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johannestevans · 2 years

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Our Flag Means Death S01 E01: Close Textual Analysis

Examining OFMD E1: Pilot in close detail and liveblogging/analysing the text.

A still from Our Flag Means Death E1 via IMDb.

I’ve done these before, but just to set some expectations:

This is going to be a rewatch liveblog going through E1 and closely reading and responding to the text, bit by bit, in chronological order.

It’s going to be pretty casual in tone, I will be swearing and making sex jokes and blah blah blah, this is close reading for fun and isn’t academic in tone, but it’s still close reading and commentary on the text with some analysis here and there. For fun.

I’m gay, gay, homosexual, gay, and I’m not editing out the bits where I get distracted by being horny for the benefit of your entertainment and also my own lack of shame. You’re welcome.

I have seen the whole series, I will be making constant reference to other stuff later in the text, so there will be spoilers for later in the series.

I’ve been meaning to do one of these for a while and I’m planning to go through more of the episodes if not at all of them, but I was definitely inspired by some of the YouTube compilations of background details in the first few episodes, such as by YouTube user swashbuckling sweethearts and YouTube user Rindecision.

Roach and Izzy are my favourite characters in the show so in case you haven’t seen it, Samba Schutte did a really cool interview with JUST ADD COLOR the last day so check that out as well.

This analysis of E1 is a little over 14k.

1717. The Golden Age of Piracy.

Wealthy landowner Stede Bonnet set out to find adventure and renown on the high seas.

Things did not go as planned…

Rindecision pointed out in one of their YouTube compilations that they use the same font and justification for the introductory panel as they do to introduce Black Sails which I really appreciate — I know Taika Waititi’s favourite romance movie is Master and Commander, and I love stuff like the homages to Black Sails in this show as well because like… queer sailors, man, it all comes together.

Anyway, I love and adore Frenchie and I adore his lute and I love his silly little lyrics and his accent. It’s like a West Country thing, I’m guessing Bristol? It’s Joel Fry’s own accent, and I’ve been looking up to see but I can’t see him talking about it anywhere, but I love it.

One of the things I really love about the show consistently is how people mostly have their own accents (the real characters, not the Spanish/British/French cannon fodder), and especially like, seeing the variety in English accents between Oluwande, Frenchie, Izzy, and Lucius, especially.

I never noticed until rewatching just how much Oluwande and Pete really get on each other’s nerves, and especially how Oluwande, who’s honestly quite an understanding and easygoing guy, is constantly the first one to tell Pete to shut the fuck up when he’s being a prick, and I love that for him.

They’re all playing cards and Pete’s fidgeting and like:

ROACH: It’s your bet.

PETE: I know it’s my bet.

OLUWANDE: Then bet. Why are you always taking long?

PETE: Fuck this! I’m out.

And he slams his cards down, and like… So I know that there’s the crew as family and that there is a vague sense of like, sibling/bickering family member dynamics between the crew later on, but the thing about the first episode is that you can see a lot of characters do not necessarily like each other or learn to get on with each other as they do later on?

Which, to be fair, is because they have nothing to ally against and all they have to do is have a go at each other, even without Pete’s constant temper tantrums.

I love that they appear to be betting seashells with each other as they gamble, especially because Wee John’s doing rope stuff in the background, Oluwande apparently walked away from the table to do his own rope stuff, the Swede is shuffling cannonballs around, and Jim is just… brooding. As they do.

I love how all the lads go hey! when Pete shuffles up the cards on the table because it’s such an asshole thing to do, but one thing I really love about Samba Schutte’s approach to Roach is how expressive he is with his body — he does so much acting with his hands and arms and he does so many like… plaintive gestures and stuff, and it kills me.

Oluwande rolling his eyes at Pete gives me so much love and strength.

So Buttons is calling out over the ship, “On your feet for your captain!” which I think is interesting — I do kind of get the impression that of the people on the Revenge, Buttons is the one with the most formal experience? Or the most formal proclivities anyway.

Love that Pete is already on his feet, as is the Swede, Roach, Frenchie, Jim, and Lucius reluctantly get up, and Wee John stays sat down because fuck authority — and so does Oluwande, because he’s the real authority.

Frenchie’s so much shyer in the first few episodes than he is later on and like, I really appreciate his meek defence of Stede saying maybe he’s just a sort of slow pirate, but ditto like, how quiet and sweet his voice is when he goes, “Um, bottle it up?” in response to Bonnet’s talk it through prompting — I really wonder about it because like…

So obviously later on we see Frenchie so much more confident and excited before obviously becoming withdrawn and quiet post-marooning in the final episode, and I think it’d be easy to think that with Frenchie’s conman abilities that the shyness is an act, but I don’t think that’s the case? Like, he can be a good conman, but in episode 1 he’s very much learning who he is on the ship and who he can relax and play with, and I like that by default he’s quite shy even though he’s also a very cheerful and optimistic guy.

Stede goes, “No, Frenchie, that’s the worst thing you could do!” and he goes, “No? Oh, oh, sorry…” and he backs down and he looks so nervous and like…

I really hope an interviewer goes through all the cast and their personal backstories for the characters at some point because I know Frenchie mentions being in service and I’m so curious about like, how much of his uncertainty and meekness in conversation comes from uncertainty around, you know, white people — or at the least, rich white people like Stede.

I like how tired Wee John is of the whole situation, especially when he goes, “We talk about it?” and then looks annoyed at Jim and the Swede — he’s not present much in the passive aggression episode later but I will undoubtedly have thoughts to express on like, Irish approaches to English imperialist ideals around “politeness” and whatever, but also like… compliance with forced politeness to get it over with as soon as possible versus resisting out of awkwardness and then drawing it out.

When Stede screams “places everybody” and just sort of toddles about awkwardly without any idea what he’s doing it’s. Funny. He’s such an awkward mess of a man. Made of spaghetti.

I have to wonder if Swede is meant to be in the position of master gunner because it’s him that hauls cannonballs around and awkwardly drops one down on the poor auld fellas and it’s like… Why is it him? Like, “why?” is a good question to ask about this entire crew and ship but. Seriously, why? He can’t lift one cannonball.

WEE JOHN, disapprovingly: They’re just a couple of old geezers…

My subtitles say that the person coaching Stede over the side to awkwardly clamber down with the ladder is Buttons, but it’s not — it’s Oluwande. I love that it’s the Swede and Roach trying unsuccessfully to hold the ladder still at the top and everyone else just watches with disgust.

I’m crying I didn’t realise that when Stede pulled his hat off his head and bade the fishermen farewell they did the same thing and said, “Take care of the plant!” These poor fucking old guys.

STEDE (about the plant): Really fills the space, doesn’t it?

LUCIUS: … Yeah. (wide-eyed, staring at Stede like, “is he fucking serious?” but of course he’s serious, because it’s Stede.) It’s fine. (little widening of the eyes/eyeroll to himself and half-shrug as he stares down at the journal to save himself from the awkwardness).

STEDE: Now, where was I?

LUCIUS: Um… being a pirate captain…

I’m just very curious about Lucius’ position and how he found his way onto the Revenge and into Stede’s employ because literally at no point does he look comfortable or certain of where he is and what he’s doing in the first few episodes — we know he’s a pickpocket and that he can read and write, but also pushes reading and writing as quite impressive? And I think Nathan Foad has mentioned somewhere about him doing some work as a molly and like…

He’s just in a tenuous position in general and I can see how it’d be (relatively) safe under a man like Stede who’s an obvious fruit and also an idiot, but like… he’s at sea? Surrounded by violent men who may or may not hate mollies like him? Like I just die over how it seems to be that the people other than Stede that Lucius talks most with, and who he’s most comfortable with, are actually Pete and Oluwande, who obviously hate each other but like… are the other two queer men on the ship.

Stede’s got Problems (autism and anxiety same hat lmao) but what I find so funny is that Lucius is so fucking unprepared for them — Stede comes down, sweeps his coat aside with a flourish, sits, is sitting for less than a second, walks across the room, opens the curtains, leans against the wall for two seconds, then just starts walking out of the office, and Lucius is watching him like, “wait, wait, where are you — “ and then is awkwardly chasing after him with his book and quill and it’s so funny. This poor fucking man.

The language Stede’s using with Lucius is really interesting too — when Stede’s talking about how he pays the crew a salary, he’s saying to Lucius, “For example, if your average pirate doesn’t steal, he doesn’t eat. That’s a lot of mental pressure.” And Lucius is genuinely interested, or at the very least, concentrated — he’s making notes as he follows Stede, but he’s also making eye contact with him and matching his expressions. “So… I pay my crew a salary — same wage every week, no matter what.”

What’s curious to me about this set-up is that Lucius is being treated like an outside observer or an interviewer. The journal is not being paid for or organised by an outside party or authority, and it’s not like Lucius is doing this of his own accord — this is a vanity project, Lucius is Stede’s scribe, and Stede is paying him for this, but Stede talks to him as if it’s Lucius asking him questions rather than Stede directing his own journal.

It’s not that he sees Lucius as a peer, because he calls Lucius “boy” and gives him orders and instructions, but what he is doing is thinking constantly of the eventual intention for his journal to be read by others, his own peers, perhaps the boys who used to bully him at school, men he knows in Barbados. Lucius is therefore serving as an extension of them while Stede is talking, and like… It’s no wonder Lucius isn’t fucking used to that, because while he can read and write, I do not get the impression he’s ever served as a clerk, or that he’s educated enough to get a position like that in a real office rather than with someone who’s not Stede.

Lucius is under a lot of stress here because it’s a weird position to be in — a lot of personal assistant jobs are strangely intimate and have a weird sense of boundaries because you’re expected to act as an extension of another person’s will, but Lucius isn’t just a PA, he’s Stede’s fucking diarist, and he just has to write down all of Stede’s thoughts while Stede (to Lucius, possibly seemingly at random) swaps between talking to Lucius politely, like the two of them are having a measured and even conversation (when Lucius is acting as a scribe and an extension of Stede’s own peer group) and like his servant (the rest of the time).

I’m not saying Lucius can’t have had experience with that, especially because if he has worked in mollyhouses, sex work often has a similar vibe when you’re testing someone out and seeing who they want you to be to them/act like you are to them, but this specific scenario is almost undoubtedly a new one to him, and a weird feeling to juggle.

I would also point out that Stede says, “I pay my crew a salary…” — the use of the personal pronoun here excludes Lucius. Now, is Stede talking to Lucius, bearing in mind he makes eye contact with him that Lucius returns and engages with as if he’s an interviewer, or is he talking entirely to his imaginary readers? Because it sounds like, from Lucius’ perspective, that Lucius doesn’t count as a member of the crew, that he’s separate from the crew.

Which, yeah, that could track, in that Lucius is a secretary and is separate from the crew proper, much as on many ships now, ship’s sailors and maintenance crew separate from those responsible for domestic tasks and customer service, but also like… Lucius is very much on board with the mutiny and puts himself between Pete and Oluwande, on their side, and obviously considers himself a part thereof.

Unionise, I guess, is what I’m saying.

I do find it telling that Stede says the crew “came around” to the idea and then starts telling Lucius all about amenities that the crew do not necessarily seem massively into though, because like… Stede’s whole thing is having great ideas and not discussing their execution or the appeal of them with the crew.

STATE OF THE ART EN SUITE where Pete’s having a shit and Roach is stuffed into a tiny little tub that his legs and his arms both stick out of having a bath — but we know that Stede has a literal massive full-sized tub elsewhere? Classic Stede.

Swede’s polishing cannonballs because… It’s the Swede — I do find it interesting that Stede feels the need to go around calling everything the rec center or jam room or whatever when like, it’s literally just the interior of the ship, but it is cute that everyone’s playing music together even if it’s because Stede’s doing a TV interview-style supercut three hundred years before TV was invented.

STEDE: And, of course, a full library! The crew is free to borrow books whenever. So far, you’re the only one to take me up on it.

LUCIUS: Well, I’m the only crew member who can read.

STEDE: That’s not… Is that true? Ough.

Stede’s face in this scene is so interesting because the harpsichord is doing this background smug thing as Stede haughtily walks away, and he genuinely acts as if it’s distasteful and unthinkable that the crew can’t read, but like… It is not sympathetic or compassionate about them.

He acts as if the crew have all actively made a choice not to be able to read, and as if it’s something they should be looked down on for, and it’s interesting seeing Lucius’ face as the camera goes back to him because Lucius is like… annoyed.

Not massively! He’s not going to kick up a fuss.

But he’s furrowing his brow and curling his lip a bit and he’s looking at Stede so intently, and what I love about the Lucius we see in the early episodes versus later on is the way we constantly see him exhibiting and exercising significant restraint in telling Stede what’s up because like… his position is tenuous. None of the crew know what Stede is really like yet, and they definitely don’t trust him or think of him as a particularly reliable employer.

I REFUSE TO BE ATTRACTED TO RHYS DARBY BUT READING GLASSES A BIT HOT, ACTUALLY.

I love how the crew are lined up and all just look so disgusted and annoyed with Stede, even before Stede effectively opens up his notes and critique session by praising himself and saying how “inspiring” his own opening speech was.

PETE: Stealing a plant is hardly swashbuckling.

ROACH: (laughs)

WEE JOHN: A fecking disgrace is what it is.

I love Roach and Wee John, I don’t think I’ve observed their friendship closely enough but they do team up a LOT, and I’m like… good. Let them tell Stede he’s a prick.

I love what comes after though because it’s about the reframing of power dynamics and stuff where like… Stede is such a hypocrite and is obviously rich and white and clueless about literally everything, and that’s the core driver in his tensions with much of the crew in the initial few episodes, but the places where I find myself having the most genuine affection for Stede are where he opens himself up to criticism. He doesn’t do it every time, he’s got his own sensitivities about it, but I really appreciate it when it’s obviously something that’s uncomfortable by definition, and the thing is like —

Because everyone on the crew is so used to brute force as a response to insults, every time Stede does it, or praises them unexpectedly, they’re really caught off guard and engage with it.

STEDE: What was that? Who said that? Wee John, was that you?

Stede has such primary school teacher vibes, and I do actually love that he says “what?” and “who?” before he directly addresses John, and also asks if it was him even though they’re standing 6 feet away from each other and they both know damn well it was him — it’s Stede’s politeness going, where just outright retorting to John would be overly direct and therefore rude, but it’s also quite a non-threatening way of approaching the conflict in a way that establishes surprise and disapproval that someone would say something unkind before directly addressing the unkindness, just like teachers do with kids.

WEE JOHN, raising his shoulders and his head: And what if it were? (starts raising up a weapon)

LUCIUS: (silently looks at Stede with his lips pressed together, willing Stede to make eye contact with him so he can tell him to back down)

STEDE, flustered: Well, I’d…

LUCIUS: (literally rocking slightly on his feet)

STEDE: I’d simply ask you to, uh, reframe that criticism… as a suggestion.

I have the show on pause here and I’m fascinated by Wee John’s chance, I want to cup Kristian Nairn’s face between my palms and tell him that I adore him unconditionally, it’s like…

Stede says those words and Wee John is just immediately emotionally — and physically — disarmed. He puts his blunt instrument down by his sides, his arms come down, his shoulders come back, he raises his head and leans back the slightest bit on his heels, his jaw is agape, his eyes are slightly wide, his eyebrows are raised. He’s aghast at this. It doesn’t compute.

Wee John, a few minutes ago, wouldn’t get to his feet just because he was told to do so, but he was also the one who looked vaguely irritated with the crew when no one else gave Stede the obvious right answer to his question — and now, Stede is responding to Wee John’s offer of a fight with like…

Tell me what you’d like to do better.

Tell me how to change.

Tell me, your captain, how best to please you.

STEDE: What’s one thing you’d change around here, if you could?

WEE JOHN: Well, we don’t even have a flag, for one.

EVERYONE: (murmurings of agreement)

STEDE: Oh.

WEE JOHN: Any pirate worth a damn has a flag.

So firstly I’m guessing this scene was cut shortly for time — I really wish that in the cut between Stede asking what he’d change and the camera returning to John that we were able to see John’s transition between his shock and surprise at being asked his opinion to him actually gearing himself up to give that opinion, because he goes from very open body language to a much more businesslike, closed-off stance. I know that OFMD is sitcom and they don’t like, have the time to go through all the organic motions of character work unless it’s for the bigger emotional beats, but I’m just hungry for this kind of character acting and every single member of the cast is so good at it, but in this scene obviously like, especially Nairn.

Anyway, all the crew agree, and you can see Stede listening and taking it really seriously, Rhys Darby does the dad approval thing where he presses his lips together and raises his eyebrows and gives one big nod of the head, which I really like, because it’s like…

The crew are so just weirded out by it, but I love what it says about Stede’s management style as you see the crew go on and like each other.

Waht I really dislike about some people’s readings or surface-level takes from the show is this idea that Stede is somehow like, “civilising” the crew, and that’s not it. His way is not more “civilised”, which you can tell by the way that Stede upholds so much racist shit — what Stede is introducing is not present in “polite” society.

What Stede is introducing is not what he grew up with, or what he’s used to, or what rich people do in general.

What Stede is instead instituting is a management policy where management are open to criticism and, as much as he’s capable of in his tone-deaf way, a working environment that genuinely fosters open communication — and especially rewatching this episode now and thinking about how much conflict everyone has with each other and how much they all get on each other’s nerves versus later, like… This approach works and does have a positive effect, even just in them all being more confident speaking with each other and Stede, not just with criticism, but with positive feedback as well.

Fuck me though, Lucius’ background anxiety is incredible, Nathan Foad really did put his whole fucking heart into this role and I’m a little distracted by his chest hair on the still I paused on right now but like… When Stede and Lucius are putting out the silks, Lucius keeps glancing at Stede and the rest of the crew, and fuck, the anxiety that’s coming off him in waves, like…

So Stede’s putting out the silks and even before Pete starts off on his “that’s women’s work” posturing, Roach and Frenchie look baffled and a little bit annoyed with it. The whole crew are a bit like “what the fuck, mate?”

And Stede isn’t experiencing any tension because he’s austistic and under several warm, comfortable blankets of denial at all times, but Lucius?

Also like, watch Pete deliver that line by the way. When he says “That’s women’s work,” he’s looking someone up and down, but the way that Lucius rolls his eyes immediately after, it definitely comes off as Pete doing that at Lucius rather than Stede.

Lucius a gay man who’s obviously gay on a ship full of, presumably, heterosexual pirates, many of whom have violent inclinations, and Lucius is not used to violence in the first instance, but in the second, like —

Lucius refers to himself as a crew member and sees himself as a crew member, but there’s very much that awareness that he’s often separated from the rest of the crew and in many ways acts as an extension of Stede, and do the crew see him that way or see him as one of them? Especially when Stede talks to Lucius the way he does and Lucius is afforded special treatment? Even if everyone mutinied and didn’t directly go for Lucius, how well would he do in that situation?

The background acting choices are just… so much.

OKAY PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER STEDE AGAIN LIKE…

STEDE: How many of you sew? Be honest…

ROACH: (slowly raising his hand) Sewed my shoulder up once… after I’d been stabbed. (pulls back his shirt)

EVERYONE: (groans)

STEDE: Oh! Did you hear that, guys? Roach sewed his own arm up!

I love Schutte’s delivery of these lines because like, again, none of these men are used to being asked their opinions or to share, let alone with the whole crew as a collective with no ranks, but Roach comes off as so like… uncertain? He genuinely is shy, he’s treading carefully and trying to figure out exactly how to approach this situation.

Everyone’s responding with a bit of horror because it’s a nasty injury, Lucius is stood there next to Stede with his eyes fixed to Roach as if Roach is about to be the new star of his nightmares and Lucius is already dreading it…

And how does Stede respond? With praise. He gestures to Roach and goes “sewed his own arm up!” in a very demonstrative way, then follows it up with, “Sounds to me like sewing can be pretty tough!”

(And Roach gives a serious little nod.)

How do you get your crew on board with an activity? Praise the person that opts into the activity, hold up their behaviour as a model and praiseworthy, and then pinpoint the insecurity others are feeling about the activity, (in this case, loss of masculinity) and demonstrate that it’s not a concern.

That’s how you model good behaviour and it kills me that Stede does that so fucking well, especially when his desire to communicate this way is borne out of his own childhood where he consistently got the opposite.

Love that Wee John immediately wraps himself in a nice fabric and that everyone gets to work, but also I love that what Stede models consistently is like… Praise. He does encourage everyone to express themselves, but then goes, “Oh, that’s very good!” and engages with everybody one on one, asks what they’re doing and makes sure he gets it and understands.

Also him going, “Don’t you look holy!” and Wee John going, “Oh, thank you.” I adore him.

“A lot of the guys are sweethearts, deep down… (Roach tries to steal something from the Swede, the Swede grabs him, the two of them commence to beat the shit out of each other. Oluwande confiscates the scissors from Roach before he can use them as Stede breaks them up.) … they’re just dealing with a fair amount of trauma.”

I find it really interesting that Stede says this and knows this, but he also did that massive bitchy thing about the crew not being able to read — there’s a few layers to that I think in that like…

So the conversation about the crew not being able to read was one on one between him and Lucius and was an actual conversation, whereas what Stede is saying to Lucius as his diarist is a performance that’s intended to make him look as palatable and like… especially kind and charitable as possible?

But also, to go back to the primary school teacher vibe, like, there’s no way not to think of Stede’s school teacher-esque approach, his parochial, condescending attitude, and also the like, thing about piracy which to him is like, an adventure, but amounts to this weird trauma tourism? Oluwande and Jim sit down and discuss this with him a bit later, I think in this episode, but like —

The way he goes “fair amount of trauma” feels so charged with racial and class implications too with the way the voice over is applied to him splitting up the fight, because if Stede is a primary school teacher, he’s the very rich and comfortable teacher who’s just gone to volunteer at an underfunded school in a “diverse” area, and he’s incapable of being normal about it.

It’s not that he’s wrong about any of the crew being traumatised, it’s the fact that he scoffs at the crew not being able to read and talks about them being traumatised with the exact same huffy, superior tone — they’re traumatised and can’t read, unlike their betters (him).

Like! David Jenkins mentioned in an interview about the value of a legitimately diverse writers’ room and I just want to quote this bit:

[Charles Pulliam-Moore]: The show about the slave-owning pirate should probably have some people of color in the writers’ room.

[David Jenkins]: Right, and it’s not checking off a diversity list with a golf pencil but really being honest with yourself and asking, “Do I have the perspectives and terms of race, gender, sexuality to create a shared sociological imagination?” It’s fucked up because you write a show and a lot of the plaudits go to you, the showrunner, and it’s like you’re using all of these brains. You know, you have this horsepower of all of these writers like this. The season is the function of all of these brains coming together and creating one sociological imagination.

And when it comes to stuff like this, specifically where you see all these levels of awareness and implication layered on top of each other, on top of the fact that you’ve got a cast of incredibly talented character actors who are putting in a lot of work and effort internally but then with each other, like…

It just feels so real, and that’s so evocative — and it makes it so much more real then when you have these moments of cluelessness, especially like, thoughtless cruelty or callousness, from Stede or the other characters, and it’s part of the broader tapestry of the character proper.

And what’s really refreshing about OFMD too is like… The way that it depicts race, the way it depicts class, gender, sexuality, neurodivergence, disability, basically anything you can think of, is that they’re all a constant and continuous part of the characters and the world, they’re intrinsic to them.

No one is being Black or queer or disabled to try to teach the audience about something, or to represent a nebulous category that’s supposedly meant to satisfy all manner of “diverse” people at once, as a monolith, and similarly, when characters are being racist or homophobic or just generally dicks to one another, it’s not to hold the audience’s hand and teach them a valuable lesson, or stroke their ego and say, “it’s okay, champ, I know you would have done the right thing, not like this racist guy!”

Instead you see stuff like this where like, there’s a lot more overt racism and classism from Stede later in this episode, but here the schoolteacher attitude giving a voiceover interview to a presumed privileged audience, all condescending over his “underprivileged” employees, that’s a thing I’ve heard and seen again and again and again in fiction and in actual documentaries and stuff— and is also parodied in Abbott Elementary with Chris Perfetti’s character, Jacob — and it feels real, because it is real, and it’s stupid, and it’s funny and quite horrid.

There’s just so many TV shows where the characters are written in such a way where it’s like… When you look away or turn the screen off, they’ll stop being Like That because no one’s watching — it’s not just that the characters themselves don’t feel organic or real or richly considered, it’s that any bigotries or structural oppressions they face only apply when writers and directors feel that it will make an interesting story beat, rather than those aspects being intrinsic to the character.

The fact that the whole team has put such consideration into what struggles to portray and what ones to leave offscreen, and how they want to present everything, takes away that uncomfortable feeling and just leaves us with much realer, more complex characters.

STEDE: (to Roach, doing the stern dad finger point) So, first of all, you should have asked… (to Swede), And second of all, what could you do with your large bit of fabric?

THE SWEDE: Talk about it?

STEDE: No, shared. You could have shared it.

THE SWEDE: Oh.

They don’t know the right answer. They have no idea what the fuck kind of game Stede is playing, so whenever Stede asks a question they all assume it’s a bizarre trap, and when he asks more questions, they respond with a rote answer from one of his previous questions, because this isn’t how anyone runs a pirate crew, and I do love that.

I also think it’s so sweet how the Swede holds the whole swathe of fabric to his chest like it’s a teddy bear or something.

PETE: Well, guess it’s time…

OLUWANDE: For what?

Pete: To kill Captain.

Obsessed with how Oluwande’s response to Pete shoving his knife through the table is literally to put his hands down and roll his eyes and look away like, “Oh my God, this shit, what the fuck — “ He’s so done. He’s so fucking tired of Pete being Pete.

I do love that Pete apologises to Frenchie for ruining his fabric when Frenchie goes, “Come on, mate,” like, Pete is capable of… some manners.

STEDE, looking dramatically over the ship: If I can help this crew grow, as people, then I’ve succeeded as a pirate captain.

Like…

I’ll be asking this question a lot as the series goes on, but you do wonder like… Why piracy? Or more specifically like, who is Stede doing piracy for? His stupid fucking diary is so important to him and like, everything he does is for this imaginary audience of people who actually think he’s impressive instead of thinking he’s a bellend, and it’s an interesting parallel, I think, to Ed who does exist in the midst of this heavily constructed personal mythos and feels very trapped by it, especially because Stede is posh and is hiring a diarist and is also white, and his control over his own narrative is very different and can presumably be more directly targeted to a broader audience? I’ll probably ruminate on that parallel further as we go on.

I love that it’s Buttons who immediately goes to Stede and says mutiny’s on the cards, and Lucius is like “aw fuck,” because they’re getting snitched on, but God, the way that Stede laughs before he goes, Oh, really?

Like, yeah, really, my guy. You are not great at this.

“Stop writing!” is so interesting because like…

Of course he doesn’t want the people reading his totally authentic and cool pirate diary to know he’s getting mutinied against seconds after he was saying how impressive and charitable he is.

LUCIUS: Sorry, I’m confused. You said to record everything, warts and all, so that’s what I’m doing!

STEDE: (snatching out a page) Well, not this!

I like the idea of this scene contrating with what we later see on the French vessel and the specific things that Stede considers to be lying or deception or fuckery, versus the things he just considers to be polite or proper — there’s so much deception inherent to his position in society as a matter of course, and what’s fun about seeing him alongside Lucius, and then the rest of the crew, are the things that he considers to be the norm that he ends up having to express outloud and put explicitly into words…

And as soon as he does so, his own hypocrisy or sheer lack of consideration is put into such stark relief.

Lucius is so offended, too, when Stede tells him to go for a walk, being summarily dismissed like that, and why shouldn’t he be offended?

He obviously knew that Stede didn’t want him to write it down, and it’s fun to see that bit of resistance and rebellion there, especially because he immediately sweeps off and snitches to everyone else that they’re found out.

Wee John sounds so tired and annoyed when he says that Pete’s never sailed with Black Pete, and especially the way Oluwande keeps rolling his eyes and Roach laughs, I have to wonder just how constantly Pete brings up his fake Blackbeard stories.

FRENCHIE: Can you pass the black thread, pretty please? (rubs his hands together, grinning) Cheers, me dears.

I love and adore him. Desperately I do. Everything this man does is so unspeakably endearing to me.

ROACH: What is that, a cat? The flag’s supposed to be scary.

FRENCHIE: Yeah, cats are terrifying. Everyone knows that.

I love Frenchie’s little sailmaker’s palm that he’s using to sew with — I don’t think everyone’s wearing them, but it’s a nice little detail that some of the crew are using them for flag and sail repair to help them push their needles through, even if their sewing on the flag and stuff looks clumsy.

Oluwande’s face through Frenchie’s delivery here is such a journey, the way he furrows his brow and raises his head like, eh?

FRENCHIE: ’Cause they’re witches. And they’ve got knives in their feet.

He just says it with so much certainty and I’m just like… I am constantly thinking about the fact that Frenchie is a really adept conman and social manipulator who’s so full of gentleness and affection for others, is generally full of energy and likes to have a laugh, and also, he believes in the most specific and bizarre aspects of folklore or conspiracy. What a man.

WEE JOHN, on the subject of mutiny: If we can light him on fire, I’m in.

As if Stede Bonnet wasn’t already flaming, John.

It’s noteworthy to me that Lucius immediately goes to the crew and advises them that Buttons told Stede about the mutiny, and goes, “I’m still in, by the way,” immediately. Lucius is the one that spends the most time with Stede and gets most irritated by him, but also displays the most anxiety with a lot of the crew, especially in moments of potential violence? And I’m just so fascinated by that juxtaposition and what he thinks of like… What he’d be on the ship without Stede there, you know?

He’s got a bad back and isn’t adept at most of the ship’s labour, so.

When Stede and Buttons come out of that weird front passage at the prow of the ship, I do wonder if that’s one of Stede’s various secret passages or what, because Buttons does look curiously about before he peeks over to see if the crew are paying attention.

Anyway, no one is steering the ship at this point, which is a constant in this show, but it is a funny aspect of the muppet ‘verse.

STEDE: I can’t believe it! Why?

BUTTONS: I wouldn’t take it personal. It’s just that they don’t like you, or the way that you do things.

STEDE: Hmm. I’m supportive, caring. Responsive to their needs…

Thinking about Mary’s POV, and how Stede in her perspective does nothing of value, takes up space in the house, expects Mary to attend to his every whim, do various domestic work for him, takes up the entire bed and doesn’t notice that Mary’s uncomfortable, et cetera.

There’s something to be said about feigned helplessness and weaponised incompetence that some people use within their relationships to avoid their fair share of labour, especially when it’s people who realise early on that they don’t have to contribute for whatever reason (for example, in regards to gendered labour), and then coast on that — but what I find interesting in cisgender men like Stede is that like…

It’s not enough that he never actually listens when people communicate with him, because it’s part of his identity and his own opinion of himself that of course he listens. The fact that he only listens when people say the things he’s coached or pressured them to say is irrelevant to him, because ultimately, all of his kindness, his approach to his duties, and now his management style, is about his own ego and how he appears to his imaginary audience.

He is all for communication, so long as that communication ends with the result he imagined in the beginning, and because of this he can never compromise or even listen to outside perspectives, because Stede is writing a social script for himself and he expects everyone to say the lines he imagined for them even before they start speaking.

BUTTONS: See, that may be what’s contributing to the poor overall impression.

STEDE: What is the overall impression?

BUTTONS: That you’re weak… soft-bellied, yellow.

STEDE: I see.

BUTTONS: Craven, ill-equipped to lead men.

STEDE: Understood! … Thank you.

I really want to keep track of how much Buttons begins to list things when someone starts speaking to him because it’s such a funny and specific tendency — I know it’s a standard improv technique, but Ewen Bremner just does it so well as Buttons and it goes in so well with his like, gruff, slightly overly-procedural characterisation.

Buttons here is being so blunt and so honest with Stede in large part because he feels it’s his duty as first mate, and what really stands out to me is that Stede is asking for him to be honest about what people’s impressons are, but like...

Stede has such an unrealistic idea of himself, yes, but also so much of his identity is based in self-deception and denial? And I never know with Stede how much he’s being honest when he’s trying to act confident, what his self-esteem is like at any one moment.

He’s so certain he’s a loving father, even though he abandoned the family to fuck about at sea; he’s so certain he’s a great husband even though he makes Mary’s life a living Hell with his constant self-obsession; he’s so sure he can just do whatever he likes, and the world will open up to him.

He’s got protagonist syndrome out the wazoo, but simultaneously he despises himself and takes every criticism to heart — it’s not quite on a level with Ed’s own Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria when we see him later, but it’s all about those layers of identity.

STEDE: What I’m hearing is they could do with more structure. Perhaps, a firmer hand?

BUTTONS: Or an iron fist. Give ’em something to really stick their teeth into, make them earn their keep. Know what I’m saying?

STEDE: I get it. Toughen up.

Rhys Darby really can stick his lower lip out so far, which I am noticing in this particular profile shot more than I have ever realised before. He really puffs himself up here, and I have to wonder if he’s thinking about his father and what he was taught by him, if he’s thinking about bullies at school, who exactly he’s thinking of and considering emulating.

The way everyone laughs and hisses at the idea of Pete being captain of the vessel while Pete is completely certain of his ability is interesting — Stede and Pete really are paralleled so much in this episode, I think, in terms of being out of touch as the cis white guys that cannot read the room and have unrealistically high opinions of themselves.

Everyone loves Jim, and… me too.

PETE: No offence, I know you’re… mates.

Love that Pete puts emphasis on the word mates when he’s talking about Jim to Oluwande. Love that implication.

It’s great too that Jim is just sharpening their dagger on a strop this whole time and isn’t even trying to sew. What a champ.

Buttons doesn’t appear to need to use the spyglass to look at the approaching vessel, which is interesting — eagle-eyed? Gull-eyed? Whatever.

Oluwande’s skills at de-escalating conflict are so fascinating to me — obviously he has a vested interest in keeping Bonnet in command so that the ship can remain sufficiently stable as a hiding place for himself and Jim, but he’s so subtle about it, firstly in shrugging off Pete’s criticism of Jim and Roach’s suggestion that Jim be the captain by saying that Jim isn’t interested in politics (while Jim keeps their head bowed and doesn’t engage meaningfully in the conversation at all, letting Oluwande take on all of it, which is fascinating to me); secondly, by shrugging and saying that he has no beef with Bonnet and immediately pointing out the story-telling as, “That’s one nice thing about him.”

It’s such a curious thing to lead with, the niceness of Stede Bonnet, because, yes, of course he’s nice, and yet it’s his niceness that the rest of the crew have such a problem with.

The way they all bully Lucius to do the voice when Lucius knows he can’t do the voice is so funny, but if you look at everyone nagging him to do it, Oluwande isn’t actually joining in — he’s successfully redirected attention on him and Jim as members or not of the mutiny elsewhere, and everyone is just distracted by Lucius Spriggs’ shitty voice acting to keep at them.

STEDE, with his hands on his hips, the fruitiest he’s been so far: Well here’s the deal, buckos!

He’s such an idiot. I want to keep him in a jar.

Roach interrupts Stede here after asking if it’s really a big ship this time, and goes, “I’m not asking you, I’m asking him,” and gestures to Buttons, and it’s so funny because it’s like… They just can’t and don’t rely on Stede because they know he’s disconnected from reality, and it cracks me up.

Wee John’s pyromania rears its head again, and then…

The Swede is sharpening blades in a way that seems neither efficient nor safe; Jim is throwing knives; Black Pete is cleaning his guns while looking directly into their barrels; Frenchie is singing about how they’re all about to die.

Stede’s trauma around blood and violence is so funny to me because of course you’re frightened of blood, you absolute fop, I can’t wait to see you drenched in it in S2, my darling disgusting man.

He really does reach out to Buttons in quite a vulnerable way though, and Buttons is a bit esoteric in his answer, but he doesn’t comment on Stede’s anxiety — I do find it funny that with his iron teeth he comments, “Getting too old for hand-to-hand violence.”

Like, are you? As in, are you getting too old to go hand to hand, but teeth to throat, that’s just fine? Fascinating. Tell me more.

I think it’s tumeric that Wee John’s smearing on his face, or some sort of yellow powder, anyway? Which… I don’t even know what that’s about.

Anyway, trauma flashback for Stede, woo hoo!

The blood spatter on Rhys Darby’s wee son is so well-shot, and I actually really love the way they show his wince away from his da with the camera at young!Stede’s level, with his father cut off at the neck — it emphasises his smallness and his vulnerability as a child and how intimidating he finds his father, but it also really puts across the impersonal nature of their relationship and the lack of intimacy in it.

He can be close to his father’s butchery, and is being forced to be so, but not to the man himself.

OFMD is obviously so concerned with varieties of masculinity and the toxicity inherent in so many of them, but his father really does pivot from saying, “This is what a man’s work looks like,” to then lecturing young!Stede broadly about class, but in such a way that’s quite disconnected from reality, or at least, his own reality or place in it?

BONNET SNR: One day, all this will be yours. Not ’cause you deserve it or ’cause you’ve earned it, Lord knows you haven’t done that. Because you lucked into it. What do you suppose that makes you?

STEDE: Fortunate?

BONNET SNR: (laughs) Fortunate?

STEDE: (smiling, but begins to fade)

BONNET SNR: Oh, no. (while smiling) A weak-hearted, soft-handed, lily-livered little rich boy. That’s all you’ll ever be, Stede Bonnet!

Like, my guy, that’s your son. You made him this way, but also like — You’re rich? Also? The way Bonnet Snr leans physically down into his space is obviously designed to make him feel as small and talked down to as possible, but it’s like…

If Stede is indeed weak-hearted, soft-hearted, and lily-livered, there is something to be said for the nurture as well as the nature here — why are you only showing him animal butchery at like, ten years old? Why are you surprised that you, a rich man, have raised a rich son? What is not clicking here?

Anyway, love Stede’s insecurity and dramatic muttering to himself while wrapped in his dressing gown.

“I find the feel of silk very invigorating.”

Literally, what is Stede talking about at any time?

The fact that Oluwande comes down to check in at Buttons’ behest with Jim as his shadow and immediately puts that aside to ask if Stede’s okay when he’s visibly not okay is so precious to me, but he does immediately offer to go, and like —

It’s such a weird position that Oluwande and Jim are put in because like, is anyone ever prepared for their manager’s weird mental health issues when they start being unloaded on them?

STEDE: I was just gonna say, uh, it’s actually been a minute since I’ve, uh, done the old hand-to-hand.

Oluwande looks around with such curiosity and interest as he crosses the threshold into Stede’s cabin — it’s such a huge and luxurious space, and it’s so evident that apart from Lucius, most of the crew do not regularly (if at all) see the inside of it despite Stede’s assurances that they can dip into the library at any time.

Oluwande and Jim’s dynamic in the beginning is so brilliant to me, because Jim does come into the space with Wande and instead of keeping their head bowed as they have with the rest of the crew, they do actually make eye contact and engage more with Stede — I suppose that of the people on board, Stede is the least likely to potentially see through their disguise and recognise them, particularly as he presumably hired them.

Jim lets Oluwande take care of most things, but here Oluwande immediately defers to Jim on matters of combat, but like… Fuck me. They already know that Stede’s a soft touch, but the way that Stede is like, “uhhh, refresher?” as if he’s ever fought in his life, and like —

OLUWANDE: Listen, Captain, you know, if I may…

STEDE: You may! Come on. (pats the couch either side of him) Have a seat. Please.

Obsessed with the look that Oluwande share with this exchange, Oluwande and Jim’s both, complete uncertainty and bafflement at this situation because it’s just so fucking awkward and they are so uncomfortable.

OLUWANDE: Look, Captain… You know, pirating is not for everyone.

JIM: (hunkered forward, brim of the hat pulled down, looking bodily away from both of them, shaking their head)

STEDE: Oh, no, yeah.

OLUWANDE: It’s a really dangerous lifestyle.

JIM: (nodding their head)

STEDE: (looking to Jim, then Oluwande) Yeah, some of us thrive on danger, don’t we?

OLUWANDE: (having regrets for a moment as he stares into the middle distance) Yeah…. Yeah, but look. Me and Jim, we don’t do this because we like it. We do it because… we don’t have any other choice.

STEDE: Oh, I hear that.

OLUWANDE: (visible disbelief)

STEDE: I mean, here we are just the whole band of us. Killing and… having to kill. I mean that’s… having to, having to kill…

He’s just here having this whole mental breakdown over a job he spent a great deal of money on throwing himself into with no experience or awareness of what it was like or what it entailed, and here Oluwande is really showing him a kindness by trying to gently point out to him the way he’s blinkered by his privileged upbringing?

He’s pointing out, as nicely as he can (and as nicely as he very much is forced to by the disparity between his and Stede’s positions) that what Stede is doing is like, you know, trauma tourism that he’s not even emotionally prepared for.

And Stede is completely and utterly oblivious, buried simultaneously in his own manufactured narrative and his childhood trauma.

And… fuck.

STEDE: I’m not a pirate. I’m an idiot. Oh, God. Oh, no…

And fuck, but those deep breaths he takes, the way he almost sobs, and the way Oluwande looks at him and puts his hand on his chest, staring at this man with genuine concern because like —

Yes, Stede is an idiot, and yes, he’s an arse, but also this is quite an unwell man in front of him and Oluwande feels some sympathy for him, but there is no fucking time for that when the cannon shot comes across.

Stede’s surprise and affront at how big the ship is cracks me up, especially because she’s so heavily crewed, but —

BUTTONS: Have you been crying?

STEDE, in too deep: What? No… No.

Anyway, so… The English vessel is interesting. I love that there’s a fella with a tiny spyglass, and then the talking guy with a medium spyglass, and then Rory Kinnear as Nigel Badminton, with a big spyglass.

Something about his penis, I don’t know.

I really like that Badminton says “eye” and some other fella puts a folded handkerchief over his eye instead of just closing it himself, that’s so unnecessary, ditto his horrible rich sherry voice as he’s talking.

ENGLISH CUNT, coming up in the tender: I say, does one of you happen to be Stede Bonnet?

STEDE: (looks helplessly at Jim and Oluwande)

JIM: (gestures for him to get up)

OLUWANDE: What are you waiting for? Get up!

Stede cowering on the floor in his dressing gown is me when my washing machine beeps and lets me know it’s time to unload it.

Stede being met with a bully from school is so wild, especially becaue the crew are all advising him not to do this in hushed voices, and Stede ignores them because like… I don’t know, he’s admittedly in a pretty poor mental state, but also even outside of that his decision-making capacities are never good.

Anyway, there’s literally no reason at this point for Stede to pretend all the Black and brown crew members are his slaves and/or servants, and that the white ones are his buds. He like, does not have to do that at all. That is a choice he makes because he wants to impress a guy that bullied him at school and it’s like…

Bro.

I do like that while everyone’s scrambling to dress themselves from Stede’s back-up closet, Wee John is playing the fucking harpsichord, he’s white but he’s also Irish, and decides he has no place in this absolute fucking debaucle.

Shirtless background Roach for the second time this episode. More shirtless Roach in S2. Please. Thanks.

The way that Badminton says, “Tell me about your colourful crew.” while he’s looking Roach up and down in that skeevy way he has, and then the camera shows Frenchie’s concern and the way he’s measuring the situation so carefully says such a lot about Frenchie’s like, laser focus on tension in pretty much any situation — Stede’s obviously blinkered, but it’s like… Frenchie knows how this works, and we know from his admission on the French ship that he has experience here, but this must be such a fucking stressful situation for him, Roach, and the others, when like —

They’re already thinking of mutinying because Stede is straight-up just too soft, but what Stede’s done here is put them in a physically dangerous position, inviting fucking English soldiers aboard and then having the crew pose as servants when they literally could have hidden below decks and been safer for it, made themselves scarce; he could have just said they were free men and members of his crew, or that they were passengers or friends of friends — anything other than this, putting them in full view of the Brits, degrading them, but most crucially putting them physically in harm’s way.

Pete’s got his gun trained on them under the table, but it’s interesting seeing the way that the Brits look to the white pirates and feel that something’s off, the pirates just smile awkwardly in response.

ENGLISH CUNT: [The tea] has clearly been made by savages…

OLUWANDE: (closes his eyes, disgusted, rolling his eyes)

FRENCHIE: (looks hurt and extremely vulnerable on the other side of the table)

Thinking about the way Frenchie asks, so gently, “What did they do to you, man?” to Ed in the French episode.

Like, Frenchie, what did they do to you? Every time Frenchie does anything I want to wrap him in a blanket and dote on him forever, but here especially like… There’s so much pain here, and you don’t know how recently he was in service, if this is a recent escape, or if it’s dredging up past memories — and it’s such an important parallel, that cut of Frenchie’s face journey for only a moment before it goes to Stede, where for Stede we actually get a flashback and an internal story.

Frenchie’s eyes are flitting here and there, his lips are pressed together, his eyes have a shine to them like he wants to fucking cry, and the thing about every expression between the Black characters here is that like… They can make whatever faces at all, and the white characters (Stede and the white pirates included) won’t even fucking notice.

I just… Like, the thing is, this part of the story is still broadly Stede’s POV, and the focus is on his current mental breakdown, but because Joel Fry is just such a good and emotive actor like, you have these bare seconds of shot between Oluwande and Frenchie forced into this position and the depth of fucking feeling here is unspeakable.

I really do hope in S2 we get flashbacks for the rest of the crew and their backstories more as well as more of Ed’s, but, yeah, fuck.

BADMINTON: We were rowdy school chums. (chuckles) Always playing pranks on one another.

STEDE: (facial expression that clearly communicates he does not remember it that way)

BADMINTON: Hmm? Do you remember the day with the rowboat?

STEDE: The rowboat?

BADMINTON: Oh, come on now.

STEDE: No, I can’t.

BADMINTON: The rowboat. (laughs) It was hysterical!

STEDE: (looking down as the flashback begins)

There’s something so claustrophobic about the long-table separation and the cut between Stede’s face and Badminton’s — something about the candles lit between them along the table and the close frame really does just narrow down the room to just the two of them, and it really does make Stede feel and appear so fucking trapped in the whole scenario, even though it’s a trap partially of his own making.

That’s something that comes through again and again with this show, I think, how attempting to match yourself to rules of politeness or etiquette that you don’t actually believe in just ends up causing you damage because you’re allowing yourself to be hemmed in by the established oppressive ruleset, and it would show not only more integrity but less vulnerability to refuse to play by those rules at all.

I love that we see poor young Stede literally just picking fucking flowers before he’s chased by the others, runs into a tree, and then the way his hands are tied to the rowboat’s oars (which will be relevant later on in the episode, actually) as they all throw fucking rocks at him, he’s got a fucking tricorn hat on, and like…

As Stede comes out of this flashback, with the implication as Badminton chuckles that he’s just related this story out loud, we then cut to the white crew members’ reactions…

The Swede, laughing awkwardly while looking entirely pained by what he’s just heard, stopping laughing at soon as Badminton ceases to make eye contact with him and looking sadly at his tea and into the middle distance.

And then, too, when Stede tries to sort of stand up for himself and Badminton goes, oh, and the horse, do you remember when we made you French kiss the horse? And the British crew are laughing, but like —

Lucius looks disgusted and upset, is pressing his lips together, but to a visibly gay man he almost certainly received similar bullying that was sexually charged or forced elements of perversion, exactly like, for example, making a boy get too close to a horse’s mouth.

Like, the dislike of Stede in his youth and the decision for him to be the subject of bullying was very much one based in Stede’s effeminacy, but that itself is based in homophobia.

One thing I like about this scene and that I’m grateful for, but that also lends a real additional layer to it is like —

So we see Frenchie, Roach, and Oluwande’s expressions of pain, disgust, discomfort, fear, uncertainty in this scene, and what we don’t see is flashbacks for them — and none of the white crew are noticing, because at the moment they’re sympathising with Stede who was bullied as a child, sure…

But I really appreciate and am grateful for the fact that as well as not showing Buttons and Pete’s responses to Stede being bullied — the Swede is obviously bullied a lot on the ship now, and Lucius has likely had his own experiences being bullied, whereas Buttons and Pete perhaps not — it doesn’t show us Frenchie and Oluwande sympathising with Stede. Not because they don’t feel compassion for him, I’m not saying they don’t or that they’re likely unaffected by this, but like…

Especially because they are currently literally undergoing a traumatising and unsafe situation because of Stede, ignored by the rest of the white crew and the British interlopers, I’m glad that the camera doesn’t spend time trying to show us them feeling for Stede and his trauma as a child, showing Frenchie and Oluwande like, distracted from what’s currently happening to them to feel sad for Stede.

In another show, I think that would have been the case? That the Black characters put aside their own literal current suffering to be sad for the white guy’s previous suffering, even though he’s put them in their current predicament?

And I’m just glad that it’s not here.

I like the contrast of Stede’s flat tone asking if Badminton would like a tour when at the beginning of the episode he enthusiastically led Lucius on a tour, with Lucius’ gaze representing one of Stede’s peers. It’s such a nice little book-end of contrasts between the intro and the beginning of the end of the episode.

When Badminton comments on the impracticality of the library and all the books falling out, it’s so interesting because like, yes, Stede’s rooms are hugely impractical — in large part because it’s such a huge space with so much loose furniture, which means there’s so much more space for things to slide and shake to when there’s a storm or rough seas. Badminton remembers most about Stede his impracticality and his lack of common sense, and those go hand in hand, I think, with Stede’s gullibility and the ways in which they could presumably trick or manipulate him on top of just, brute force him into X or Y.

Badminton’s just so confident in his cruelty here, in his utter domination over Stede and his right to speak to him this way, and Stede, hemmed in by his own sense of politeness and propriety, barely says a word to put him off — not just not directly disagreeing or whatever, but he doesn’t even imply that Badminton’s being rude or impolite and put the onus on Badminton to safeguard his reputation, you know?

Stede’s just not deft in these matters, and it’s fucking sad.

I like the parallel we see of Mary and the children at one end of the dinner table and Stede at the other, the isolation it communicates for Stede, but then the recreation of that close-framed shot up and down the table, of Mary looking coolly at Stede and then looking back to Alma, and cutting to Stede, again with the candlelight taking up some of the shot. It’s such a cool little motif, and so communicative.

It hasn’t come up so much in this episode so far, but I know that Stede does have some body issues that come up later in this ep and the series, and the way that Mary goes, “And which is your favourite pig?” and says the word with that specific emphasis, like… That idea of Stede being lazy, fat, unpleasant, boorish…

I know that the point of this scene in Stede’s sense of rejection and isolation from Mary in the context of the episode, but when you recontextualise it knowing how frustrated Mary is in her own life with Stede’s laziness and how much of her life he takes up, plus the fact that she can’t directly refuse him or say anything about his lack of contribution?

So much depth here.

I love the music here and the way that Stede stands up for himself just a little bit — “I mean… It’s true.”

And the way we see Badminton raise his head, abruptly become so much more serious before he starts to laugh harder than ever before, and Stede laughs, and he knows he’s being treated so fucking cruelly, he knows it’s the same as what he’s sufered at school, he narrows his eyes, it’s so goddamn tense —

And then we cut to the Brits and the pirates.

And fuck me, I love Foad’s performance in the background as Pete is sipping at his drink and doing his big dick bullshit act, because Lucius looks like he wants the sea to swallow him fucking whole, chin against his breast, so small in his seat; the Swede not making eye contact, also freaking out a bit.

Frenchie in the background, on the other hand, actually looks a bit hype that the Brits are going to offer real commentary on their flags.

As they go to the next flag Lucius looks like he’s either about to cry or throw up or possibly both, he’s so fucking freaked out, and I’m pretty sure it’s because he knows that the Swede and Pete are going to bicker and potentially blow their cover — Frenchie goes from enjoying a bit of change to grimacing and looking more concerned, and I’m pretty sure he’s realising the same thing too.

Lucius is doing fucking breathing exercises, Frenchie is awkwardly trying to laugh alongside the Brits, and like —

God.

Anyway, why the fuck does Stede think his little whale paperweight is the ideal to knock the fella out? Oluwande did say like, a blunt, heavy object, but it’s such a small little thing, I know it does the job, but is it just that he wants it to be easily concealed?

BADMINTON: But you were so fat… and soft, and weak.

STEDE: I thought I was slender.

BADMINTON: No, no, no, no. No, I recall you were a plumper.

I’ve seen a few people’s consideration of this scene and the way that the fatphobia is leveraged against Stede when like we saw Stede, and yeah, he was a pretty slim boy — one of the things about fatness leveraged as an insult is that it’s associated so much with a lack of manliness because of this idea that to be fat is to somehow be lazy or less active, but one note I would also point out is the way that fatness goes hand in hand with this idea of softness and weakness — curves, plumpness, like a woman as opposed to a man, the idea that a man should be square and hard, and a woman round and soft, you know?

Stede’s being lied to here and Badminton’s laughing in a way that’s meant to make Stede really doubt himself and his own view of his body, his childhood, but again it’s a jab at his effiminacy, even before Badminton starts talking about Stede’s tears or his enjoying to pick flowers.

STEDE: (in a whisper) A little bit.

He was soft, yeah, a little bit soft — he did like to pick flowers, a little bit.

He knows that about himself.

And here he is, on a ship where he’s trying to embrace that that’s nothing to be ashamed of, that there was nothing wrong with him, and fuck, like… He’s just being backed into the corner by this ghost of his own past.

The Brits laughing over Frenchie’s flag makes me sob, because he breaks in with his, “Actually, everyone knows cats are very evil because they steal children’s breath,” and he knows it’s a huge risk and I don’t know if he forgets himself because he was already insecure about his flag or if he just couldn’t handle it, but fuck, the way he flinches and draws back so fucking much, like.

Ugh.

ENGLISH CUNT: Enough interruptions, slave! Your captain may suffer uppity behaviour, but not me!

And Frenchie’s expression is so fucking serious, is so somber —

And it’s Jim that breaks.

It’s been pointed out by quite a few people that it’s notable that Jim is the one that breaks and snaps at the Brits when Jim is a person of colour, but they’re the most light-skinned, but like… I’m still glad they did. The dagger through the hand is so good, and so deserved, and Frenchie points and he laughs, and good! Make that man laugh! He deserves it! He deserves a nice time and to see this cunt get skewered in front of him!

Poor Lucius has since fainted and fallen back into his chair, and then, boom, the fight begins.

I think it’s Oluwande that pours a kettle of hot tea into the one Brit’s lap; Buttons holds a razor to another Brit’s throat; Wee John literally breaks down the door and comes in and it’s so hot Kristian Nairn please slide into my DMs just like that; Pete screams “Fuck it!”, Lucius comes to and screams —

And we cut back to Badminton and Stede listening to the chaos.

I really love how this show does flashbacks, they’re so well-cut — in Stede’s stuff but also in Ed’s later on, they feel so real and so accurate to how it feels when you’re really processing a traumatic memory in the moment.

The squish when Badminton lands on his sword cracks me up every time.

I’m gonna be pausing several times in this next sequence to really appreciate the chaos, so like, firstly, we cut to:

Oluwande has his hand around a Brit’s throat, and is threatening to smash his face in, I think with a teapot

Pete is on the other side of the table, holding his little gun at the same fella’s head, and isn’t it nice that Oluwande and Pete are bonding together?

Frenchie is standing up on the bench wearing a tricorn hat and brandishing his cat flag

Buttons is quaffing wine in the background

The Swede has wrapped another of the Brits in a net and Wee John is helping him

Lucius is hiding almost under the table

And when Stede calls, “Excuse me, you guys? I need a hand with something…” I’m obsessed with how Pete tells everyone to shush and they all go quiet, and it’s Lucius and Oluwande who extricate themselves from the chaos and go to help him out.

STEDE: I used the stun move.

LUCIUS, sitting in a chair and looking in the other direction because he’s freaked out by the dead body of Nigel Badminton with a sword through his eye: Yeah, no, he looks pretty stunned.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this specifically so far, but OFMD episode to episode does these fucking great like, dramatic shots where they really make use of the whole shot and like —

So here, we see Lucius to the right in the foreground, looking horribly stricken and as pale as the hideous suit he’s wearing; Oluwande is stage-left and staring down at Badminton’s body in the middleground; in the centre-background we see Stede in the exact same vulnerable position as Lucius is, knees together, shoulders hunched, barely able to look directly at the body.

It just creates so much fucking depth and and is such a good use of the space and I love it.

Anyway, Oluwande’s face is killing me in this scene. He’s just like, oh, well. He sure did that.

Even as Stede goes on blabbering about how it was just an accident and he’s leaning forward, Lucius is doing the exact same thing silently in the foreground, and it’s such a clever parallel between the two of them, I really like it.

OLUWANDE: Hey, hey, hey, this is happening. Okay? Do you want to live?

Allow me a moment’s distraction with just how attractive Samson Kayo looks in this scene. He looks so good in purple.

Okay.

STEDE: That’s a tough question.

OLUWANDE, grabbing him: I said, “Do you want to live?”

STEDE: I think so! … Probably!

OLUWANDE: Well, pull yourself together then! Yeah, because everyone up there wants you dead.

LUCIUS: It’s true.

Lucius Spriggs. My dear and delicious and potentially dead boy.

Whose side are you on?

(The most important side: his own.)

But God, I love it when Oluwande girlbosses and manipulates and he’s very much notgoing to let Stede fuck this up for him and Jim when Stede’s ship is the safest place for them — I just love how sensibly he orders Stede through not saying that killing Badminton was an accident and Stede is already just destroyed with guilt and not feeling great about it.

Oluwande’s forearms…

The way the fucking crew looks at Stede after he drops Badminton’s body cracks me up — Buttons is looking at Stede so fascinatedly, Lucius is serious, Jim is unreadable, Frenchie is enjoying himself and loves this violence and good, give my man everything he desires, the Swede is like :o, Roach is having a grand old time, and Pete looks genuinely impressed.

I love how John says “Respect!” He’s so good. And how Frenchie gags the English cunt from earlier.

So with the English cunt they do put back on the boat, right — obviously tying his hands to the oars is a parallel to Stede’s own childhood trauma, but what I really like is the three little coconut Brits they put in the back of the tender — you can see Frenchie’s first cat flag making up the chest of one of them, now stained with blood, so I suppose that’s why it goes from Frenchie’s cat licking blood of its paw to Frenchie’s cat on its four paws.

Roach looks so cute when he wears his chef’s hat and it pushes his hair out at the sides, there’s so much shape there — Pete is so fucking upset about the fact that Stede’s actually done something fucking cool for once, and it cracks me up. Pete and Stede are both just blagging their way through this and it’s so sad for Pete when Stede wins a point.

PETE: Making us dress up like a bunch of fancy boys?

Um, Pete? Not everyone got dressed up like fancy boys?

There’s another really good shot here that uses the depth of the lens so well -Pete in the foreground, Roach with his arm around Pete and his hand on the Swede’s back, Wee John in the back with the focus on him.

I don’t think I ever noticed how much Wee John is an authority in the first episode and how much he drives a lot of stuff forward — he keeps quiet a lot, but it’s not because of a lack of strong opinion or consideration.

There’s this balance here that Stede has to manage between the “nice” things about him that he wants to prioritise and a certain bloodthirstiness, and especially because this specific moment is borne out of deception, it does make you consider the Blackbeard mythos and the weight it puts on Ed’s shoulders, what must have or could have gone on in its construction, you know?

LUCIUS: He’s a terrible captain.

OLUWANDE: We’re not exactly the best crew though, are we?

Fuck, I love how close they are together in this scene and like… I said before about how much I appreciate the way that Lucius puts himself close to Pete and, separately, Oluwande (and Jim) here because they’re the other queer guys, but here is such a valuable and important moment like… They’re both so close together, and it really is a moment of shared vulnerability because they’re both carrying Stede’s deception, and it is a strategic choice.

Oluwande’s right that they’re not the best crew or a particularly good crew — they’re small and chaotic and ridiculous and a lot of them don’t know what they’re doing; Oluwande wants to make sure he and Jim have a safe place there, whereas Lucius like —

I wish I knew exactly what he wanted, or what he envisions for himself, because his broader ambitions are kind of an enigma to me. Much to chew on as the episodes go on.

OLUWANDE: Besides, as long as he’s around, we’re gonna be paid, fed, and we don’t even have to work too hard.

LUCIUS: (looks at Oluwande, then back at Stede)

OLUWANDE: He’ll be dead soon. We might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

LUCIUS DOES A SNEAKY LITTLE GLANCE DOWN AT HIS MOUTH BEFORE OLUWANDE LOOKS BACK AT HIM, I SEE YOU, I SEE YOU.

There’s so much Lucius/Izzy stuff and the obvious Lucius/Pete and Lucius/Fang, but Lucius wants so badly to participate just a little bit in Oluwande and Jim’s dynamic and I for one think we should let the boy be as slutty as he pleases.

Oluwande is so practical and I really think it’s interesting that like… So he obviously has a lot going on trying to ensure he and Jim are in a secure position, but them two and Lucius are the youngest of the crew by like a decade, and it’s great to me that Oluwande is so keenly practical but not because he particularly likes Stede or whatever, like… He’s looking out for himself and Jim, and now he’s sharing his thought process with Lucius and Lucius is engaging with him, and although Lucius is obviously shaken in this scene, I think it’s probably the most comfortable and open in terms of communication he’s been with anybody throughout the episode so far.

OLUWANDE: Would you rather be captained by that?

And it cuts to Frenchie taunting the Brits, and it’s like…

That thing of Stede being “one of the good ones” but it’s not even that he’s like, self-aware? It’s that he’s vaguely trying with no idea what he’s doing, he’s going to die over it, but in the meantime, they can get safety and security?

It’s so important to me that Oluwande and Jim are the like, secondary narrators and MCs aside from Stede and Ed because like, it’s just the contrast you need between Stede’s condescension and self-assurance versus like, the facts of the matter, and the crew with their own agency. None of them is with Stede because they’re grateful for Stede’s charity or civilising influence or some other racist bullshit — they’re there because they need the work, they’re being practical, and putting up with Stede Bonnet is safer than putting up with any fucker else.

LUCIUS: (grimace, slight grunt)

OLUWANDE: Exactly.

Fucking slow pan onto Stede looking out over the ship, sweaty, shaking, crying a little bit, and like…

Here we see the table set up differently — Stede’s place setting and his chair are much closer, they’re not at the end of the table as before, he’s closer to Alma, and all the family are laughing together.

They’re wearing the same outfits as they were in the other flashback — was it the same night? Was it a different night? Which of those set-ups were more typical of Bonnet family life? Which had the most impact? Which does Stede remember most often?

Stede’s traumatised and his POV comes with so much bias but also is so unreliable, we don’t know exactly what the truth is or how much it stretches, and that kills me, like… Playing High on a Rocky Ledge here while Stede thinks back to Mary and the kids, what are we thinking here? That he regrets leaving them? That he misses Mary?

Because like, I keep going, “Who is Stede writing this diary for? Who is he trying to impress, and get the attention of?” And here’s a verse from High on a Rocky Ledge:

Then spoke a spirit, “If you would win your Lady Love There’s only one way: fall to your death from high above You will begin to grow in snow beside the one You have waited for to be mated with”

(x)

Is that it?

If he risks his life as a pirate, is that what it takes for him to earn all his riches? To prove himself as a real man? Make him no longer lily-livered and soft-handed and weak-hearted? And therefore be worthy of his family, and his wife, by falling to his death?

And no.

Because Stede doesn’t say, oh, I want to be worthy of her or them. Stede says to himself, “My family’s here now. At sea.”

And like, my guy, that is not what your crew signed up for. They did not sign up for you to be their da, even if they do enjoy that you read them bedtime stories. They did not sign up to be your substitute for your children that didn’t want to play pirates enough for your liking.

But it’s such an interesting contrast, this song that’s ultimately about a man throwing himself into death and destruction to be with the woman he loves, and Stede is doing that to get the fuck away from her.

The expectations of hetero society will do that to a man.

I love the choice of Pinocchio as his storybook — I think it’s interesting that Stede reads to the crew from children’s tales (from the future, at that), but obviously Pinocchio is all about someone achieving a level of reality and authenticity that was considered unachievable for him, and that’s so big for both Stede and Ed, I think, in the course of the show, but also for a lot of the crew, what they want from life, goals considered achievable and unachievable, the varities of the self they display to each other, etc.

I really love that Pete’s in a hammock on one side and Frenchie’s on the other and Frenchie’s wearing a little mask over his eyes. Sensitive man. Needs good darkness to sleep by.

It’s just so —

Domestic.

Wee John crying as Lucius looks at him like “um, okay,” all the crew lying on the floor…

And fuck, but the Jim reveal is so good. Jim’s been so much in the background for the entire episode and always there but never like, looked at so closely, and here we see them shake out their hair, remove their nose, lean back, relax without all the fake beard and hat and ephemera. They just look so fucking tired.

Oluwande’s great knocking on the door — I really like how easily he swaps between telling them to have dinner in English then telling them to eat in Spanish when he knocks on the door, and like, Oluwande just drops food and goes and lets them eat before he zips and I have… feelings about it.

Roach and the Swede lying close together when they were trying to kill each other earlier is so sweet; I love how Lucius huddles under his blankets and smiles to himself as Stede does the puppet voice better than he could, and obviously we see the first introduction of Karl, who’s standing on Buttons’ head as Button lies back in his own hammock below the British hostages.

STEDE: Lights out!

WEE JOHN: Can we have just one more?

STEDE: I know you love it, but you’ve got a big day tomorrow, okay? Night night!

Oh, he’s dad.

And just like he abandoned his real children, he abandons his new fake adult children on his next mental breakdown. 💖 There’s lots of dads who walk out in their families but there’s not many who can do it consecutively like Stede Bonnet can.

Anyway, I love the slow pan up all the crew’s flags because he just can’t pick one, exactly the same energy as the proud dad who just has to put everyone’s drawings on the fridge, and Frenchie’s new cat flag at the top!

Episode directed by Taika Waititi because of course it was.

I’m really hype to do more close focused readings of the rest of the episodes because like, fuck, there’s so much depth to this show, it’s so fucking well-crafted and I just lose my fucking mind over it. I wish all television was like, even a fraction of how good this show is.

Thanks for reading! Tune in next time, I guess?

#our flag means death #episode analysis

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wen-kexing-apologist · 6 months

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Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

For those who are not aware, I have decided to run the gauntlet of @bengiyo’s Queer Cinema Syllabus and have officially started Unit 3: Faith and Religion. The films in Unit 3 are: But I’m a Cheerleader (2000), Prayers for Bobby (2009), Latter Days (2003), Blackbird (2014), The Wise Kids (2011), Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party (2015)

Today I will be writing about

The Wise Kids (2011) dir. Stephen Cone

[Run Time: 1:35, Available on: Amazon Prime, Lang: English]

Summary: “A vivid, dynamic Southern coming-of-age drama, takes place in the transitional space between high school and college, when life seems to be all questions and no answers, and the future is scarily wide open. Set in and around a Charleston, SC Baptist church, weaving through this ensemble piece are three main characters - Brea, an introspective pastor's daughter experiencing debilitating doubt, the hyperactive Laura, Brea's best friend and a devout believer, and Tim, the open-hearted son of a single father, confronting his homosexuality for the first time. Tensions and buried feelings abound, as colleges are chosen and adults behave badly, as Brea, Laura and Tim attempt to hang onto what they have, all the while yearning to break free.” (from IMDB)

Cast: *Molly Kunz as Brea *Eric Hulsebos as Ryan *Tyler Ross as Tim

This film does feel very Southern, from the outfits, to the South Carolina state flag sticker on the back of the car, to the way everybody interacts with each other. And that was nice, because it felt familiar. I did not grow up religious, but I did grow up culturally Southern and spent a large portion of my life in small towns in the South. Which means, going in to this film, I understood not fundamentally and completely, but to some extent the pressures that come from being raised in a small Southern town when you don't fit the mold. I remember talking with family about that, about the way they felt they had to believe in Jesus or say they did and act in certain ways in order to survive their towns.

So I sympathize with Brea’s struggle to come to terms with her own relationship to God. That it gets harder and harder for her to hide her own doubt, and that she is the one person who really remains consistent, non-judgemental friends with Tim, and seems to be the first person that he went to when he realized he might be gay. And I loved all the subtle acting choices that the kids did to show who had knowledge about other characters and who didn’t.

I think Laura needs a therapist and is concerningly obsessed with God, but I did really love and find it interesting how worried she was that anyone would think she was stupid. And I thought that was intriguing in juxtaposition to the pastor’s wife who Brea talks to about doubt, and who ultimately tells Brea not to think too hard about faith. I don’t think we get any explicit commentary from Laura about it, but I think she is toeing the same line Brea did. Laura sees the Bible as fact, and panics when people start to question those facts, Brea started to question and it lead her away from God. I think Laura is scared of where she’d land if she started questioning the foundation upon which her entire life has been built.

And Tim is really interesting to me because I never really see him struggle with faith. Which is a fascinating choice for a film that covers some intersections of queerness and religion. At the end of the day, it is Laura who struggles the most out of all characters with Tim’s queerness. It is Laura that has a hard time reconciling what the Bible says with how comfortable Tim is both thinking he is gay, and remaining a Christian. I loved that Tim’s dad seemed to know for at least some time that Tim was queer, and while awkward is generally accepting. I guess I was surprised at how little film really seemed to go in to Tim’s own thoughts and feelings around rejection by friends and family. And that it is the adult gay man that really seems to be struggling more with reconciling his own faith and current life with the queerness he is not really able to hide.

I think The Wise Kids did a really great job at showing a so many different types of people and their beliefs. I thought it was very realistic and relevant that Tim and Brea, the gay boy and the doubter, end up going to college in New York and getting out of the small town, super religious, Southern community structure that I think would eat them alive overtime if they stayed.

And I did really love the last shot of the film being a recreation of the manger scene as the kids put on the Nativity play, where Laura is Mary is Tim is an angel. I see as a very strong and intentional metaphor around Laura continuing to uphold the traditional views of religion and God. But that Tim, though he is queer, will still be permitted in to heaven, as he sits above the manger.

For/By/About

This feels like a by and about film. I don’t know that they really center queerness in this story to the degree that I would consider it for queer people.

Favorite Moment

Tim’s dad asking him if he had met any boys in New York. I love how awkward the whole conversation is and how Tim’s dad does appear to be in a bit over his head and slightly uncomfortable with asking. Like, he can’t really even say boys or boyfriend or anything, but he loves his kids (“I have my kids” is another one of my favorite lines in the film) and he’s being as supportive as he can be. I can imagine what Tim’s life will be like in a few years, if he gets a boyfriend and brings him home to meet the family, and I see things maybe being awkward at first, but ending with warmth and that Southern hospitality.

Favorite Quote

Is actually not a quote at all, it is the deafening silence of Brea in response to Austin’s wife saying that God is bigger than her questions. That silence spoke volumes to Brea’s reaction to essentially being told that the solution to her crisis of faith was to stop thinking about it.

Score

8/10

I don’t know exactly why, but this film really struggled to hold my attention. I think part of it is because it was focused on three separate kids, they ended up doing a little bit of everything rather than a lotta bit of one thing, and I have a tendency to prefer stories that are able to dig a little deeper.

#the wise kids (2011)#the wise kids #bengiyo queer cinema syllabus #queer cinema #queer cinema syllabus

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lavenderjewels · 4 months

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JJK chapter 245 thoughts

I ended up reading the fan translation after the official because I wanted to see how it worded parts and I hate that they use she/her pronouns for uraume for zero reason

Uraume was GORGEOUS this chapter. Loved the Hakari and Uruame parts tbh. Highlight of the chapter and getting to see why Hakari is such an impressive and accomplished sorcerer that it seems Uruame is respecting. Hakari’s approach is a little refreshing too. He’s very considerate to those he cares for and respects, but also doesn’t “refrain” with his powers and limits, like Uruame says. Interesting that they portray this as breaking from humanity and give this almost honorable announcement that they’ll give their all to crushing Hakari. Also Hakari’s just a fun character.

If I had to guess, Uruame will probably die in this fight, but who knows. I like Uruame a lot, but would rather have Hakari live if someone has to go.

It’s cute he was moved by Yuuta!

This part was really funny:

I don’t like that the Judgeman confiscated the tool. It was a gamble Higuruma didn’t consider, which I can understand from his inexperienced perspective sorcery (This is obviously what Sukuna was banking on from those smug excited faces). But if this was Plan B, you would’ve thought Angel or someone else considered the possibility. On top of that, the tool came into existence to help Sukuna not lose his technique momentarily. Literally a get-out-of-jail-free card created through Yorozu.

Still gonna wait to see where this goes. Disappointed there wasn’t more dialogue during the court trial with it being a plan without violence and how cool the setting looks. Technically the domain could be done again, but I have a feeling that was it (that feeling is knowing Gege loves technical shonen fights and this manga finishing in a year). Not sure what Higuruma, Kusakabe, Ino, Yuuji, and Choso can do??? Preparing for Higuruma to die (he’s one of my favorites….😭), but hoping there’s some twist that actually lets them live or affects Sukuna. Kusakabe is protecting Higuruma for now (that panel was also cute), but Sukuna is set on that executioners sword.

Ino worries me after that moment in a past chapter of telling Gojo something about Nanami. Could be that he wanted to join the battle to prove himself as a sorcerer or something to that degree, so not looking too good. Higuruma also has huge death flags, but I’m more confident on Kusakabe and Choso making it (I better be right about Choso). Yuuji and Kusakabe had their maybe possibly body swapping training scene during the time skip, so will that come into play?

Wonder if Maki and any others are with Yuuta or in his area as backup for the Takaba and Kenjaku fight.

Trying to convince myself there’s any chance we’ll get flashbacks to the Heian era in future chapters even though it seems more and more unlikely. Fingers crossed for more of Sukuna’s backstory at least

#jjk 245 #sukuna also looked great #jjk spoilers #id in alt

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a-student-out-of-time · 8 months

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The Eternal Endings Cast and History: The Down-Timers

//Hey everyone, Mod Bubbles here! I bring you some more of My Thoughts.

//Having gone through Danganronpa: Eternal Endings with my friend Timeline Anon, I can say it's one of the most unique and interesting fangans we've seen thus far. We had no idea how it would work, but somehow it really seems like it can.

//One thing that really piques my interest isn't just that the cast is in the afterlife, but the fact that all of them come from very different points in history. That's something I think is worth speculating on, especially with how it may play into their characters, both in terms of their places in history and the context from where they're from.

//There have always been small historical tidbits in DR, both canon and fangan, but Eternal Endings is the first one I've seen that specifically has real-world events playing a role here. Our protagonist, Krystal Willard, died in 2021, specifically referencing how the travel restrictions imposed during the height of the Pandemic were being lifted.

//This game specifically doesn't take place in the same timeline as the Hope's Peak saga, since the founder of the talent program is another figure altogether, but I thought it would be interesting to examine the eras each of them are from.

//As a bit of shorthand, I also decided to borrow some terminology from Eric Flint's Ring of Fire series (a great book series btw), where people from the past are referred to as "Down-Timers" and people from the present/future are "Up-Timers."

//This also just gives me a chance to talk about history, which I enjoy doing : P

//So, without further ado, let's get into it.

THE DOWN-TIMERS:

Zhao Ying (1903-1932)

Hailing from the furthest back in time is Zhao, a personal favorite of mine, who was the Ultimate Singer. Just from that time frame, she would've been around for the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Warlord Era, the rise of the Nationalist Government and the very early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Just days before her death- on February 18th 1932- the Imperial Japanese conquered Manchuria and established the puppet state of Manchukuo.

There's also a bit of an anachronism with the PRC's flag being there, given that the design wasn't adopted until 1949, but that's probably for the benefit of a modern audience.

Anyway, Zhao is an entertainer and doesn't really make a lot of commentary on these conflicts. She's a singer, a dancer, and an actress, and had an upcoming role before her death. This is very interesting because the 1920s and 30s represented the emergence of cinema in China. The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple, a 16-part box office hit, was released between 1928-1931 and represents one of the first martial arts action films, but has sadly been lost to time.

Zhao was more than likely a silent film star, although 1931 brought the first Chinese sound film, Sing-Song Girl Red Peony, so it's possible her voice has been recorded as well. If I had to guess, Zhao probably lived around Shanghai, given that it was the center of the Chinese entertainment industry in this era.

One of the most overlooked aspects of Chinese history is that, while China itself was never colonized, it was forced to make Concessions to outside powers. These were pieces of territory in major cities like Shanghai, which were effectively enclaves of foreign territory that were exempt from Chinese law and provided a foothold for European Empires, America, and even Japan to exert influence and trade.

A byproduct of this is that many gangs and secret societies were allowed to operate with impunity in the Concessions, which resulted in prostitution, drug dealing and gambling being quite common. This probably explains why Zhao isn't a fan.

However, the saddest thing about the losses in Zhao's life? She was a mother.

Given that the photo says 1932, this had to be around January or Early February, meaning Zhao's boy, Wang Wei, couldn't have been more than 2 or 3. In-story, she's in tears over leaving her son behind and wonders if he'll even remember her.

Not to make the hurt worse, but given that Shanghai would be occupied by the Japanese Empire from 1937-1945...well, I'm going to hope that the poor kid and the rest of her family made it out.

Earnest Mikkola (1910-1945)

Speaking of World War II, Earnest would've been around for it and its prequel. Essentially the Indiana Jones figure of this setting, Earnest was a worldwide reputation as an explorer, having discovered new animals, plants and even civilizations. His expeditions took him quite a ways around the world, but it's his death that catches my attention.

See, Earnest is Finnish. I've seen some people worried that this means he was one the side of the Axis during the war, but this is a misunderstanding. See, just months after the Invasion of Poland, Finland was on the receiving end of an ultimatum from Stalin. Because he felt the border was too close to Leningrad (today St. Petersburg), he demanded Finland hand over some land to provide a buffer zone or else. The Finns said no, obviously, and thus began the Winter War.

To put it simply, while the Soviets ultimately got what they wanted, the Finns gave them a pretty bloody nose in the process. In just three and a half months, the Soviets suffered over five times as many casualties as the Finns and their international reputation suffered worse.

The conflict was also ultimately pointless, as Finland- while it didn't side with Germany- formed what was an alliance of convenience. When Operation Barbarossa took place, the Finns actually occupied much of the Karelia peninsula, even more than they had before. This lasted until 1944.

That's when Finland pulled an Uno reverse card and sided against Germany, starting the Lapland War, where the Finnish military tried to push all Axis forces out of their borders, and this lasted until April 1945, just a month before victory in Europe was declared.

How does this relate to Earnest? I guess it depends on where he was during the Lapland War, whether he was at home or elsewhere in the world, and whose side he was ultimately in favor of. Could that be why he was poisoned? It remains to be seen.

Yun Jung-Hoon (1936-1952)

Continuing with the war trend, here we have the first one to ask a historical question: local fly boy Yun. Even just from the patch on his shoulder, I could tell what his deal probably was before Krystal even spoke with him.

Sure enough, Yun here was a pilot in the Korean War. For those who don't know, Korea- which had been occupied by Japan since 1910- was divided along the 38th parallel North after World War II. The Soviets occupied by the north and established a communist government, led by Kim Il-Sung, while the Americans occupied the south and established a non-communist government lead by Syngman Rhee.

If you're only familiar with the North/South divide in the modern day, this is where it began. In the Spring of 1950, Kim lead an invasion to unify the country under communist rule, and because the South was militarily weak at the time, he thought it would be easy and conquered all the way down to an area called the Pusan Perimeter. Of course, America and a United Nations coalition force arrived to push them out.

They managed to push their way up to the northern border, where it seemed possible to conquer the North...only for the newly-established People's Republic of China to send hundreds of thousands of troops to support the North. They pushed the front lines south, where it stagnated around the 38th parallel for the next three years.

Based on his death date, if he died in battle, I'm guessing it was either in the First Battle of Hook or The Battle of Triangle Hill.

Yun also asks Krystal about the outcome of the war, but he decides he doesn't want to know and instead says he needs time to mentally prepare himself. I can't say I blame him, given that the war he died in was ultimately just a stalemate and technically never really ended.

Oumar Dembélé (1939-1969)

Another personal favorite of mine, Oumar is hilariously melodramatic, but also quite empathetic and emotionally-conscious dude. He's a relationship counselor and a published author, which is very interesting.

Oumar is Malian, and with that time frame, he would've been born when the country was under French colonial rule. At the time, Mali was called "French Sudan" and was ruled as part of French West Africa, a federation of eight colonies in the region. Mali and Senegal both achieved independence as the Federation of Mali on June 20th, 1960, although their status as a federation only lasted two months.

Even under French rule, there was a considerable divide between Northerners, particularly the Tuareg people, and Southerners. Under independence, the country's first president, Modibo Keïta, moved quickly to establish a single-party state, nationalized a great deal of services, and withdrew from the French Community in favor of closer ties to the Eastern Bloc, although economic problems lead to them rejoining the Franc Zone in 1967. He would later be deposed in a coup the following year.

This doesn't mean Oumar would've stayed in Mali, of course. In fact, I get the impression he probably moved to someplace like France to become as prominent as he had. This probably would've come in the wake of the Algiers War, when France saw many years of economic growth.

Oumar's death is also equally interesting and horrifying to consider, given that he was specifically crushed in a small venue.

This was a case of human crush injury. This is when a crowd of people is so tightly packed together (4–5 people per square meter/2.5 square feet per person), there's no room for them to move or even breathe.

The 1989 Hillsborough Disaster is a pretty infamous example of that, where 72,841 people compacted together in a stadium designed to hold just under 40,000. The result? 766 people were injured, 94 died and another 3 later died of injures they received. The crowd was so packed that even people who had died were still held up through the pressure.

Personal space is important.

Bonnie Clark (1959-1978)

And here's Bonnie, easily the saddest character in the game and I can't blame her at all. Out of all the Down-Timers, she's the one we actually learn the most about in her introduction. She has the vibes of an all-American girl, with a very fitting accent and everything.

She had a friend group that she frequently went to the arcade with, and she worked at a place called Don's Diner. How do we know? Krystal finds a picture.

"Now disgraced" in this context likely refers to Bonnie's untimely death. If any of you are familiar with the Terrible "Accident" PSA on workplace safety, you can probably imagine what happened. It's easily one of the most horrific ways to go, not gonna lie ^^;

Beyond that, there's not too much to really say with her in terms of historical context, given that she's a pretty archetypal small town girl, albeit much more pessimistic than many other examples. That could relate to how the 1970s were a difficult time for America, both economically and socially, due to factors like OPEC's oil embargo due to the Yom Kippur War.

That being said, it was still a time of significant social, scientific and technological progress, although for a teenager trying to make end's meet, that probably would've been a small comfort.

On a much lighter note, Bonnie got to enjoy some of the classic video games of the era: Pong, Space Invaders, Breakout, Death Race, Asteroids, Galaxian and many others.

Fernando Gomes (1958-1984)

And here we have our local himbo, Fernando. He's a pretty laid-back dude and his bio states that, while he's attained worldwide fame for his surfing skills, he prefers to stick around his home town and stay in the lifeguard job he's had since he was a teenager.

Even if you know history, it's almost easy to forget while talking to him that Fernando would've spent most of his life under a military dictatorship.

The Fifth Brazilian Republic, which was established after a coup on April 1st, 1964, was a brutally repressive government. Strong anti-communist policies, hard-line conservatism, political repression, mass censorship, curtailment of freedom of speech and the widespread killing, torturing and deporting of dissidents were all commonplace, particularly in the 70s.

So common, in fact, that the decade between 1968 and 1978 is also called the "Years of Lead."

Despite this, Brazil adopted a highly diversified and developmentalist economic model that helped boost their economy, and they developed the slogan "Brazil: Love it or Leave it." Fernando, ironically, seemed to adhere to that slogan given his love for his hometown.

Of course, Brazil would eventually return to democracy, but Fernando would fatally hit his head on a rock before he could see it happen.

Sonechka Morozova (1978-1996)

And another favorite of mine, Soneckha is our local magical weirdo, whose predictions of the future have been far more accurate than chance would suggest. She's also not disappointed that she's dead, but rather than she didn't end up as Queen of Hell like she wanted.

She's also very interesting in that, while she doesn't seem to play well with others, she'll respect you if you respect her in return, such as not giving her a nickname and understanding what a soothsayer is.

Timeline-wise, Sonechka would've been around for the latter days of the Soviet Union, the Chernobyl Disaster, the collapse of communist rule over Eastern Europe, the independence of the Russian Federation, the 1993 Constitutional Crisis and the First Chechen War.

It's not hard to see how, given that she has the ability to predict the future to a supernatural degree, she likely saw these events, and watching them play out probably shaped a lot about her personality and outlook.

My biggest question is how she wound up dying of hypothermia in the middle of the summer, as July is actually the warmest month in the country.

Petra Nightingale (1987-2006)

First introduced as "Scene Kid," Petra is definitely someone whose design would grab your attention. Her talent was a bit of a surprise to me, but her attitude, not to mention her sweet personality, really make her well-suited to caring for seniors.

Petra is English and would've been a 90's kid, so her time might've been spent with things like classic shows, crisp packets with prizes in them, Mr. Blobby and that time when the console wars were between Nintendo and Sega.

In terms of social and political history, the 90s saw the end of Margaret Thatcher's time as prime minister, the restoration of relations with Argentina after the Falkland War, the latter half of the Mad Cow Disease scandal and the Good Friday Agreement that brought an end to the Troubles.

Petra also mentions she's from Brighton, and during her childhood, she would've seen the city become much more prominent, which resulted in housing prices going up and a lot of people moving away. Would that have influenced her decision to start caring for seniors who couldn't afford to move.

I think the most interesting part to consider is that, as a senior caregiver, Petra has probably met a lot of veterans from Britain's various conflicts, from both World Wars to the various colonial conflicts to maybe even people who were in conflict with the IRA during the early days of the Troubles.

Not that I think it would've made Petra a judgemental person, as she seems very nice, but someone so young and very clearly quite lonely could have had her worldview shaped quite a bit by vets from these conflicts. I just think it's interesting to consider.

Vivian Wright (1966-2015)

Finally, the most recent Down-Timer and one from an era most of us are familiar with, Vivan was a Canadian teacher who was killed in a car accident. She's actually the first one Krystal meets after arriving, and we see that, while Viv is pretty nice, she also definitely has those anger issues.

I think most of us know what she would've been around to witness just before her death, but in terms of her adolescence, she would've been around for things such as Trudeaumania, civil rights for the First Nations, the many political tensions within Quebec and Terry Fox's famous attempt to run cross-country.

As the Ultimate Teacher, Viv probably has a lot to share on these topics, and I think it's interesting to consider how she could potentially be the one to help her fellow Down-Timers accommodate to the discoveries that came after their deaths. It's an interesting possibility.

//So there you go, some historical context for each of our Down-Timers, which I think could potentially play a role in their characters, arcs and motivations in the story. It's understandable that a lot of them probably have values that we today wouldn't agree with, but the same could be said of us and the Up-Timers, who deserve their own essay as well.

//This is also my way of saying "Go check out Eternal Endings, it's genuinely interesting and I want to see more!" : P

#mod talks #a student out of time #essay #danganronpa eternal endings #eternal endings #dree #Zhao Ying #Earnest Mikkola #Yun Jung-Hoon #Oumar Dembele #Bonnie Clark #Fernando Gomes #Sonechka Morozova #Petra Nightingale #Vivian Wright

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bunnieshoneys · 2 months

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i have a f1 how does this work question!! during qualifying i think? i saw charles did great on a set of used softs but i was curious about why this would be a good thing? does he have to save other tyres for the race…? sorry if this doesn’t make sense lol! i also love your f1 recaps and anything bunny talks f1!

AAAAAAAA thank you

long post under the cut this is hard to explain lol

so obviously, drivers only have a set tyre allocation per race weekend from free practice one onwards.

Taken from Williams F1:

"Teams and drivers do not have an infinite pool of tyres they can dip into over F1's three-day weekends at a Grand Prix. Instead, Pirelli provides 13 'sets' of tyres for each driver's use throughout the sessions.

In 2023, the allocation of tyres for every competitor is eight sets of soft tyres, three sets of mediums, and two sets of hards. Additionally, each driver gets four sets of intermediate tyres for damp tracks and three sets of full wets for the heaviest rain conditions.

After every Free Practice session, a driver must return two sets of tyres to Pirelli, so by the time Qualifying begins, a driver will have just seven sets of tyres to make it from Q1 until the race's chequered flag.

To give a slight advantage to drivers that don't qualify in the top 10, any runners who don't make Q3 retain all seven tyres for the race, while P1-P10 qualifiers hand Pirelli one final set after qualifying ends."

used tyres have less grip. Soft tyres (usually, there are exceptions) are the quickest to degrade, because they warm up - activate - quicker. this means they're fastest over one lap and used for quali where every sliver of time counts, a lot.

mediums degrade slower, but are typically slower, hards slower still but take a while to warm up.

tyre strategy starts all the way back in FP1, so journalists keep track of tyres that drivers are using to guess what strategies they might be using for the race. depending on the intended race strategy, a team will use certain tyres during practice to preserve the tyres they need for a race. for example, in jeddah, the ideal strategy is a one-stop, medium to hard or soft to hard. however, safety cars are a factor.

jeddah has a high rate of safety car use. so teams have to factor in the potential of a safety car and capitalise on it - lando norris was a key example this weekend gone. They saved him an extra set of new mediums in the event of a late-race safety car, but the safety car came early courtesy of stroll and they didn't pit him and hence ended up not using the extra medium tyre. but to save that medium tyre, they had to return a set of new softs, compromising him in quali. not the strategy decision i would have made, personally, but it was a gamble. it just didn't pay off.

coming to charles and using used tyres in quali:

this weekend was a bit of a weird quali for him. he said the feeling was worse on the new tyres for him, which ???? very confusing. Newer tyres = more grip = faster. But since every driver only has eight soft sets, and most likely will have used a couple during Free Practice, they'll use "used" softs for a few laps in quali to get a feel for the track, and set a time on the board. sometimes, teams will use mediums to do this, too (mercedes did in q1 in jeddah). most of these tyres have only been used for a few laps - between 3 and 5 - but they still are considerably slower than new softs because the deg kicks in after just a few laps on the soft. most quali sessions will be all about building to the final perfect lap, with new softs, at the end, when the track is fully developed / rubbered in (a whole other convo, lol), where they'll have the most grip and be able to push the most.

the field, in quali, is often remarkably tight, especially in q1. the entire field in jeddah was seperated by a second, and similar in bahrain.

when drivers put in a competitive lap on a used tyre, its usually an indication that there's more pace, especially when comparing the time to other drivers around them on new tyres. i.e leclerc goes second by a tenth to verstappen in q3, leclerc on used, verstappen on new, you would be expecting leclerc to take pole after putting in another lap on new tyres, because by using used tyres he is naturally going to end up slower.

the teams want to keep the tyres intended for use in the race as new as possible. in jeddah, the main strategy doesn't include the use of a soft tyre, meaning that the teams are pretty free to use all their softs in quali. in other races, soft tyres will be a part of the race, so they have to save new softs for the race and do a few more quali runs on used tyres to make the most of track evolution and get used to it. but ultimately, track position is the most important and teams will prioritise qualifying well over saving a set of tyres.

(if they want to save softs, usually they just do Less Quali Runs in general, and the pressure is on the driver to deliver a competitive lap more quickly.)

used tyres can be used in the race. But they have less grip, and are slower, and activate less well than new tyres. if your competitor is on newer tyres than you, he'll be faster and you're vulnerable to lose track positions and points. tyre age and offset is a huge factor in F1 strategy.

TLDR: drivers have a limited amount of tyres for an F1 weekend. new tyres are faster and have more grip than old tyres, so teams try to set aside new tyres for the race, and use new tyres in quali to achieve the fastest time. because of the limited allocation of tyres per driver, they'll use used tyres to get a feel for the track in quali, and if a driver is able to put in competitive laps on used tyres, it is a positive marker for both the driver's skill level and the pace of the car overall.

in regards to charles leclerc specifically in jeddah, he reported not feeling in touch with the new tyres on a lap, and tried to do multiple warmup laps to counteract this, but it didn't seem to work. Feeling less in touch on new tyres is unusual for drivers. no idea what was going on there, to be honest. but the longer you watch f1, the more u realise charles is often very strange in quali, lol. he's a beast (7 front row starts in a row, anyone?) but often doesnt seem to lock in properly until q2 or even sometimes q3, and sometimes manages better lap times on used tyres. hes a freak (affectionate) (hes my fav driver).

hope that answers ur question somewhat!! tyre strat is honestly one of the things i find most interesting about f1

#bunny talks f1 #bunny answers

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astraltrickster · 9 months

Text

So I suspect there are a few things going on with the moderation bias issue.

1. (Educated guess) Whatever system they're using (because it is known that the majority of tumblr's moderation is automated) is self-adjusting, like most pre-2021-ish machine learning systems. Meaning, any post that action is taken on manually - be it by an actual staff member, or a user with the report button - is acknowledged within the system as "this is what a Known/Potentially Flag-Worthy Post Looks Like."

2. (Known fact about the internet) Bigots, knowing that OPENLY harassing people gets them banned (no, seriously, I know it's easy to think they don't because they keep popping up like fucking weeds and SOME of them are pretty good at playing the "I'm-not-touching-you" game, but if you dig around for them crossing The Line of plausible deniability like I do when I have the mental energy you'll often find them talking about having been banned multiple times before, [airplane-survivorship-bias-diagram.jpg]), often instead choose to resort to report-brigading innocuous posts by users of the demographics they're bigoted against. Because most websites over a certain size have a mostly automated moderation system, the number of reports makes the system essentially go "oh, wow, if THIS many people are reporting it it must be REALLY bad!" - and if point 1 is correct...the impact is obvious

3. (Statistical consideration) Tumblr staff is about 200 people. That's way too few to have people constantly on top of making sure appeals are resolved fairly with minimal risk of overwork-induced human error, on a site this size...and, given the state of Politics right now, also too MANY for it to be at ALL likely that there aren't at least a small handful of absolute thundercunts who at best CONSIDER themselves aligned with tumblr's mission as a queer-positive space but whose internal definition of "sexual content" is roughly the same as the Florida government's (it is illegal, in the US, to ask questions about personal politics in a job interview, and...I mean just look at the whole existence of the kink-at-pride discourse and how widespread that bullshit is even in ""mainstream"" LGBT+ circles)

4. A lot of that skeleton crew is currently distracted from making sure the moderation system doesn't eat itself because the decision at the top is to take a gamble on new users being willing to pay more than existing ones and throw their hat into the ring of trying to clone Twitter (someone PLEASE tell upper management that no other social media site at this scale has EVER gotten into the black off user engagement alone either; making a site that people WANT to Crab Day on really IS your best bet my dudes)

5. (Speculation, admittedly maybe overly bitter) Given that the CEO has praised the muskrat FOR the decisions causing the Twitter collapse, I wouldn't be at ALL surprised if he's instituted an internal policy that excessive negativity about the site is a secret extra category of "mature content" 🙃

So...what's the solution here? The strategy I suggest is:

1. If you're a trans woman or other queer user, and your SFW content got flagged, DON'T attach your complaining about it to the same post in case of point 5; appeal, list the things you're NOT doing that appears in PG-13 movies all the time, and MENTION the fact that they've ALREADY had a moderation bias settlement that they're SUPPOSED to be fixing the core of in your ticket

2. If that doesn't work - document it and try again. And again. And again.

3. USE THE FEEDBACK FORM, USE THE FEEDBACK FORM, I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, USE THE FEEDBACK FORM. Politely but firmly (because if you just curse them out it will get lost in the noise of inevitable "I can't identify anything specific that could be better but I don't like change" that EVERY website gets with EVERY change) stress that fixing this system NEEDS to be a higher priority, for the users' sake AND their own, because FOR FUCK'S SAKE there was ALREADY a settlement over it

4. If THAT doesn't get some shit done it may be time for us as a community to consider turning to a human rights org and lawyering up again, because...while I highly doubt there's some kind of grand queerphobic conspiracy, it's still also likely that we're approaching the point where our best bet is doing the EXACT opposite of what this ridiculous, wasteful overhaul is trying to do (i.e., COST them a ton of money rather than making it), or at least threatening to in a way they can't ignore

#tumblr wank #serious tag

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cherchersketch · 6 months

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Daisy - How to become the Duke’s Fiancee

Is this another ~contract marriage~ with a stoic duke marquess (but not from the north)? Yes. Yes it is.

The artstyle changes halfway through but I think it still looks ok. Though you can really tell the difference when they put in flashbacks with the previous artwork. Lol

Summary Our main girl, Daisy, travels back in time after being drowned to death. Back to the day one of her useless dad’s creditors showed up to the house. Instead of blending into the background as she did before, this time she boldly approaches the ~cold duke marquess~ with an offer of marriage. Because he’s totes going to need that in 3 years when grandad kicks the bucket and his will states that his successor needs to have been married (happily) for 3 years or more. It’s a win-win because she’s sworn off love after the events of the previous life and he doesn’t believe in love because of his family’s history. Of course, they eventually fall in love, even though it’s just meant to be a ~contract marriage~. Come on, it’s a shoujo manhwa after all.

Tropes - died and came back to life X years before to escape the death flags - just throw this gambling-addicted father away - this is just a contract marriage he/she would never love me - these grandad dukes really love putting in a no-marriage no-inheritance clause

FL - Daisy Filberlin D’Essel

- oh no it’s the ~middle child~ syndrome ;w; - so glad she is now never gonna get together with the trash man ;w; (though I’m interested to see if he’ll ever show up in the current timeline) - employers love her: the 20 year old with 20 years of work experience - 10 steps ahead of everyone (being from the future helps) - gaslight gatekeep girlboss - a lady’s battlefield is tea parties and banquets

ML - Marquess Killian D’Essel

- wow a rich noble who actually works (and not like sits behind a desk of paperwork all day) - not a duke yet but he already has the cold duke of the north personality nailed - richer than you’ll ever be - the guy always falls in love first ;w; - put him in horny jail

this series doesn’t really have cute little chibi scenes ;x;

Rating: I enjoyed my time reading this It’s a chill, cute romance. Hehe Status (as of 11 Nov 2023) Ongoing. Honestly, it’s probably way longer than it needs to be. We’re just barely touching on the whole ~madness of the OG Duke family~ plot. But as a bingeable series it’s fairly interesting I guess. Though it should really be like half the length ;;;

Same Same but Different - The Predator’s Fiancee - The Villainess Lives Twice - No more Nice Sis

full rec list

#Daisy - How to become the Duke's Fiancee #manhwa #CherCher reviews manhwa #manhwa recommendation

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dangerousdesiress · 2 months

Text

“THE ENCOUNTER”

Here I was…

New to a city and ready to explore.

Not a care in the world of what could be in store.

I had no idea of what I was getting myself into;

Until I crossed paths with this lil’ Hotep dude.

He was a bit different from my usual type…

But I was willing to take a gamble,

If the price was right…

So I played it cool

And tried to keep it professional.

Yet, I think we both knew our connection was

inexplicable.

He gave me his card

And told me to give him a call.

I didn’t wanna move too fast, so I tried to stall.

A couple weeks later…

I decided to take him up on his offer.

We cleared our schedules, made arrangements,

And I invited him over.

Now, I can get into the details of how shit really went

down…

But I think I’ll save that juicy part of the story for the

next round.

We started hanging out and he begins telling me his

story…

How his last girlfriend left him

And their relationship was “kinda” stormy.

Told him I’d been through some things,

Just a trial or two…

But I tried to keep it real vague…

Because ladies, that’s the rules.

Three weeks into our fling and he had me in my

feelings.

Doing all the right things that felt like had been

missing.

Then suddenly out of the blue, things started to change…

Dude started moving funny and acting real strange.

I peeped game and I realized his actions wasn’t adding up…

Which had me questioning, “Yo, What the fuck?”

We all know these dudes come a dime in a dozen.

Well, come to find out…

Dude had a shorty with a whole Bun in the Oven!

Now I’m feeling like I’ve been put in this weird position.

I guess he had an agenda and was on a different

mission.

Leave it up to me and my own peace of mind…

I had to bring out the scissors;

It was cuttin’ off time.

I didn’t want any drama,

And I didn’t want any smoke...

But Lil’ Hotep was tryna play me,

Like I was a joke!

Needless to say, without trying to boast;

Dude got blocked and I went ghost.

I’m telling you all this as a cautionary tale,

When you start to see them red flags…

You better run like Hell.

(A creative piece written by: Cemecia M.)

#moodboard #storytime #creative writer #spilled ink #black tumblr #poetry on tumblr #writers on tumblr #original poetry #crazy life lessons #creative minds #cut off and blocked #dangerous desires #pay attention to the red flags #black poets on tumblr

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risu5waffles · 3 months

Text

[LBP - LBsP 01/19/24] 292 - You're Gonna Carry That Weight

youtube

Well, heck. Hopefully this won't be the last fresh (to me) level the we look at on the show; but if it is, i guess we get to go out wiv a bang. Or at least a chewy philosophical problem.

The level's an interesting one, and i feel like it ought to be viewed from two different lenses.

On a pure nuts and bolts side, it's a decent platformer wiv an interesting, elevating conceit. You've got this checkpoint, it's on wheels and you can drag it. You can choose to leave it behind at any time, and gamble on your skills. The earlier you leave it, but more ground you're going to have to go back over if you die. The tension there, if you're being a showoff like me and trying to ace the level wivout carrying the checkpoint at all, really adds to the trickiness of the platforming sections. There were a few times where i wound up getting myself killed because i was playing too conservatively, because i was thinking of having to do everything all over again if i got myself killed. That was really cool.

The gameplay bits themselves were fun once it got challenging. The ice bit, the gears, and that last monkeybar/lights section i had a lot of fun wiv. The first half, tho' does wear a little bit. i think that adds into the risk calculation i mentioned above, but after going through the level a couple dozen times (yes, like, actually a couple dozen times), i did wish i could hurry along some. Now, that's not really an issue most players will have, but it was there.

The environment felt the weakest to me. There are some definite standout bits. Guts, in particular, is a great setpiece presentation-wise; but mostly it feels very standard "this is an LBP1 cave platformer." i did, however, deeply appreciate the ability to select music up front. Song 2 really is the better track for the level, but @soupum well knows the copyright issues that causes for YouTube videos. i don't know that he was thinking specifically of me when he put that choice in, but i was very glad to see it.

So, like, on the level-qua-level it's neat. Definitely something i enjoyed playing, and i could really dig the gimmick.

But then, it's not just playing at being a level; it's also working a message, and this is where things start to get a bit dicey for me. Not that i don't think the message isn't one worth conveying, or is something that can't be conveyed in this medium; but i'm still not sure the level conveys it well or clearly, and it certainly feels like the form is (while honest, at least if i've read it right) ultimately more cynical than perhaps necessary? i don't know. i've got a lot of feelings about it still, and i'm still not sure if i well conveyed the message i was getting at in the video. At the very least i can say this is the most noodling i've ever had to do about an LBP community level, and more noodling than i do over most actually-published-by-studios games i play; and you can't say that's not some form of success.

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

i have so much b-roll of this level, it's honestly made a bit of a dent in my PS4's storage space, so i'm glad the video's finally live and i can cull it.

Still no word on the servers, or much anything aside from StevenI's announcement of his departure as community manager. i'm going to record the DLC levels to fill in space in the Archive, and i'll be looking at my flags level on the 26th, and Distress in Ocean on February 2nd since both of those are on my moon (Distress was a copyable level, and i don't know why i copied it, but i'm awful glad i did). But eventually we're going to hit a spot where the rubber meets the road, and there's just nothing left for me to Archive.

i can still do LBsP things, behind the scenes looks at sets and things like Create Mode goofing around, but if the servers don't come back relatively soon, i think the DLC will only last... i'm not sure. Not super long. i didn't get every pack, even tho' i did get a bunch. i'm feeling some kinds of ways about this, and none of them are very good.

#littlebigplanet #little big planet #lbp #lbp3 #LittleBite-sizedPlanet #LBsP #Youtube

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babygirlrex0504 · 1 year

Text

Chapter Four: The Child

Years passed since you and Mando came back to Nevarro, getting more clients and more bounties. You wouldn’t have never dreamed on having a client that was the Empire. The bounty is huge the pay is something that belongs to the Mandalorian people, The Creed. After getting a bit of the payment and a new shoulder piece for Mando and you a new forearm piece. You head to the planet the target is at... Arvada-7.

Warnings: violence, childhood pstd, blood, swearing, angst, fluff (if you squint hard enough)

Masterlist

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I wonder why the Empire wants a 50 year old?” You said wiping your blaster.

“I don’t know.” He mumbled helping the Razor Crest out of hyperspace.

“It could be an officer that went AWOL.” You guess looking up from your visor towards him. He hummed back, you rolled your eyes. “Come on Mando not even going to guess?”

“No I’m not playing that game.” He stated eyes locked out of the window.

“Why cause you suck at it?” You whispered.

He sighed heavily. “Stop.”

You both went quiet as the Crest came into the atmosphere. You remembered playing that game once and only once. Both you and Mando were after a big bounty, the man was worth a good amount of credits. However, his guess was for gambling but when the answer came out, man Mando wanted him more dead than alive. So the game ended there.

You got up and tilted your visor just enough to see him. “I will get things ready. Don’t get too crazy.” You teased.

“The crazy is leaving.” He said just enough for you to hear as you climbed down.

You grabbed a couple of your knives, side blasters, and some detonators. You had small pocket to fit small rations since who knows how long it is to get this target. Beskar. You thought, the Empire stealing the metal for their own benefit. You felt like a rat scurrying through anything to get that one slice of food.

You looked at your arm to watch it shimmer a bit. New. You remembered when your mother told you all about the armor when being rewarded your armor. You remembered training with sticks with your mother small ones of course. Your goal…capture the flag.

She took you out in the middle of a forest area on Mandalore. She disappeared telling you to use the surroundings around you to find her. You did of course, tracked her through the dirt and leaves, when she finally came out it was hand to hand.

You tried your best but she would always disarm you. You would be so angry. She would laugh. “Don’t worry child, you will get there,” She walked up placing a hand on your shoulder. “Remember what I told you,” She grabbed your arm and traced an X on the spot where she grabbed you to disarm you, having the grey and blue armor shine. “X marks the spot.”

You smiled underneath your helmet. It helped you know when she was about to disarm you. Small as it was and stupid it meant something for you. Every time there was a mess up you would hear her say ‘X marks the spot.’ You placed weapons in their spot on you when you heard footsteps above you.

Mando came down and tilting his visor at you an indication of being ready to go. There are some days that talking just doesn’t happen, so both Mando and you learned the body language of each other. He walked passed you and you followed behind as the ramp with down.

It was similar to was Tatooine looked like desert and hills. It wasn’t the best planet but it had beautiful sunsets, from what you seen on vids at least. Mando brought the tracking fob out as it blinked. “It looks…” He stopped looking around before he could say anything you felt a hard push. You felt yourself slam against the ground, your head bouncing in the helmet.

“Y/N!” He yelled before grunting. You rolled to your side shaking your head.

You looked up to see Mando down by an ugly creature. You got up fast pulling your knife out until there was electricity going around the body of the creature. You snapped your head to find an Ugnaught sitting on one of those creatures.

You were in fight or flight mode, Mando was getting up as you stood there waiting for the Ugnaught to make a move. “Thank you.” You heard Mando’s voice you snapped your head as you ease your way into a more relaxing position.

The Ugnaught stared at you and nodded his head. “You bounty hunters?” He asked looking over at Mando.

“Yes.” You responded looking over at Mando who was looking over at you.

“I will help you,” He replied turning the creature around. “I have spoken.”

Mando looks over at you tilting his helmet, you shook your head and walked forward. It took a while before we made it to the Ugnaught’s home. It looked like a small farm, had a pin for animals on the side of a small home. He guided both you and Mando into his house. You sat on the floor next to Mando as the Ugnaught walked back and forth making some food.

“Many have passed through. They seek the same one as you.” He explained looking over at the both of you.

“Did you help them?” Mando asked.

“Yes. They died.”

“Well maybe we don’t want your help.” You mumbled adjusting how you were sitting.

“You do. I can show you to the encampment.” He replied.

It was quiet for a moment before Mando nodded. “What’s your cut?”

“Half.”

You snapped back and forth at Mando and the Ugnaught. “Half the bounty to guide? Seems steep.” Mando explained his voice unsure.

“No,” He walked over placing the liquid on the table. “Half the blurgg.”

Blurgg? You thought what the hell is… “The blurgg? Keep them both.”

Oh… “No, you’ll need one. To ride,” Both Mando and you looked at each other. “The way is impossible to pass without a blurrg mount.I don't know how to ride blurrg. I have spoken.”

The Ugnaught showed us a small barn to rest in until it hit morning time. You leaned against a post as did Mando. “Can’t believe a blurgg gave me a concussion.” You mumbled getting comfortable.

Mando chuckled. “It was quite a scene seeing you fly like that.”

“K’uur di’kut.” You teased throwing a small pebble at his leg.

Mando chuckled lowly and shook his head. It was quiet for a moment before you felt “Ca di’kut.” You said falling asleep.

Mando made sure to know you were asleep before falling asleep as well. “Ca ner ka’ra.” He whispered.

When morning hit you heard grunting and the Ugnaught talking loudly about riding a blurgg. You watched in the back as Mando got tossed around like a doll. You could tell Mando was getting frustrated by whipping his cape away out of the way. You walked up to the Ugnaught. “This isn’t working.” You mumbled watching as he fell off again.

He ignored you as he yelled out to Mando. “Perhaps if you removed your helmet.”

You shook your head before sighing. “Perhaps he remembers I tried to fry it.” Mando quipped back.

“This is a female. The males are eaten during mating.” He explained.

“Oh.” You whispered kind of terrified looking at the blurgg.

“Very interesting to see.” The Ugnaught responded looking at you.

Mando shook his head before walking up. “I don't have time for this. Do you have a Landspeeder or Speeder bike that I could hire? Or give Y/N a chance?”

You felt bad to hear that he was getting this frustrated. You were about to decline before the Ugnaught pushed his hand forward. “You are a Mandalorian! Your ancestors rode the great Mythosaur. Surely you can ride this young foal.”

You both looked at each other. He was right our ancestors rode one of the most powerful creatures that roamed the galaxy. This tiny thing compared to the Mythosaur surely should be easy to ride. You nodded your head once before you saw his shoulders sag a bit and turned around.

You watched as he stepped cautiously at the blurgg, putting his hand out before petting it gently. He climbed on top of it and just like that he tamed the female. Pride erupted in your chest. “You can try as well Mandalorian.” He suggested half smiled up at you.

“I think Mando has it.” You said chuckling a bit.

“She doesn’t bite,” He started before looking up at you. “Females at least.”

You shook your head as you walked towards Mando. “Ka’ra gar vhett!”

Mando sighed and shook his head looking down at you. “K’uur,” You both stared for a moment before he looked away. “We need to head to the compound.”

Everyone was able to pack up quickly, since there was only two blurggs you rode with Mando. The road was interesting, cracks huge cracks on the ground once the compound got closer the blurgg jumping from one crack to another with no problems.

The Ugnaught slowed down as he approached a ridge. The bottom showed a small area that was the compound. “That is where you'll find your quarry.” The Ugnaught pointed at looking over and the both of you.

Mando pulled out a pouch. “Please. You deserve this.”

The Ugnaught put his hand out and waved it while shaking his head. “Since these ones arrived, this territory has been an endless stream of mercenaries seeking reward and bringing destruction.”

You tilted you helmet. “Then why did you guide us?”

“They do not belong here,Those that live here come to seek peace.There will be no peace until they're gone.” The Ugnaught explained looking back down at the compound.

“Then why do you help?” Mando asked

“I have never met a Mandalorian,” He admitted looking over at you. “I've only read the stories. If they are true, you will make quick work of it. Then there will again be peace,” He sighed and looked at Mando nodding once. “I have spoken.”

You stood watch as Mando looked down at the compound. It gave your stomach turns when thinking that the both of you weren’t the only ones. It bugged you mostly. You wondered if they are given the same reward. Beskar. You grind your teeth holding back the anger. “Well there is a problem,” He said standing up, starting to head down. “A damn IG Unit is making scenes down there.”

You followed behind him sliding down the hill. “Kriffing droids.”

You enjoyed droids at least the harmless ones. You have always wanted a BD unit. However, Mando hated droids so ANY type of droids were forbidden inside the Crest or at least 100 kilometers or more away from Mando. You don’t know why and will not ask ever again.

“IG Unit! Stand down!” Mando yelled as you went around to hide behind a wall. You heard a shot rang out and Mando flying. “I'm in the Guild!” He said getting up.

“You are a Guild member? And you?” The unit said pointing the blaster at you. You gave a slight nod ready to shoot. “I thought I was the only one on assignment.”

“That makes two of us,” Mando said walking towards a safe spot. “So much for the element of surprise.”

“Sadly, I must ask for your fob.” IG said turning to Mando. “I have already issued the writ of seizure. The bounty is mine.”

“Unless I'm mistaken, you are, as of yet, empty-handed.” You said looking over the side of the wall.

“This is true.” IG stated looking around the area.

“I have a suggestion.” Mando said. IG gave him the okay to continue. “We split the reward.”

It was quiet for a moment. “This is acceptable.” IG responded.

“Great. Now let's regroup, out of harm's way, and form a plan.” You shouted looking at the unit.

“I will of course receive the reputation merits associated with the mission.”

“Can we talk about this later?” Mando yelled annoyance in his voice.

“I require an answer if I am to proceed...” A shot rang out and hit the unit. “Oh, no. Alert. Alert. Alert.”

You grunted when a blast hit near you. You shot back hitting one of them off of the building. IG finally got into a safe position. Mando pulled out the fob and you covered him as he scanned the area.

The fob made the annoying beeping sound fast when it reached the big door just a couple of feet away. “He's in there!” He yelled putting it away. Dust flew up as a bolt hit the ground.

“Affirmative.” IG responded

“Up top!” Mando yelled as IG shot the man down. You started out first heading towards the door.

Mando followed close behind hitting the men surrounding the area. IG followed as we all took place behind the pillars of where the door is located. “It appears we are trapped.” IG stated the most obvious situation. Blaster fire surrounding the area you three were in. When you looked to the side and aimed, you soon went back into hiding with all the fire happening. “I will initiate self-destruct sequencing.”

“His what?!” You yelled at Mando. Who snapped his head over at IG.

“Whoa you’re what?!” Mando questioned.

“Manufacturers Protocol dictates I cannot be captured. I must self-destruct. Do not self-destruct.” IG explained.

You looked over and shook your head as Mando looked at you. “Cover me!”

“Wha-“ You said but started to cover him until they brought out a kriffing turret.

Mando jumped back behind the pillar. “Go! Go! Go! There's too many!”

“They got us pinned!” You yelled as the pillar you were behind started to disappear.

“I will initiate self-destruct.” IG said once more. You rolled your eyes.

“Do not self-destruct! We're shooting our way out.” Mando said looking back at you.

You nodded as you shot a couple of times as he talked to IG. You ran to another wall that was still next to the door. You looked back to see Mando nodding as IG went out. While IG was taking the fire you came out and shot a couple of men until Mando got on the turret and shot the remaining men.

You walked out of hiding, seeing Mando on the turret gave you a weird feeling in your chest. You subconsciously shook your head. “Shit can’t believe they brought a turret for 3 invaders.” You teased as he hopped off.

IG was about damaged but was able to come up to the two of you. “Well done. I will disengage self-destruct initiative.” As the bomb in his chest went back into hiding.

“You know, you're not so bad.” Mando said looking around.

“For a droid. Agreed.” You said looking over at IG. “That blaster hit looks nasty. You okay?”

“Running a quick diagnostic.It has missed my central wiring harness.” IG replied.

“Is that good?” Mando asked.

“Yes.”

It was quiet for a moment, you placed your hands on your hips. “Well, now we just need to get the door open.”Mando looked over at the turret.

You went next to it as he shot his way through the door. As the door went down all of you walked towards it, having the door fall. Before walking through a man came out and you shot him. “Anyone else?” Mando asked looking at the room.

“The tracking fob is still active.” Mando said pulling it out.

“My sensors indicate that there is a life form present.” IG stated, you all walked over to a small pod. Mando took off the things that were on top of if.

When the hatched opened it revealed a small green creature. “Wait. They said 50 years old.” Mando said in amazement

You looked closer. It was tiny young even. “Species age differently. Perhaps it could live many centuries. Sadly, we'll never know.” IG said pointing his blaster at the creature.

“No.” You said before Mando pushed his hand down.

“We'll bring it in alive.” Mando said looking at the creature once more.

“The commission was quite specific. The asset was to be terminated.” IG said pointing at it once more. You were about to pull out your blaster before you heard the blaster bolt rang through the room.

IG unit fell down and smoke coming from his head. You looked over as Mando reached over with his finger and wiggled it to the creature. It made a cooing sound. “Mando,” You said. “What now?”

You leaned more in to look at the creature more. It was green, big ears, big eyes. Wrinkly. You never seen a creature like this. “We have to go.” Mando said syncing the pod to his wrist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

K’uur di’kut - shut it idiot

Ca di’kut - night idiot

Ca ner ka’ra - night my stars

Ka’ra gar vhett - Stars! You’re a farmer

K’uur - Shut it

Taglist:

@happycupcakeenthusiast

@nobeepnochill14

#din djarin x f!reader #the mandolarian x reader #the mandalorian x reader #din djarin x y/n #mando #star wars #the mandalorian #mandalorian reader #din catching feels?

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