the English.

He does it for Stede--and that starts to set him free. After that, Ed's never just following the rules again. He actually can't, even when he tries: his going kraken at the end of S1 and start of S2 is doomed from the start and full of contradictions, starting with the fact that he's on Stede's ship, the ship with hidden passages where rule-breaking can be hidden until it's needed.

Ed struggles a lot to figure out which rules to follow ("I will abide by the guidelines"), which rules to set aside ("Can we take it slow?"), when to make up his own rules ("So we're innkeepers now."). And Stede helps him, telling him things like "This can be whatever we want it to be," and "you're not a dick, life's a dick."

I don't really have a clever conclusion to this particular meta. It's a messy thing, and individual figuring out how to their life does and does not intersect with society. This theme doesn't resolve neatly, it just stops at the end of the season, like the tension between Ed/kraken/Blackbeard.

But there's a lot of hope here, I think. When Ed acts to protect Stede, and to fight alongside him, he's not just being a protective partner. It's a learned action, the physical manifestation of a decision Ed's made about who he wants to be in the world. Rules be damned.

#ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd #ofmd s2 #our flag means death #ofmd spoilers #ofmd meta #ed teach #stede bonnet #blackbonnet #izzy hands #gentlebeard #i swear there really is a much longer version of this this theme is hella iceberg #every single episode has references to rules guys this is A THEME running straight through EVERYTHING and i'm a moron for missing its size

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iamadequate1717 · 6 months

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OFMD S3 (Manifesting!)

I think we've all seen Casey Bloys' comments on an OFMD S3:

“What’s a little bit different in a linear world than here is… how a show performs over a longer period of time than three weeks or something,” Bloys stated. “So we’re figuring out how it’s doing, what it’s looking like.”

My reaction:

Really, HBO? HBO, after running one of the worst, most spoilery, most front loaded marketing campaigns I have ever seen, wants to talk about the long term?

The question that was driving everyone feral for an S2 was, will Stede and Ed find each other again? HBO/MAX put their first face-to-face meeting in the trailer. Why watch the show when the marketing will just toss a greatest hits reel out to the public before the episode even releases?

The showstopping set piece of 2x3 (MerStede rescuing Ed) was spoiled in their "marketing" since they released the concept art for MerStede days before the episode aired in a BTS video.

Let's look at the finale:

The beach kisses and the inn were spoiled in BTS videos released days before the episode was released after putting a week between 2x7 and 2x8 releases. Yeah, yeah, they didn't show the kisses exactly, but what else would that pose be for? It really enforced that 2x7 and 2x8 should have been released together, but HBO/MAX choose to create a cliffhanger while immediately posting the resolution in their marketing

Ed thinking Stede was dead was spoiled by the episode promo

Ed and Stede running toward one another on the beach was spoiled by the trailer. (It didn't show them in frame together, but it was obviously the same location and the direction they were going in matched.)

Ed reading one of Stede's letters was spoiled by marketing a few days before the finale release for no discernable reason

Izzy's climatic speech to Ricky (and that he was saying it to Ricky!) was spoiled in the trailer. It could have been a good hype VO, and they didn't need to spoil whom Izzy was talking to

The crew in the British garb and taking out soldiers was in the trailer. This plot begins nine minutes before the credits start.

The Revenge Crew working with Spanish Jackie and Zheng at some point was well spoiled beforehand in their BTS promo material. Zheng saying they should team up is three minutes before the credits start.

(Has anyone seen this amount of BTS material of episodes, including the season climax, released before an episode releases instead of after? Just holding this BTS material until after seems like a no-brainer to extending a show's interest after the finale is released.)

The reason the pacing felt super "off" on your first watch is because HBO/MAX already released a bulleted run through of the episode beforehand, and you were mentally ticking it off as you went instead of watching it organically. Watching it a second time really improves the flow of the episode.

This is a show whose popularity was raised created entirely through word-of-mouth excitement. The greediness of these streaming companies is why we couldn't have the actors doing promo, but then they took away the show's next most powerful tool, the word-of-mouth discussion, by releasing large swathes of the climax of the season before it aired, and the social media hype and discussion was front loaded to before release instead of after.

S3 was set up to show Ed and Stede as a solid couple and to show the pirate community against the British, and the season climax of these two points was released by HBO/MAX before the episode, and it was excitedly discussed then. Now, a week after release, we're stuck in some horrible gravy basket of discussing the part of the last five-ten minutes that HBO/MAX didn't outright spoil (though they tried their hardest with the grave promo stills and Ed's bloody hand in the promo!): Izzy's death. No one is having fun!

There is a lot of story setup for an S3 but DJenks and company had to set up a season that could double as a series finale in a pinch, so we also lost the "What happens next??" fervor because HBO/MAX wouldn't greenlight two seasons at once of their biggest new IP of 2022. The bizarre marketing strategy didn't lend itself to a long term success, and it's up to the fans once again to do HBO/MAX's job for them.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd 2x08 #hbo max #ofmd s3 #renew as a crew #talk it through as a crew #ofmd meta #renewal gravy basket #ranty rant rant #ofmd s2 spoilers #is it worth tagging s2 spoilers anymore?

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stupidlullabies · 1 year

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Dear OFMD fandom,

You may have seen this sticker pack on amazon, and you might have thought '50 stickers for $6? What a steal!' And you would be correct because all the art here is STOLEN. STOP BUYING THIS PACK.

#our flag means death #ofmd #gentlebeard #izzy hands #stede bonnet #edward teach #blackstede #jim jimenez

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blakbonnet · 15 days

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Artist of the Week!

So last weekend, I announced that I'd like to feature an artist every weekend for both new fandom joinees who might not have seen some of this art and older fans who like the nostalgia. This week's artist is Ash @aha-my-villainous-thoughts 💖 who also, wonderful that they are, agreed to answer a few questions for me!

Which App Do You Use To Draw When I’m at my big set up I use Clip Studio Paint, I love it so much. It’s very straight forward to dip straight in, has all of the bells and whistles you need from an elite drawing program, and the community elements where you can see assets and brushes is a lot of fun - although I still to this day have no idea how to earn coins to buy assets?! I use a XPPen Artist 15.6 Pro Graphics Tablet to draw into the program, although my best tip with graphics tablets is to get a screen protector, mine got covered in marks before I noticed. Recently I also got an iPad 10.9 to use as a digital sketchbook I can carry around, and while I am enjoying Procreate, I think CSP is a better art program overall.

Fave Brushes? On iPad I stick to the technical pen, studio pen and the soft airbrush, along with the textures and the light pen. I don’t think Procreate has great ‘painting’ brushes, whereas on CSP I would marry the Gouache brushes, I love how they blend and texture as you work.

Your favourite piece you’ve drawn? I’m a super self indulgent artist, I try to draw the kind of stuff I like to look at, so it’s a lot of colour, a lot of fabric and details. My fave piece for detail is the one I did for the OFMD RBB last year - Crescente Devotione, there’s a blushing sentient stool in it! For colour I’m in love with this sleepy time Ed in a lil negligee and a Holly Golightly eyemask, he's my lock screen because I'm trash.

Who harder to draw: Ed or Stede? Oh for sure Stede. I love Rhys Darby, but the man has like no lips. I stand by this meltdown.

One essential tip for beginner artists? Comparison is the thief of joy, don’t measure yourself against others - particularly when you’re finding your groove. Be self indulgent af. Also get a screen protector for whatever digital screen you draw on, and BACK. THINGS. UP. Whether in an online account, or on an external harddrive - or both?! BACK THAT SHIT UP.

Why OFMD? I’ve been in a few fandoms in the past, always as a pretty passive enjoyer, little fanart here or there, little fanfic sprinkled around, but there’s just something about the way this fandom feels? It feels like a group of friends who’ve got their own lives and their goals, but they still exist in each other's orbit, it’s like this feeling of returning home to somewhere you’re always welcome. There’s so many good moments in the show for both comedy and some gut wrenching pathos. Sign up for the hot guy in leather and get got by this beautiful delicate little love story. It’s something about queer joy of thriving, not just surviving. Something about finding love and romance no matter your age or what’s past before. Something about found family, and unlikely friendships, and community and silliness. I was already a goner when Taika put on the wig, but then when he teared up in a blanket fort while trying not to die? Excuse me sir, I did not need feelings that powerful. It was literally waking me up at night thinking about his last shot weeping in the nook - like are you kidding me?! I’m supposed to finish watching and be normal after that??

#artist of the week #everyone go follow ash and gear up for all the amazing art that would now be posted heheh

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blue-b-bro · 6 months

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Colour’s meaning in ofmd:

First rule is that brighter = more intense, and lighter = more open a feeling is. I’ll say more below, but it already says something about Blackbeard’s crew being all black and only black :’)

Yellow:

Yellow is a colour of truth. Colour of following your dreams and passions. Before the break-up gown, Stede is wearing the yellow one.

Teal:

Basically it’s a sea colour. It means sea and freedom. In e4 Alma has teal dress, while playing pirates with Stede, which also shows she was closer with Stede than her brother. There’s a lot of teal-ish colours around Stede, but most are actually “hidden”, darker. He was keeping it a secret from others. When he’s on his boat in s1 he’s almost glowing teal.

It’s the colour of sea and freedom, but more like an idea of it, not a realistic one, witch may be the reason many crew members have some teal elements, usually very small, and Stede is all teal and then, in e10 he destroys this idealisation to start something real. After his first “kill” in e1 Stede’s teal's never that bright again.

Pink:

It’s a colour of rejection. Not sure why, but it is. The moment Stede leaves, Mary’s wearing light pink. When Ed becomes distant and then leaves him to go with Jack, when Stede left Ed, they are wearing the break-up gown, which is bright pink. I’d say the difference between those two intensities would say something about the intensity of the feeling. Mary was abandoned, but she wasn’t so hurt by it, they weren’t happy together. But Ed and Stede were hurt very much.

Also all of the non-white crew wears pink/pink-ish in e1, while in disguise (because you know, to show racism) + Lucius’s very bright scarf & Black Pete’s light pink… something (probably because homophobia, and Lucius is very loudly queer). All the things white colonisers reject.

Red:

We all know, it’s a heart colour, Ed’s heart but not only. Ed hides his red, Lucius is wearing a lot of red, as someone who’s not ashamed of his love and usually helps with relationship’s problems, Stede, while destroying his teal is covering it in red and in s2 wears red scarf(?). At the end of e3 Stede is covered in red, even the background turns red, while meeting Ed for the first time. He's also wearing dark red when talking about his favorite horsie :")

Salmon/Orange:

It’s a colour of insecurity, feeling inadequate or incompetent, unsure. Stede wears light salmon/orange when Ed says he’s not ready for a fuckery, then very dark (almost brown, but still salmon-ish to me) when he feared Ed’s going to leave, because Stede’s wasn’t fun enough. Ed wears dark salmon in e4, when trying this new persona/thinking he was expendable to this Blackbeard legend. Stede is deprived of his salmon vest in e2, when he got more confident.

Purple:

I think it’s the creativity and adventure colour. I’m also not sure if it’s important that what Ed was missing after leaving the Revenge was a lavender soap (something something he wanted to feel clean and with Jack he wasn’t again, it’s a colour meta, let’s not go there). I mean we say it’s Ed’s colour, but I’m not sure anyone here has “their” colour. If colours are feelings, no-one has their own. For example, other characters wearing purple is Stede in e2 (when he has to use his creativity), Lucius (art), Frenchie (music, crafts and cons) and sometimes Oluwande. Characters get more purple when they need to figure out a plan or scheming something, get creative.

White/Beige:

Stede is all white in e3. He’s like a blank canvas (Lucius is immediately covered in red again), inviting pirate world, willing to learn. It also makes him stick out like a sore thumb of course. White is supposed to mean empty, nothing, bare, open. Stede made his white crew wear mostly white, to not be seen as suspicious.

Beige, as some kind of darker white, is not knowing what you want, figuring thing out.

Ed and Stede are white when discovering their love for each other, entering something completely new for them. Stede, at the end of s1 is colourless, but in s2 he gets a red scarf and later gets green/dark teal shirt. Jim is all beige while hiding and figuring out their identity. When being afraid that he’s not enough fun, Stede choose all beige for their adventure, showing he doesn’t really know what he’s doing but he’s ready to do it.

Beige is temporary.

Now, we have yellow&red-ish&teal ship, Stede’s dark red&dark teal at his wedding, Sted’s family portrait (everyone close and light yellow/orange, except Stede - dark blue/teal and distant):

But the real kicker for me is Stede’s pitch black cravat Ed wears on his neck. His feelings for Stede while always with him, hidden very deep inside.

I also recommend those meta: x x x x x

Edit: I'm rereading metas and now I remember why purple is thought to be Ed's color (Ed's red heart + Stede's teal freedom he offers -> purple) Still fits 🤟

#Behold the reason I don't sleep recently lol #Please give me some notes #Unless it's stupid #our flag means death #Ofmd #ofmd meta #stede bonnet #edward teach

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aborddelimpala · 10 months

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"I don't know anyone who ships Wincest who are upset that people feel Dean represents their queerness. The distinction between canon and fanon is important because truth and accuracy matter. Saying Dean is *canonically* bi is not supported anywhere in the show. Canonically, Dean repeats that he doesn't swing that way, sleeps with a ton of women, uses the straight person app, and never even responds to Cas's declaration of love - or even mention it after it happens. The way he sits/speaks/stares is not canonical anything. Canonically, Supernatural is terrible rep. It deserves and should get no accolades for stuff it didn't do. It shouldn't go down in history as groundbreaking queer anything, because it broke no ground. Saying it did is rewriting history and misrepresenting the show. And that matters because we are still in an era where we are surrounded on all sides by people trying to rewrite history to be whatever they want it to be - politically, socially, in the media, everywhere. As a queer person, it's important to me personally to make the distinction between canon and fanon because if we insist that a man who never makes a queer move in canon is good rep, who says he's straight and only sleeps with women on screen, then that's what we'll get.

In fanon? I have no problems with Dean being bi, trans, gay, aromantic, secretly ace - however folks relate to him. Fanon lets you read between the lines all you want.

OFMD gave us canonical queer characters - characters who verbally or physical confirm their queerness. So did Black Sails, Interview with the Vampire, Sex Education, Euphoria, Supergirl, First Kill, Nimona, Owl House. Dean does not, despite repeat opportunities.

Saying that Dean's canonically bi feels like gaslighting. It doesn't matter how many times people say it - Dean was conceived of as straight according to Kripke, written as straight in dialogue and action in the scripts, and played as straight according to Jensen. On the other hand, canonically Cas is gay. He was conceived of as genderless originally, written with bi plots, and ultimately played and viewed as queer by S15 according to Misha. It is a legitimate queer journey, one many people have gone through. I would still argue that it deserved much more onscreen development and dialogue to be good rep - see OFMD and Black Sails, e.g. Queer Cas deserved better than he got, especially with turbohell seconds later. But that's the difference - queer Cas IS canon. Bi Dean is not.

And yeah, it's a fiction show, and 50 years from now not many people will care. But the truth should still matter. I've shipped Wincest, Megstiel, Destiel, Sastiel and a ton of others in-between. Megstiel at least got a kiss, which is more than Destiel got.

tl;dr I fully support everyone shipping all the ships, see yourself in any character you want, embrace all the queer fanon, write and art and vid and whatever. But Wincest isn't canon, and Dean - on the show, not in our heads - is not bi. And truth and actual rep both matter.

And time and time again, we've seen that the studios will give us the bare minimum. If we say a character conceived, written and acted as straight is good queer rep, they have no reason to give us characters conceived, written and acted as queer. And THAT'S what I care about."

This is the most mature and well written discourse I've read about Dean sexuality. I'm glad Casey allowed me to share it here.

#supernatural #fandom discourse #dean's sexuality

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oldshrewsburyian · 2 years

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I finished s1 of OFMD, and I have Thoughts. I am, of course, not going to inflict them all on you, but I do want to point out one place where my reading/reception of the show and its characters diverged wildly from other reception I’ve seen. And it’s here: I think Stede spends much (most) of the first season as a terrible person who hasn’t unlearned the toxic masculinity of the patriarchal structures he’s steeped in and benefited from. Moreover, I think this makes the show better and more interesting than it would be with the Naive and Sanguine Gay Man Runs Away To Sea narrative. Polysemy is cool and all, and this show is obviously into that, but here’s my case, put briefly in a series of responses to examined objections. [Spoilers, obviously, ahead.]

“He abolishes the plunder system in order to establish a kindlier, gentler piracy!” ...He abolishes the plunder system and reestablishes the salary system of the British Navy. I’m not saying he’s being disingenuous when he tells the crew what he wants to do. But what it amounts to is also replicating the only system he’s used to.

“He tells the pirates bedtime stories!” Hmm yeah. Put another way, he runs away from the patriarchal system in which he is such a signal failure, and from which he has been shown to be voluntarily disengaged, to recreate another patriarchal system in which he can have (or at least playact) absolute control. On the Revenge, in contrast to his household, he can be the patriarch who has supreme authority and who shows care (in ways of his choosing) to be rewarded with love in return. The fact that he recreates a gentleman’s sanctum (library, wardrobe, pantry) is also significant, I think.

“He likes marmalade, aww!” He’s not Winnie the Pooh. He increased the entire crew’s risk of starvation because he likes Seville marmalade on his toast. Here and elsewhere, he is shown to be stunningly self-centered (though not self-aware.)

“He just doesn’t understand how to cope with society!” Oh, I think he understands perfectly well; he just doesn’t want to. After all, he understands both the mores of the aristocratic class and how to manipulate them, as illustrated at the party. When he decides to unleash “passive aggression,” moreover, he does so in ways that are strikingly vicious. It’s a scene played successfully for comedy, of course; these are terrible, exploitative people who are a hairsbreadth away from tearing out each other’s throats in order to preserve respectability. But also: Stede is ready to destroy their lives and like it.

“He just likes drama and wants to make Ed happy!” He does want to make Ed happy, yes. He is dangerously, incorrectly confident that he knows what that means. The art of fuckery, for instance, is achieved despite Stede, with the crew on their own initiative using ideas he vetoed in his authoritarian snit.

For all these reasons, I think that the end of e7, where Blackbeard suggests co-captaining, is a really important moment in Stede’s character development. He is -- finally! -- relinquishing his need for absolute control. It is only in partnership with Blackbeard, in other words, that he can actually start moving towards a less hierarchical, less authoritarian, even queered (ahem) model of piracy and life.

After e7, in a non-linear fashion (!), we see Stede making progress. But it still seems entirely plausible to me that Blackbeard would decide that, when it came to a moment of crisis, Stede would decide on the comfort zone of familiar patterns rather than a high-risk sailing into the great unknown. There’s enough truth in Badminton’s nocturnal monologue to make it sting. (After all, it is Ed who is equated with Peter Pan, who thinks that even Death will be an awfully big adventure. Stede is equated with Pinocchio, who just wants to be accepted as normal in/by society.)

In a very satisfyingly classic dramatic move, Stede literally descends to the brink of death, in ways that are hilariously overkill: first Badminton tries to shoot him, then Mary tries to Jael-and-Sisera him (I support her), and then he finally does “perish” ...in a coup de theâtre that requires him to receive help from people he has previously ignored or despised or both. This, not e6, shows him as a full participant in collaborative fuckery. So Stede, having gone like Gilgamesh and Odysseus and Aeneas to the land of the dead, can finally return and start being a hero on the model he (with a kindly assist from the crew) previously deluded himself into believing he was. That’s what I call a season finale.

#ofmd #chock full of queer pirates #pirates #stede bonnet #this show is so silly and so smart and i like it so much

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edsbacktattoo · 7 months

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hi lets show some love for our mutuals. tag your favorite mutuals and tell them why you love them

oooh bet u thought i forgot about u anon. i didn’t. i’ve been here. scheming and plotting. and i am soooo full of love to give. hold onto your hats

i’m putting the gushing under a cut because this post is getting too long haha whoopsie

@tisziny my darling beloved and dearly cherished friend. one of the first people to reach out to me and i am eternally grateful for their wonderful heart and friendship. my sweetest cheese! 🧀 an incredibly skilled writer and artist who i sincerely admire <3 not enough words to describe my love for them tbh

@skysofrey kaitlin my beautiful and cherished friend and wife. we were cut of the same cloth and then separated at birth but we defied to odds and joined forces anyway! so insightful and kind and sweet and hilarious and overall wonderful (and also sooooo pretty have u guys seen my wife she’s sooooo pretty wtf) 🖤💜❤️

@blackbeardskneebrace miles blackbeardskneebrace the absolute marvel that you are <3 so incredibly nice and extraordinarily talented! every time they post art it adds 100000 years to my lifespan and puts tears in my eyes. genuinely astounding

@blakbonnet despite the angst and antagonising me for Ed’s beard, i will always love Meow with my whole chest. and she can do it all!!! she writes, makes art, makes gifs! she’s even funny and smart and hot and NICE! save some for the rest of us babe come on <3

@gentlebeard ohhhh my sweet wonderful Ella (now with a new and improved url!) so incredibly kind and friendly! always willing for a hot makeout session in the bathroom and will gladly kill someone to defend your honour (i’ve seen her do it). makes edits that make you laugh and then WHABAM!! another that makes you feel like your lungs are being pulled out. love you ella <3

@snake-snack-stede we all know that olivia is the funniest mfer on this whole idiot website. it’s literally not even a contest. but did you guys know she’s also extraordinarily talented? she makes art and animates and makes edits that are gorgeous to look at. also i’m in love with her. she’s the sweetest candy apple at the fair and i’m a snot-nosed kid with an appetite.

@flightoftheconnie sex on legs. i become hot and flustered and feint when i think of her. makes me blush and giggle and kick my feet and she’s funny and smart and hot enough to be in a gallery but she’s here with us instead. give her kisses or die by my sword

@bizarrelittlemew we may not talk often but goodness gracious do i adore you 🥹 my god you’re hilarious and you make some of the most gorgeous gifs ive ever put my gay little eyes on. and yet another blessing to the world of ofmd fanfic <3

@saltpepperbeard JODI!!!!!! if jodi has a billion fans i’m one of them. if she has 100 fans i’m one of them. if Jodi has 0 fans then i’m dead. literally so sweet and kind and enthusiastic and an absolute treasure. and my GOODNESS can she write!! her work feels like a warm hug (just like her!)

@sherlockig literally too hot to be on the hellsite with us but we are so blessed to have her. an absolute TREASURE to this fandom and to anyone who knows her. the amount of lockscreens i’ve got that are just alexz screengrabs is absolutely insane. thank you for all your work i love you forever

@dickfuckk josh — a living breathing legend. any time you need a file? a link? an image? josh has got your back. one of the funniest people i’ve ever interacted with. also makes edits devastating enough to kill a man <3

@xoxoemynn Em my wonderful Cherub From Heaven!!! pure charm and grace, and one of the most enthusiastic and delightful people i’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. such an accomplished and skilled writer as well!

@vampirebutterflies my #1 date to the observatory and my partner in crime <33 so effortlessly funny and kind and has the best taste in music ever. every single song they’ve sent me has been an absolute banger and has been put in the frequent rotation (huge shoutout to Vacations)

@bunnyandthejets my dear and darling friend Bunny who is so incredibly kind and sweet. has been so vocally supportive and enthusiastic since we met and i’m so grateful to have her friendship and support. she’s also made me cackle like an insane person on enough occasions to be criminal.

@wearfinethingsalltoowell don’t let the angst fool you, Joy is actually wonderful and a ray of sunshine <3 i’m convinced she just enjoys causing us pain for fun. she’s creative and wonderful and the World’s Number One Olu Enjoyer (and therefore objectively correct)

@sassygwaine is one of those unabashedly kind souls who simply oozes love into everything they do and create. so genuine and resilient and smart!!! writes like an absolute dream too

@chocolatepot a complete sweetheart who was one of my first friends in this fandom, and who has been consistently friendly and supportive ever since. unwaveringly kind and nice. also her writing. oh my god. 😭 a huge inspiration to silly little me

@jellybeanium124 nina is so effortlessly hilarious. she’s had me giggling and twirling my hair on numerous occasions. she’s also full to the brim with good and correct takes. (also a Button’s truther and the world needs more of those.)

@awkward-fallen-angel heather is just soooo lovely!! another one of the people that’s been here since the very early days and i’m always so grateful for her insight and enthusiasm and the sheer joy she puts into everything.

@stedebonnets i mean this so sincerely and with my whole heart: Ara is one of the nicest and most loving people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. an absolute angel who drops in to consistently check on her friends and spread love and joy. we need more Ara’s in the world. also has one of the most beautiful ofmd tattoos i’ve ever seen <3

if you haven’t been included in this list, please know that i love you so so so dearly and that i genuinely am just a little bit stupid (on account of the short term memory issues lol). if you’re feeling left out, send me a message and i’ll say something sooo niceys about you 🥹 i love you all. thank you for being here. <3

#THIS IS LONG SORRY #ask #anon #💕✨

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gentlebeardsbarngrill · 3 months

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01/15/2024 Crew Recap

Hey all, today has been a very very very long day. I’m typing this with my eyeballs glazed over and half open. However, so much has happened in such a little amount of time I wanted share a few things before I pass out I know a lot of you are in different timezones, are busy with life, and taking a break, so maybe this will help with parsing through some of the crazy stuff the crew has been up to.

The petition hit 50K, and is at 52.5K at the moment

Fundraisers: I didn’t even realize there were two different fundraisers for Palestine/Gaza going on but we blew both out of the water. (Note: the second picture is from a November campaign but I think its just as important to highlight— ty for the correction anon!)

The Emmys hashtag turn out was great tonight. There was some pretty amazing and creative stuff going on across all the platforms. Some can be seen on IG, but if you wanna see the majority of it, check out twitter #SaveOFMD #75thEmmys

---We have new ways of protesting and advocating for our show, see here for the thread on tumblr (from twitter):---

And to support that @saltpepperbeard was kind enough to put together a wonderful guide on how to Call It Through as a Crew: Alleviating Some Phone Anxiety which as someone who is socially anxious and sometimes verbally vomits on people when on the phone, is AMAZING and thank you so much for doing that to help.

-- > There is also this new thread on some new places to call into. Don't quote me on that being an official thing we should do, I'm sure @renewasacrew and others will have more in the AM, I just wanted to share it so people could follow if they wanted to.

------------------

New Articles!

Our Flag Means Death: Here’s why season three deserves to be aired

Petition to save BBC show with rare Rotten Tomatoes score gets 50,000 signatures

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There's so much more that's happened today-- but I can't write it all down because my brain is couscous.

<---So instead, I'm going to use this last part to gush over you all and your amazing contributions in all your unique ways. The community support the last few days has been SO INCREDIBLY UPLIFTING.-->

I saw (and experienced) people reblogging asks where random followers, anons, and mutuals just reached out and sent love because they could tell people were struggling.

I've seen comments all over the place on Tumblr, IG, Twitter, and Facebook where each and every person is encouraging each other to speak their mind, or complimenting their artwork, encouraging them if they were feeling uncomfortable with things outside their comfort zones, coming up with new and exciting ways to fight back, people reaching out to the cast/crew just to say hi and remind them we love them.

I've seen Self-Care checkpoints all over, reminding people to drink water, take a break, block your notifications for a while, not engaging in negative behavior.

I've seen people being so nice on instagram posts that the people who were being dicks about all our comments turned around and decided to watch OFMD!

I saw so many people doing new analysis of scenes and characters, and having really deep and friendly discussions that make everyone think in new ways.

I saw people digging through old tumblrs to bring life back to old posts and artwork.

I saw so much NEW artwork, new FICS! New GIFS! So much new art and love!

I could literally go on and on, but I've just...I had to dump this out of my brain otherwise I'd explode. I've just seen so much today that continues to make me so proud of our little safe space ship and so happy to be apart of this community.

You all continue to be the best of the best of humans, and I am so very grateful to get to witness and be apart of it. Rest up lovelies and have a good day / night, wherever you may be. May you dream of sexy middle-aged gay men kissing, or hugging, or whatever else you want them to be getting into.

#ofmd #our flag means death #stede bonnet #gentlebeard #edward teach #renew as a crew #rhys darby #blackbonnet #save our flag means death #save ofmd #ofmd s3 #renew our flag means death #renew ofmd #ofmd daily recap

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myhsterie · 1 month

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can i be a hater rq.

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

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

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

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

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

#hating is my passion and a full time job #this isn’t even mentioning all of the very real and valid criticisms bipoc people have of the show #just let it die #ofmd critical #ofmd wank #i’m trying NOT to tag this in a way where it shows up in main fandom tags but it undoubtedly will #if you see this and you don’t agree: move on. you’re (most likely) a grown adult. don’t engage with discourse that does not benefit you.#also move on in general 🫣 who said that

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naranjapetrificada · 3 months

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I'm also a queer black adult. There's a difference between spending money for sources of comfort vs needlessly spending stuff to flex status in very childish ways. We definitely see that as we boycott all these companies. Would the latest iPhone be nice? I guess, but it ain't that impressive to support Congo's genocide. Is that Stanley cup cool? Honestly not really, and it definitely ain't worth supporting another genocide for. Even ofmd, it really wasn't that important for queer media or even black queer media, which a lot of Black shows were also canceled at the same time. No one talks about how important black rep is here though. Despite this, however, you are not seeing black people gather funds for a billboard for a show unless we talking about blm. Because that's more important than getting a show back on the air as a flex. So we as adults can recognize the bizarre message we see when people are out here begging for help, and dismissed as scammers. But the moment a donation post for a billboard gets put up to get a show back to production, it meets its up almost instantaneously. As an adult I literally study these kinds of phenomenons in our capitalist society. I'm not sending this message to come at you because you are not the only one who does this, and I certainly am forced to partake in capitalism. But I do want to share that these are the "adult" conversations people are going to have and question. For as many "we can support both ofmd and Palenstine" I read here, I see the same bloggers attacking Palestinians and Black people for rightfully being upset that they certainly do not "do both" with the same amount of passion

Thing is? I don't disagree with almost anything you said, and the frustration is real. The disparities are real. I've been on the other side of that and needed support and seen whose fundraisers met their goals quicker than mine did. All of that is real and under ideal circumstances, yeah, the billboard people could have handled all this better.

I think the differences in where I come at all this from is that:

I watched the live feed of the billboard for a minute, and people put all kinds of less-than-important shit on it. So when I see people talking about how wrong the billboard is I just remember the like, graduation-announcement-level other stuff that was on it for the same price. I'm not saying the idea still didn't rub me wrong but I am saying that put it into perspective for me at least.

This show has changed lives, which may sound silly, but that's art sometimes. There are people whose lives are better and bigger and more authentic than ever before because of this weird mix of kindness and space to be queer that isn't like anything I've ever seen before. I understand that not everyone had such an impactful experience with it but I've found that incredibly moving and valuable and worth the fight for a 3rd season.

More than anything else, I value the efforts to get the show renewed because it feels like a watershed moment in the TV and streaming industries, and things will only get worse from here. I'm aware of all the Black shows that got canceled before OFMD did but a lot of the time people only care when something comes for their shows, and now we've got a a bunch of agitated white gays (who to be clear to everyone except the asker, are NOT the show's sole audience so please stop talking about it that way) who we can and should be pushing to include Rap Sh!t and Love Life etc. when talking about all this. Because it does represent a trend that's coming for everybody, it just started with going after POC and queers first. FWIW I actually did make a post the other day aimed at OFMD people to try to get them talking about the Black shows that were canceled first. (I deleted the original post because my notifications were killing me but reblogs of it should still be floating around out there)

I'm not out here trying to say that people's perfectly understandable frustrations are invalid, it just has felt inconsistent the way a lot of (almost entirely white) self-styled leftists have been coming after OFMD as if it's uniquely horrible.

When BIPOC object to the disparities Asker pointed out, I lift that up and value it. There are things I might say in other forms of this conversation that I would have with other BIPOC away from prying eyes that might surprise you. But right now there's too much noise in this conversation from people who don't actually give a fuck about any of their talking points, they just see an opportunity to dunk on a cringe fandom or they're operating with incomplete/incorrect information about things or in the least surprising/most transparent move of all, they're projecting a bunch of inaccurate shit onto Taika and using it to criticize him in as pattern that's familiar and obvious to every POC watching it happen. That's not what I think you're doing or anything Asker, but it's important context for the conversation we could/should be having and something that keeps getting left out of the conversation.

#asked and answered #anon ask

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batsarebetterthanpeople · 1 year

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Takia & Rhys are platonic friends, so i'd rather not watch a sex scene BUT scattered clothes/waist-up naked bed cuddling/jumping each other when the Passion Grows Too Great/overheard moans etc. would all be excellent. Also maybe a scene right after they have sex, where Ed's snoring & then it pans over to Stede whose expression is just 🤩🤩 like when Arnold Schwarzenegger loses his virginity in Twins.

Not to be like, a sex worker on main, but this is such a weird take to me.

Like first of reason it's a weird take is, I've done a fake sex scene in a filming situation before (it was for a friend's art school project as a teenager and it lasted exactly 10 seconds so it was like not serious or comparable) and trust me acting in a sex scene is not very much like having sex. And unlike what I did there's gonna be a whole intimacy coordinator and set choreographer and all that shit on set which is gonna make it even less like having sex. Like from what I gather through the grape vine if there's a blackbonnet sex scene is season 2 like what I described what happened was they took the worlds stiffest weirdest blanket that was specifically frozen into one position, and then there were like 5 people sitting just of screen in those directors chairs pausing it every few minutes to make sure everything that's happening is above board, and they're wearing jeans under that blanket, and Rosie Darby and Rita Ora are also off screen in a chair just to make sure it doesn't get to narsty (i've heard of actors spouses sitting in on sex scenes before Idk if that's standard practice but it's a thing I've heard of). So a sex scene is not sex let's just start there. You're on a set with a bunch of fucking cameras, nobody is touching anybody else's junk, they will literally make fake prosthetic junk for them to touch before they let the actors touch each other, and nobody is actually even naked. Like even in episode 8, the least sexual nudity ever, Buttons the character may have been butt fucking naked but Ewen Bremner had one of those skin color tape on g strings that makes you look like a ken doll down there.

The second reason it's a weird take for me is, as someone who has done sex work before... truly getting paid to fuck a platonic friend sounds like a dream scenario. Like that sounds like the most normal scenario I can think of. Like you would already care pretty deeply about each other's comfort level, you would be able to get passed the awkward "so uh, hi I'm ___ I guess we're having sex now" thing because that's your buddy you know them. You can meme with each other to diffuse the tension. Absolute best case scenario. Like that's not what's happening here because like I said they're super not having sex, but I were watching a porno the actors being platonic friends IRL would not ruin it for me because that sounds like literally so much chiller than fucking a stranger for money to me.' I prefer a John I've seen before personally. (not that those two types of sex work are the same)

The third reason this is weird to me is because... we've like, seen them kiss, presumably we want them to kiss again. But that is where the acting is real. Does them being platonic friends ruin the kiss for you too? Because they actually kissed each other. Unlike a sex scene that would not be fake.

The final reason is, like I said, we're not watching Rhys and Taika have sex because they didn't have sex (for this). But we are watching Ed and Stede have sex. Ed and Stede are not platonic friends, so the people you're watching have sex (Ed and Stede) are very much attracted to each other.

TL;DR: Any sex scene they would do on OFMD is all smoke and mirrors. Even if they literally showed us a dick going into an ass (which they're super not gonna do) that is prosthetics, ass molds and cgi. So Rhys and Taika being platonic friends who aren't attracted to each other irl should be of no object. If you would prefer to see a scene like you described rather than a full blown sex scene that's fine, but Taika and Rhys being Just Friends is quite possibly the most nonsensical reason to not want to see it. It's fine to feel weird about seeing sex on tv like that's ok you don't have to come up with some reason.

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blysse-and-blunder · 6 months

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in lieu of a long weekend

10pm, sunday, oct 8, 2023

it's canadian turkey-day tomorrow ~ it's windy and grey outside ~ there is pumpkin pie in the fridge and i'm wearing an extremely pleasing wooly sweater my housemate was going to give away. we've turned the heat on for the first time this season. the cozy season of the year has arrived.

reading finished victoria goddard's whiskeyjack, book 3 in the greenwing & dart series! reading this series for me is an exercise in noticing the easter eggs that tell me it was written by a medievalist, and an academic, and a medievalist academic with a degree from the program i'm currently in. there's so much in this particular volume about poetry analysis. she came so close to using the word 'semiotic' and actually did use the phrase 'exoteric.' while i might have quibbled about things like pacing and plot and how i still don't always think first-person is a good fit in the hands of most authors, these books are like tailor-made for me. i can't not enjoy them.

and then on the other hand, i spent some extremely happy hours this past week with patrick o'brian's post captain. when i first read the aubrey books, i was probably in high school, fresh out of racing through the hornblower series. because the aubreyad is-- i'll be honest-- better writing, but also demands more of you as a reader, i fully didn't appreciate like 80% of this book. i knew the series, as much by osmosis as by actual time spent reading, and reading it now? felt like coming home. especially since i now have the attention, and the ability, to read between the lines. to pick up on the irony, the allusions, the humor, the misdirection! the women oh my god how did i not appreciate sophie, diana, or mrs. williams before now. i didn't mind before how little of the larger world and society made it into the movie, but i actually understand the griping now. but even more than that, i found the ship action and actual, like, battle extremely tense and interesting this time; i was up well into the night at one point just to see what would happen next, because i was nervous for my dear boys.

watching friday night double-feature with @hematiterings where we enjoyed the first three new episodes of Our Flag Means Death and finished with another two of netflix's Arcane: League of Legends, which we're probably going to finish fairly soon so i'll focus on that one. just quickly though, had a great time with the first new ofmd episode, just extremely good work from all involved, and then was weirdly not as into the second two-- though the end of ep 3 was back to grand. i think in general i like where the season is going, and i'm going to withhold further comment until we've seen some more.

i was not expecting to like arcane as much as i have been. didn't have a clue what it was when we started, but the art style has absolutely blown me away. here's a quick run-down of the animation, which is a mix of hand-painted digital, 2D, and absolutely gorgeous. it looks like a video game and a painting at the same time-- not in the same way spiderverse combines animation and illustration, but with some familiar elements. people's eyes have this amazing jewel-like depth and clarity? scenery that made us go 'oh, paris looks so nice!' and 'man i love cyberpunk' and other such witticisms. but seriously, if you like good animation and also art nouveau-inspired steam-punk aesthetics, there's a lot here. plus a good (dare I? could league of legends be good, actually?) tragic story-line, and enough twists that i haven't seen coming, to really get me curious about what comes next.

listening a long time ago, probably back in 2021 around the time of the most recent album, i think @mankillercalledbunny was sharing playlists or links that featured The Amazing Devil, and at roughly the same time i had a spotify playlist include a track or two for me, and now here we are. had their two albums "ruin" and "the horror and the wild" on all week, which made it a bit hard to read at times because i would get caught in the lyrics. this is exactly the kind of music two people who met at the RSC would make, it is dramatic, sort of gothic, sort of folky, sort of theater. the contrary motion, the interweaving voices, esp. in the chorus of "marbles", is where i've been living recently. i like knowing this about joey batey, i like that he has this extra dimension now when i see him as jaskier! i hope he can find a way to come back to it again, whenever.

youtube

playing i finally (after how long!) got the wizard's ink well - witch's pendant - goblins (??) quest in stardew! not a hard one at all, but so satisfying to be able to use that hint that had been hovering there in the library for the past, oh, real-world year or so. i'm like 50 pieces of hardwood away from getting the ferry up and running too, and i'm excited to move off of the plateau i've been on and open up the next level of the world.

making i mentioned the pumpkin pie up top, and it did turn out well this year despite a distracted me happening to leave out the butter when mixing the filling-- i noticed before it got into the oven, luckily, and was able to add it in! but...while it was in the pie crust, which was kind of sloppy. no nicely pinched or braided crust for me this year. and then, since the size of can of pumpkin you buy here is always a little too big for the recipe, i tried out the smitten kitchen pumpkin bread that many friends have recommended before, and that has been a delight. moist without being dense or heavy, but still very substantial? a little bit less sugar than the recipe called for, and no freshly ground nutmeg, but we did have fresh ginger and overall it is very nice. it also rose architecturally, which was maybe a function of it being on a higher rack? or of me miss-counting scoops of baking soda? anyway, hilarious.

working on working on consistency. working on momentum. working on not getting in my own way. draft of this conference paper due 10/26, slides and notes for this guest lecture due 10/25, and the chapter abides. the conference paper serves it directly, however, which i feel good about. i keep finding new things to read about, and keep being glad i've continued researching, since i'm coming up with excellent (it feels) material to work with, but i can't let that get in the way of actually. writing.

#in lieu of a commonplace book #ilcb #weekly roundup

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juniper-and-lamplight · 2 years

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Our Flag Means Death Fic Favorites

Updated September 28, 2023

Why yes, I am unnecessarily proud to have wrangled my OFMD fic faves into a rebloggable list! Some of these fics need no reccing, but everything is new to somebody, and all of these authors deserve some extra recognition.

(You can find these same fics in my AO3 bookmark collection if that’s more your speed, or on Pinboard along with lots of other fic bookmarks.)

Recs under the cut, because the list is NOT short.

The Lighthouse - A_Candle_For_Sherlock | @a-candle-for-sherlock - 30k, T, Ed/Stede "The recovery of Edward Teach, briefly the Kraken, always the love of Stede Bonnet's life; and how he finds every fine thing in the world can be his after all."

make your peace with weariness and let it be - anirondack - 18.7k, T, Jim/Oluwande but mostly a Jim character study "In the garden of your body, this forsaken paradise that keeps you alive, you do not know who you are. Sometimes you feel like Eve, extracted from your warm, soft home next to somebody’s heart for a purpose not your own, to be a voyeur to the pain of creation only after it has been created. Sometimes you feel like Adam, dissected by a hand that isn’t yours, parts of you pulled out and fashioned into something useful, with orders on your breath blowing dust off your dirty palms. And sometimes you feel like God, lonely and alone, grinding bone against bone like a mortar and pestle and hoping to plant something that grows."

domestic - Ark | @et-in-arkadia - 33k, E, Ed/Stede "Stede finds the house. When he comes back to their room at the inn, he won’t rest—won’t let Ed rest—until Ed’s seen it. His eyes are bright in that way that makes Ed’s guts feel scooped out with a spoon. So Ed hurries into his boots and goes with him. The once-white paint is stripped by weather and wear, a portion of the roof is caved in, and the spokes of the wraparound porch are all gnawed through by animals. Ed gazes up at the broken windows and the birds that have built nests there. At his side, Stede is waiting, rocking back and forth on his heels. 'It’s perfect,' says Ed."

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven - @auntieclimactic - 14k, E, Ed/Stede “'Here we go again,' he heard Lucius scream over Izzy’s furious cursing."

it's worth it, it's divine - beepbeep4 - 3k, E, Ed/Stede "Ed wears one of Stede's silk robes. Things escalate quickly."

in the emerald green - darcylindbergh | @forpiratereasons - 3k, E, Ed/Stede "And Stede likes Ed, here and now, with the fresh smell of the wind and the salt in his hair, stripped down to nothing but an emerald green banyan and the ink in his skin, climbing back into the bed."

Cleave the Pin - @DarkIsRising - 7k, E, Ed/Stede "It’s a sobering thought for someone facing middle age to wrestle with, this notion one might be less than appealing in bed, and while he’d always known he was no Don Juan, Stede thought himself perfectly adequate in the art of making love. But ‘perfectly adequate,’ when facing the prospect of reuniting with the man that may very well be the love of his life, feels (pathetic, mortifying, distressing) like a quandary.”

I'll follow the echoes - Dialects_and_Costumes | @unadulteratedkr - 20k, E, Ed/Stede "When the Revenge is in need of some extreme maintenance that leaves the ship and its crew stuck in Nassau for a month, Ed finds himself returning to the piano at a small bar in town far away from anyone who knows him."

So Take My Hand and Have No Fear (Love Led Us Here) - DontOffendTheBees | @dont-offend-the-bees - 6k, T, Ed/Stede "Ed attempts a glare. And it's a strong attempt! Especially with this scary new look he seems to have been experimenting with in Stede’s absence. But it's somewhat marred by the fact that his long, beautiful hair is currently hanging straight down from his upside-down scalp and making him look rather like a vengeful paintbrush. Fondness bubbles in Stede’s chest, but he wisely keeps it to himself. '...I can explain?’”

before your name became a pulsing star - foxtails | @ratchet - 8k, E, Ed/Stede "The first time he fucks Stede Bonnet, Edward Teach is sure of three things: Stede Bonnet’s mouth tastes both warm like brandy, and sweet like the flesh of an orange. Stede Bonnet’s skin smells like fresh air, and sun, and the good type of dirt. Stede Bonnet is going to be the greatest, most wonderful mistake of Ed’s life. or: Ed and Stede enter into a co-captains with benefits arrangement. It stays about as platonic as you'd expect."

the young and the menace - foxtails - 8.5k, E, Lucius/Stede, AU "Really, the fact that he’s written a pros and cons list should be the biggest clue that yes, actually, Lucius really does want to fuck that old man."

seven point three miles - foxtails - 19k, T, Ed/Stede, AU "Stede takes a job as a remote forest fire lookout in the summer following his divorce, with a plan to find out who he is, and what he wants his life to be. With the help of the enigmatic lookout on the other side of the forest, he ends up getting more out of the experience than he could ever have hoped."

Fancy - Fyre | @amuseoffyre w/ @aivelin -7k, E, Ed/Stede "When a Spanish prize yields a treasure trove of exquisite clothing, Stede can't resist the urge to indulge Ed's fondness for a fine fabric."

Rough Winds Do Shake - HeckinaHandbasket | @heck-in-a-handbasket - 4k, E, Ed/Stede "He returned with the book, tapping it on Ed’s leg as he reclaimed his seat in the chair. ‘I’ve always been rather partial to a sonnet, myself. Though they’ve often left me feeling somewhat melancholy.’ They’d often left him filled with longing, left him feeling empty, and strange, as if he were missing something vital to the human experience. He loved them, still. Pain was the price of beauty, after all. Stede glanced up at Ed, smiling at the effortlessly lovely picture he made, backlit by a dozen candles. ‘Although, I wonder, now, if it might be different.’ Ed shifted on the arm of the chair, throwing his own arm over Stede’s shoulders to peer at the book. ‘Different, how?’ Without thinking, Stede bumped his forehead against Ed’s shoulder, joyful honesty bubbling out of him like seafoam. ‘Well, with you, of course. Everything is different with you.’ A deep, thoughtful line appeared between Ed’s brows as he examined Stede’s face. ‘Is it?’”

we're finding new forms - Hymn | @thelionshoarde - 6k, E, Ed/Stede “Against Ed’s gasping mouth, Stede murmurs, 'My dear. You’re shaking, ' before sucking in Ed’s bottom lip. Groaning, Ed doesn’t try to fight it—the tide of panic, of love, of fear that lingers. He hadn’t expected that part, to be honest. All his life and Ed had shown fear the middle finger every time it came knocking. He’s had to, hasn’t he? But then wham, love stomps him to the ground, sets up a home inside his chest, and Ed hasn’t known peace since. Stede’s fingers trying their damnedest to wiggle under his leather, squeezing at Ed’s ass sure as shit isn’t helping keep him sane. "

one good thing - illimerence - 2k, E, Ed/Stede "Everything’s different with Stede. He can see everything, every part of Ed that Ed hasn’t shown anyone before."

Wayfaring - Justkeeptrekkin | @justkeeptrekkin - 34k, E, Ed/Stede "The downside to being stuck on a desert island is that Stede's not awfully good at adapting. The upside is that he and Ed can finally have some peace and quiet– that is, if Ed ever wakes up from the gunshot wound in his stomach. Stranded in the middle of who-knows-where, Stede learns the art of reflection and how to embrace the man who looks back."

Renewal - katonline - 3k, E, Ed/Stede "The fire is blazing cheerfully in the fancy as fuck fireplace in their cabin. It’s a ridiculous folly, it shouldn’t be there, but it is and it’s wonderful. It’s wet and dreary outside and it’s cozy and snug and perfect in here. The cabin is like a friend. The rain is indifferent, blind to their happiness. That’s - whatsit, fuck - ah. Right. That’s pathetic fallacy.Stede taught him about pathetic fallacy.”

on a homeward path we go series - @kirkaut - 25k, T, Ed/Stede "Ed’s made up his mind: if he ever lays eyes on Stede fucking Bonnet again, he’s a dead man. Ed’s had six months of Stede-lessness, and six months of thinking about all the terrible things he’d do to him when they saw each other again. Somehow, it never occurred to him to think that they’d never have the chance."

Such as They May Be - @livelydiver - 6k, E, Ed/Stede "'That's enough,' a voice rings out, and Ed feels the world turn sideways. He lifts his eyes and sees a spirit, a sea nymph aglow in the swaying lamplight, clad in billowing white, with golden hair pushed back roguishly and a voice that sounds just like Stede's. 'You,' Izzy spits furiously, letting Pete drop to the deck. 'Hello darling,' the spirit says, and his smile shines on Ed like the sun through clouds. 'Is your face all right?' 'Oh fuck,' Ed breathes.”

Half agony, half hope - lyricl | @connachta - 35k, E, Ed/Stede "The first letter appeared only a few weeks after Stede left him alone on that beach. Ed burnt the first, and the second, and the third. But they kept coming. Or: how Edward Teach got a pen pal, reunited with an old friend, lost a first mate, gained a new one, learned something about seagulls, asked for some fashion advice, found Stede Bonnet, found himself."

My Body, Poured Out for You - MassiveAggression | @revmassiveaggression - 6k, E, Ed/Stede "’I'm not your God, Stede,’ Ed said stiffly, feeling deeply uncomfortable both with the subject matter at hand and with the sudden tightness of his trousers. ‘No, you're not,’ Stede said, head slightly bowed, eyes cast upward, meeting Ed's gaze from beneath his lashes. Ed forgot to breathe for a moment, enchanted by the dance of candle flame over Stede's skin and the heat radiating from his gaze. ‘But there is a connection there. You see, my God is love.’ He raised his hands to rest on Ed's thighs, fingers firm atop the leather. ‘And expressing that love’-- Stede's voice pitched even lower, his hands raking slowly up and down Ed's legs--’is holy.’" (Full disclosure: this brilliant author is my actual wife)

As Long As You're Beside Me Along the Way - MassiveAggression - 2k, E, Ed/Stede "In which Ed and Stede have been out of the pirate life for a while, but are still fascinated with each other in simultaneously wholesome and sexy ways. Also, they have a cat."

your name like a boat - mia_ugly | @mia-ugly and soft_october | @soft-october-night - 39k, E, AU, Ed/Stede "Sailors call them watermarks. A gift from the sea, a name or symbol written on your chest, meant to guide you to your own true love. But Stede Bonnet's mark doesn't look like anything at all. Not really. And it certainly doesn't look like 'Edward' or 'Teach' or 'Blackbeard' or a black beard and that's fine. Completely fine. Ed's absolutely fine with it."

Transformative Work - mia_ugly and @pinehutch - 41k, E, Frenchie/Jim, Frenchie/Oluwande "Captain Blackbeard has heard about Frenchie’s ‘bit of fanfiction.’ He asks him to write a better ending for his and Stede’s story. Frenchie tries his best but soon other people want to tell the story the way it should have gone, including Fang, Lucius, Ivan, Jim, and ultimately Ed. In the act of surviving and telling stories together, relationships are considered, examined, and developed. Meanwhile, a ship trailing seagulls grows closer and closer on the horizon."

we were warnings - mia_ugly | @mia-ugly - 13k, E, Ed/Stede "Stede comes back. Ed does too. It just takes a little longer."

Salt, Sweet - mia_ugly - 18k, E, Ed/Stede (femslash) "'You look –' Stede steps forward, and if she says 'pretty, ' Ed thinks she might tear her own face off. She doesn’t mind that sometimes, but tonight she wants to be something different. 'Astonishing, ' Stede says, moving closer, close enough to touch. Her fingers land on the lapel of Ed’s velvet coat, smoothing the grain of it. 'The most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. ' 'Beautiful. ' Ed's voice is unfamiliar to her, a low rasp. 'Handsome, ' Stede says quietly, and the word catches in Ed’s throat like a diamond. "

Buttercup - mia_ugly - 13k, E, Ed/Stede "The thing is, when you’re Blackbeard you’ve got kind of a reputation to uphold. When you captain a ship, when you lead a crew, when people look up to you, tell stories, build a legend – parts of that legend are always more accurate than others. And maybe you just let it slide, some of the things people say. Some of the things they assume. Maybe you swagger around and wear black leather and are a handsy bastard and let the stories tell themselves. Maybe you don't want to talk about it."

i who have died am alive again today - @middyblue - 8k, T, Ed/Stede "Blackbeard stands atop the quarterdeck of the merchant vessel the Virginia, his wild hair wafting in the breeze that carries the scent of blood and gunpowder and terror, thick over the brine of the sea. He surveys the main deck below as the chaos of the raid winds down; the Virginia’s men had even put up something of a fight, to their credit, but he and Izzy have reminded their crew what the name Blackbeard means. What it will always mean, unending and relentless and dark like the pull of the ocean floor: death; the skeleton piercing the heart; the black flag haunting every seafarer’s nightmares; the malevolent ghost on every merchant’s horizon. This is the truth of him; there is no other."

Hell or High Water - @mottlemoth - 298k, E, Ed/Stede, Izzy/OMC "For a year now, Stede Bonnet has pursued the legendary pirate Blackbeard across the sea. Desperate for a chance to put things right, Stede will stop at nothing to catch up with the Revenge and its new captain. But who will he encounter on Ocracoke Island: the man he loves, or a monster?"

The Importance of Being Edward - MrsNoggin | @katnoggin - 6k, E, Ed/Stede "He snaps. ‘Ed’s long gone now.’ Stede has always been good at pushing his luck. Especially with this man. ‘I don’t know, I think I see him, lurking around under all that dirt.’ Because they can't get away, start over, reset."

weather the storm - one_more_page | @one-more-page - 10k, E, Ed/Stede "Ed runs, Stede follows. Ed stabs Stede, Stede comes back. They duel, they fight, they talk, no matter the encounter Ed wakes the next day with Stede's ship just on the horizon. He’s being haunted by Stede Bonnet."

If You Were Mine to Keep - Pamplemousse | @mysterybees - WIP, AU, E, Ed/Stede "Caught between the gallows and the end of an English sword, Ed accepts the Act of Grace: marry into the aristocracy, leave the English ships alone, and live to sail another day. But who in their right mind would ever agree to marry the mad devil pirate Blackbeard?"

Aftercare - @perkynurples - 214.5k, E, Ed/Stede "In the aftermath of some life-altering decisions on both sides, Edward and Stede navigate reuniting, learning what it is that they really want and how to ask for it, as well as surviving in a world that is nowhere near ready to just let them rest. Or, finding their way back to each other is only the very beginning."

Liquid Gold - perkynurples - SMAU, M, Ed/Stede (complete on Twitter) "Stede Bonnet, recently divorced, returns to the town he once knew with a plan. He's got the house (older and more derelict than he remembers), he's got the bees (and the theoretical skill to keep them), and he's going to be(e) happy if it's the last thing he does. (Stede is, as it turns out, a bit miserable no matter how hard he tries.) Ed Teach has been keeping all of his various demos at bay more or less successfully for years now. He's known as THE beekeeper in town, always meticulous, always gentle, never too bothered with rules, expectations, or protective gear for that matter. (Ed is also, no matter how hard he tries, a bit bored at this point.)"

No One Would Riot For Less - @sacrificethemtothesquid - 51k, M, Ed/Stede "He doesn’t know that a buffoon with blond curls and a nervous smile will end him as surely as a bullet to the temple. He will lose everything from his boat to his beard and his name along with it, and the worst part is that he will be glad for the loss. Edward Teach will fall in love and Blackbeard will die, and neither fraction of himself sees it coming.”

you can almost see st. augustine from here - @shortcrust - 7k, T, Ed/Stede, Ed & Izzy "Israel Hands is on the run, and he has nowhere else to go."

guardians of a rare thing - ShowMeAHero | @andillwriteyouatragedy - 10k, E, Ed/Stede "Five times stede did things for ed, and one time ed did something for stede."

quand il me prend dans ses bras, qu’il me parle tout bas (je vois la vie en rose) - SilkAndLeather w/ juniper_and_lamplight (that’s me!) - 7k, E, Ed/Stede "Ed appreciates his new morning routine, as well as Stede's more intimate finery.”

Index - Siria | @siriaeve - 1k, G, Ed/Stede "Blackbeard and the Gentleman Pirate: Matelotage, Masculinity, and Maritime Community Building in the Golden Age of Caribbean Piracy (Newtown: Atlantic University Press, 2022) draws on extensive archival research to provide the most comprehensive reconstruction yet of Teach and Bonnet’s careers and travels."

Labyrinth Skin - @skrifores - 18k, E, Ed/Stede, AU "Ed's tattoos have stories to tell."

Can't Stand Me Now - Skrifores - 6.6k, E, Ed/Stede "Ed and Stede are back together on the Revenge, but they haven't made up yet. The crew have the bright idea to handcuff them together, to make them get along. Sitcom trope shenanigans ensue."

Weird - Skrifores - 5k, E, Ed/Stede "In which Ed muses on all the things which are just fucking weird about being on the Revenge, especially the cute, strange, lunatic captain."

As I Drowned series - Skrifores - 24k, E, Ed/Stede "Ed’s aware that from the outside that might seem faintly ridiculous. Stede’s a posh boy with no real idea of what he’s doing, afterall, but he really doesn’t give a fuck. It’s been a very, very long time since he felt anything new and this is fun as fuck… So he’s gonna see where this goes. He’s gonna lean the fuck in.”

Bones Adrift - Skrifores - 42k, E, Ed/Stede "The Revenge spots a drifting, seemingly abandoned ship. Is it haunted, overrun by demons, or full of vampire-mermaids? Probably none of the above, Ed and Stede think, though some of the crew have different ideas. There does seem to be something wrong about that ship though. It warrants some investigation."

turn on the light - smallestchurch, read by Kninjaknitter - 55k, 6hrs, E, Ed/Stede, AU "Lighthouse Bookshop had been there seemingly since time immemorial. Over forty years at that spot, sitting proud, a beacon at the heart of the community, and when the old owner decides to sell, it's the perfect vessel for Stede's odd restlessness. And the building is connected to a famous cocktail bar run by a mad genius behind the stick. One problem: Stede's still married." Podfic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41920626/chapters/105213216

the last night i lie - smallestchurch - 10k, E, Ed/Stede "Stede keeps giving Ed *the look* and Ed tries to figure out what it means for once and for all. ‘And what about you, Stede Bonnet? Proclivities and all that?’”

Waiting on the Lightning - smallestchurch - 8k, AU, E, Ed/Stede “They're co-captains now, sure, that's great and good, but... why is it making Stede so nervous?”

not pickles - smallestchurch - WIP, E, Ed/Stede, AU "Ed's minding his business when the new neighbor's kid comes around holding a human puppet. It's creepy as hell, but as soon as the kid's father rounds the corner, Ed doesn't mind. "

Benediction - Springandastorm | @spr1ngandastorm - 2k, T, Ed/Stede "There'd be the drag of a lace cuff, the soft pliancy of Stede's fingertips on his hand or in his hair. He could feel it through his clothes, sometimes, a phantom press against his arm or shoulder or heart long after Stede had lowered his hand. He didn't know what to do with so much sensation, a tide of its own, one that made him afraid to open his mouth and let the water in, almost certain he'd drown.”

did my heart love till now? - stedesboyfriend - 8k, E, AU, Ed/Stede (femslash) "They do a lot of kissing, yes, and it’s been great. It’s been leagues more than great. But it’s also been just that. Just kissing. Which is fine, really. Ed will do whatever the hell Stella wants her to do whenever the hell she wants her to do it, and that includes kissing. Just that, if Stel doesn’t want anything more. And that would be perfectly okay. But. The thing is, Stella sends some very fucking confusing mixed signals."

Message in a Marmalade Jar - stitchy | @stitchyarts - 11k, T, Ed/Stede "'I don’t know who will find this, if anybody. Who would even understand it, as Captain Bonnet is long gone?' The crew of the Revenge find a message in a marmalade jar."

The World That Borders the Sea - @thereluctantrose - 7.7k, T, Ed/Stede “I’m not made for cold,” he grumbled. “But you are made for me,” Stede grinned, leaning into Ed’s shoulder, “And I reckon I’m more than enough to keep you snug in the depths of December.” What can a man say to that, exactly? When the sun tells you it can provide, who are you to doubt its capacity for warmth? Thoughts on The Last Raid and all that comes after."

50 Ways to Kill Your Lover - @trinityofone - 2k, M, Ed/Stede "In his quest to get himself free, Ed begins a list of ways to do away with Stede: 1. Stabbing 2. Harder stabbing It gets much worse, and then much better, from there."

#our flag means death #ofmd #gentlebeard #ofmd fic #fic recs #my recs #blackbonnet #ed/stede

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