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follows-the-bees · 2 days

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I wanna talk about Jim's journey. Their character arc is one of my favorites of the show.

In season one, Jim fits into two very well-trodded tropes and each one is subverted by the end.

First, we have the trope of a person (typically a woman) disguised as a man to go into hiding and also the old wives tale of no women on ships because they bring bad luck. We see some of this attitude through Frenchie's superstitions but the trope is subverted fairly quickly when Jim talks to them about wanting to be just Jim and the crew (and Nana) effortlessly use they pronouns.

OFMD has many, many ties to classic Western tropes and style of filmmaking. And Jim's whole character arc of season one fits the Revenge trope.

They have been trained to be a killer, hardened by life, only open to Olu but even that openness is just a sliver. When Jim is spurred on by Nana to complete that Revenge arc, they fall into it, leaving the safety of the ship, the community built there, from Olu.

But instead of more killing, Jim comes to an understanding with Spanish Jackie. They share a drink (which oftentimes in Westerns ends in a gunfight, unlike the show which starts with a knife fight and ends with communal drinking). Upon hearing that most of the men they are after are likely already dead, Jim decides to put down that knife and instead returns to the aptly named Revenge.

But in perfect subversions of tropes, Jim does choose Revenge, but not the type that eats at your soul and often ends in unhappiness or death. Rather, they are choosing community and softness.

Jim is one of Stede's loudest critics at the beginning of season one; Stede represents the opposite of how Jim was raised and once viewed the world.

But the beginning of season two shows how much Stede's way of piracy has influenced Jim. They no longer are following the Western Revenge storyline, but rather serving as the storyteller to the crew. (A direct parallel to the pilot.)

In fact Jim is reciting that same exact story that Stede told in the pilot. But it is different, darker. And that is because Jim is a different person, and in a different, darker environment at the moment. But invoking those good times that they remember. S1 Jim would have never told a story to try and make a crew member feel better.

We see Jim continue to choose kindness, mercy, grace with several characters. With Izzy, who is a dick but is their dick. And yes, also with Ed, until Ed's plan of suicide by crew now has affected and threatened their lives.

They also seem to be the first to realize what Ed is doing. And they refuse to kill Archie, who was drawn to them because of Jim's hope.

Jim's journey the rest of the season fills me with warmth. They get to be soft, they reunite with Olu, and form the cutest polycule with Olu and Archie. They also intervene and talk to the Pirate Queen about Olu, repairing their status.

The giant smiles on their moustached face during Calypso's Birthday, handing out drinks to the captain and Ed (showing the repaired relationship there), dancing with their lovers, and cheering on Izzy's singing shows how free Jim (and the whole crew) get to be now.

Jim is the embodiment of how Stede has tried to change piracy, of how Stede's effect has created a community.

Jim is the embodiment of the queer joy that this show unabashedly embraces.

#ofmd #our flag means death #jim jimenez #ofmd jim #character analysis #ofmd meta analysis #ofmd meta #jim jimenez meta #vico ortiz

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confusedraven1 · 7 months

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i absolutely love that jim is the one to keep the heart of stede’s crew alive while ed did everything he could to destroy it.

one of the first comments ed makes to stede’s crew in season 1 is “everyone’s covered in rope!” so what does jim do? literally covers themself in rope, to remind ed that, as long as they’re alive, that hope and love isn’t going anywhere.

not only that, but, in the bible, rope is a symbolism for trust and security. jim became a secure place for the crew to tie themselves to while just trying to stay alive.

of course, i then had to look into why they have a fishing net around their shoulders as well, and found The Fishing Net Parable from the Book of Matthew (13:47-52):

"Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.”

“This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

jim amputates izzy’s leg, despite having never done it before. they quite literally separate him from the rotten bits to save his life.

jim says, “he was your friend.” they separate ed from who he was before from who he’s allowed himself to become, not to punish him, but to remind him of the consequences of his actions.

jim tells izzy point blank, “you’re in an unhealthy relationship with blackbeard.” they aren’t trying to break them up; they’re just bringing to light whats true so things can (hopefully) get better.

jim shows archie that, just because pirating is normally done a certain way, doesn’t mean it has to—they separate archie from the toxic belief that “that’s just how things are, it’s just life,” and “why save him if he’s a dick?”

jim tries to separate the idea from the crew that ed is fine, because they immediately recognize that things are about to get much worse: “so, do we think he’s better?” “FUCK no!”

jim immediately says, “wasn’t the wedding thing a bit over the line?” they know they’re all pirates and have questionable morals anyway, but knows it was fucked up of them to massacre a wedding, an event that’s supposed to be joyful and full of life and beginnings, not death and destruction. they’re, again, dividing up the way things are vs. how they could (and should) be.

ed tries to pin them all dying on jim cause they wouldn’t kill archie, but they bite back with, “you would’ve done it anyway!” they know exactly where the lies are, and separates them from the truth, and ed can’t deny it.

jim separates themself (and olu) from the bounds of monogamy through their honesty. olu is still their best friend and lover and family even though they found and did things with someone else.

jim holds out their hand for olu to take when they’re escaping the red flag. olu’s interest in zheng yi sao isn’t bad and jim’s not trying to separate them, but is trying to keep together the things that are good: their family.

(later addition, edit) jim is also the one that “kills” ed. they’re the one to make that final choice, to say, “it’s you or us.” jim’s actions and choices entire first two episodes led them to that moment, like it was the “final judgment” of blackbeard.

jim is the rope and net of the crew. they’re trust and security and honesty, everything that stede was trying to get the crew to understand from day 1, everything stede is always trying to embody (and i dare say is starting to succeed at).

#jim jimenez #jim jimenez meta #ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 spoilers #crew of the revenge #rope and nets #ofmd costuming #trust and security and honesty #god i love them #vico ortiz #david jenkins #characterization #costume analysis #character analysis #ofmd meta

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transjudas · 9 months

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I love the contrast and parallel between what is likely Jim's reason for using the kohl on their face (paralleling Vico Ortiz using filters on instagram for the same effect!) compared to Ed's. Because while all of Ed's crew is wearing the kohl on their face in some way, from what I can see it is only Jim who has it specifically and solely around the part of their face mimicking facial hair.

With Ed, covering/filling in his beard area is an attempt to return to this image of him that has never really been genuine as a hyper masculine and hyper violent figure. Conjuring power and imposing fear. A traumatized gay man being forced into a toxic masculine gender role that is harmful to himself and those around him in order to survive.

And then we have Jim. Who started out when we first met them wearing a disguise that included a fake beard but wasn't able to own any part of their identity. Now they are able to choose (to a certain degree while on Blackbeard's crew, at least) how they present. And they are using kohl physically the same way Ed is, but coming from a place of getting to validate their gender expression.

Because how a person dresses or cultivates their appearance can look the same on the surface. But it can be a tool or manifestation of oppression for one person, while it is an outlet and representation of euphoria and freedom for another!

#ofmd #ofmedit #our flag means death #jim jimenez #ofmd meta #ed teach #edward teach #userkristi #ofmd spoilers #ofmdaily #tvedit #tvandfilm #tvfilmgifs

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my-thyla-my-captain · 7 months

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the fact that they use the figurehead izzy defaced for "not doing its job" to instead give him his purpose and identity back. the fact that figureheads were historically not only fixtures of stature and power but also, to their crews, "the eyes of the ship guiding them safely home". the fact that izzy protected the goth crew from a lot of edward's spiraling ire physically, the fact that when izzy was presumed gone and dead the ship was steered and then moored in a storm. the fact that without his intervention they would have likely died in that storm, but instead afterwards were able to be come across by the other half of their crew and brought "home". you see the vision, don't you?

#ofmd s2 #ofmd spoilers #Izzy hands #ofmd meta #our flag means death #Our flag means death spoilers #ofmd season 2 #ofmd #jim jimenez #ofmd archie #ofmd fang #ofmd frenchie #edward teach #Ed teach #revenge crew #Ugh they're all so good this season #Also don't get me started that izzy sawed off the legs of a unicorn #Which were later used on him #When unicorns also symbolize healing

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khruschevshoe · 6 months

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The problem with the handling of Ed's season 2 arc on ofmd is that it sets up the cycle of abuse so well. Demonstrates the way it destroys both Ed and his victims in the first two episodes so well. Shows the ways the trauma can keep destroying people and their relationships in episodes 2-4 (Lucius, Izzy, Jim, etc.). And then just...shames Lucius for trying to open up and shames him for being traumatized and makes fun of him for trying to talk about what happened to him. Makes Izzy apologize to his abuser for one comment he made what is implied to be months ago after the man he is apologizing to CUT OFF HIS TOES AND SHOT HIM IN THE LEG. Doesn't allow Jim (or for that matter, Archie) to be righteously pissed off for longer than episode 4. And then has the audacity to say that Ed making a "Youtuber apology" and using the loot that he blackmailed/threatened/forced the crew to steal in the first place to buy them party decorations somehow...makes up for everything he did?

Like, am I missing a part of this arc? Am I missing the part where he reconciled with literally ANYONE but Fang? Am I missing the part where Stede apologized to Lucius for telling him to stop talking when he was telling him about the severe trauma he went through? (Or even, as much as I love him and their relationship, Pete apologizing to Lucius for dismissing his trauma and wanting to move on before Lucius was ready because listening to Lucius' sa/abuse story was uncomfortable?) Am I missing the part where Archie and Jim found a reason to forgive Ed (and don't tell me that the Izzy-the-unicorn helped them forgive Ed- that was about the crew coming together to help IZZY to recover and had jacksquat to do with Ed)?

The set up was brilliant. Episodes 1-3 killed me. Episode 2 was my favorite episode of the show (bar the bit where Stede ran away when Lucius was unloading his trauma, and even THAT could have worked if he apologized later and allowed Lucius to talk). But the lack of payoff makes me feel sick. Because I understand this show is a comedy, but you don't introduce themes like that and give them that kind of ending.

#ed teach critical #ofmd critical #jim jimenez #ofmd archie #lucius spriggs #ofmd season 2 spoilers #izzy hands #tw abuse #tw sa mention #writing #ofmd season 2 #meta #analysis

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biceratops7 · 2 years

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I just-

the way that queerness actually is shown fairly historically accurate in the show but not to the point where the lgbt community feels like 1-dimensional victims instead of people. The world is still the same as ours, Homophobia is there, it’s just… quiet. It’s not constant aggressive action, or violence permeating every moment of their lives… it’s the background noise.

It’s in the bullying Stede endures for not performing the ideal masculine, but it’s also the simple expectation and eventually enforcement that he’ll marry a woman. It’s in “anything goes at sea” and the calm, almost practiced defensiveness that prompted such a statement. The small confirmation that Hornigold would lose his mind at Ed having breakfast at a table every morning with Stede.

It’s not just seen in queer sorrow but community as well, even joy. How Lucius looks after Jim, Stede, and Ed once their queerness is known to him. How Ed kisses Stede in a quiet place away from expected public, the refusal to discuss Blackbeard further when the truth of being “lovely” to another man garners unsavory looks. In the best circumstances, protecting one another in a world that isn’t built for us is like breathing.

It even comes from people with no ill intentions. Mary doesn’t mean anything by “what’s her name?” but it tells us something anyway, about the world these characters inhabit. About which ones can step comfortably through it, and which ones must think carefully before even revealing they lack such luxury. The quiet understanding in tossing a stone in that perfect path by saying “his name is Ed.” It means something that she reacts in surprise, pleasant surprise, but surprise none the less.

It’s not a show without homophobia, but it’s not a show about it either. It manifests in the narrative the same way it does for most of us day to day: the white noise of heteronormativity.

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chuplayswithfire · 7 months

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JIM

jim being pushed to the breaking point. jim longing for the old days. jim realizing that what they had was good and missing their idiots and when life meant something and that's so important because jim was raised to think what life meant was vengeance and death and taking the blood that was owed and then they found a place that was better and ED WAS A PART OF THAT BETTER

the ship was a home and the ship was a family and jim became someone who could have those things again on this ship and that's why they have so much despair and that's why they protect everyone they can and why they refuse to fight archie to the death and even why they find it in themself to kill again

because ed lived, but jim was going to kill him. jim was not going to let someone else destroy their family again.

#ofmd #jim jimenez #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd meta

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alexibeeart · 7 months

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just to be clear, Izzy Hands' arc this season is entirely about what Stede Bonnet instilled into his crew and, just as importantly, how they all responded to that for the better. Izzy included. he is saved and embraced by a group who, despite him causing so many problems for on purpose, sees a man suffering and decide to at least try to help him. he flights it at first, he's kicking and screaming, he's languishing, but eventually he responds to their brute force kindness.

Jim longs for when life actually meant something and seeks out deepening relationships. Frenchie, for all his talks about bottling dark feelings up, speaks his mind and takes lead more confidently and without flinching like he did early in season 1. John spends a lot of time in season 2 focusing on his handicrafts which isn't to say his love of fire and explosives is less than but it is a marked shift in embracing all his varied interests which include destruction AND creation.

it's about the magic of the ship, it's about community, it's about growth, it's about love, it's about what happens when you build something beautiful and complicated together. it's about grace, it's about the freedom to be who you are. and a safe space ship to come home to : ) <3

#our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd meta #stede bonnet #izzy hands #jim jimenez #frenchie #wee john feeney #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 #crying btw

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butch-pyrate · 7 months

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OK, but the way the red suit is also a metaphor for Edward.

Let me explain, Jim says that by taking the suit Stede has invited the devil in their lives without thinking about the crew. During the wedding raid, Edward calls himself "The Devil" and he has also been invited into the crews life against their wishes.

Stede is perfectly comfortable wearing the red suit and enjoys being Edward's company. He's more than willing to ignore The Curse™ along with the horrible things that Ed did to the crew, expecting everyone to accept Edward's Not-An-Actual-Apology and allow him back on board even though they all just voted him off the ship.

Izzy explains to Stede that the curse is a curse because it effects the crew and their ability to be comfortable on the ship. Which is bitter sweet since he has to create a fictional event to cope with the less of his leg and force himself to be comfortable on the ship even when it's housing his abuser and the abuser of several of his crew members.

Despite Izzy's warning, Stede counties to not only keep the suit but to flaunt it every moment it, showing it off even while aware that it makes the crew feel unsafe. Like wise, instead of making Edward make amends with the crew, he puts some eye and ear grabbing accessories on Edward and says to just "fit in better" and that people will eventually feel comfortable around him again, not actually addressing the problem and instead insisting it will go away on it's own.

The crew attempts to rip the suit from Stede, much like half of them tried to kill Edward when he finally went too far. The suit escapes damaged and Izzy gives Stede the good old "I told you so".

Stede is eventually forced to confront the crew and with Izzy's guidance makes a passing apology where he acknowledges that ignoring their feeling was fucked up and that there is validity to their experiences even if they aren't his own. (after all, to him, Edward has been a sweetheart. After all, the suit hasn't done anything to harm him. He's in love with the suit, it's beautiful and comfortable and fun.)

Stede gives the suit away but keeps the shirt. Perhaps suggesting that Stede will step up as a boyfriend and help Edward process his actions and feelings beyond telling him to fit in more and as captain hold him accountable for what he did during the kraken-era beyond putting him in a cat bell.

And after all the trauma, violence, and pain has been exercised, the crew will be able to be comfortable around Ed, accepting the fine fabric of the suits under shirt is perhaps accepting the red heart that beats under all the smudged coal of the kraken.

#ofmd #edward teach #stede bonnet #izzy hands #jim jimenez #our flag means death #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd season 2 spoilers #Ofmd s2 #ofmd meta #blackbeard #Kraken Ed

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ourflagmeansgayrights · 7 months

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hi i dont know if there is any meaning, but why didnt jim paint the eyes? they painted a beard, sure, but... i mean, with everybody else, it was around the eyes, right?

i hadn’t ever thought abt this before so at first i was like “man idk” BUT after thinking abt it for two seconds. it might have smthng to do with like… of all the ppl on the ship with ed, i think jim has the best grasp of what’s going on??? archie’s just like “yeah this is just normal pirate stuff,” izzy was putting up with everything up until ed said he’s replaceable, frenchie’s locking shit in a box and repressing all his negative emotions as hard as he can, and fang is too busy crying to really like, do much of anything. but jim is like, holding it together while also not accepting that this is how things need to be.

also there are two moments that really stick out to me that make me feel like jim might get what’s going on with ed in a way the other characters don’t. there’s the “he was your friend” line, which while technically i think jim is wrong about that (ed’s said it himself last season, he doesn’t have anyone he considers a friend), i feel like what jim is getting at there is the fact that this isn’t the ed they knew. ed never treated his crew members like this, and ed was someone who should’ve been saddened by ivan’s death instead of not even batting an eye. also just the fact that jim said something to ed’s face about how the shit he was doing was fucked up stands out to me.

the other moment is when the crew is hiding from ed in the one hallways and they’re like “is ed?? better??? he seems cheered up??” and jim is like “NO this is NOT better.” jim’s the only one who says something abt how ed’s whole cheery attitude that day was not ed being in a better place.

WAIT ANOTHER MOMENT. when jim decides they’re not gonna kill archie and ed’s like “awww guess we’re all gonna die” and jim’s like “YOU WERE GONNA DO IT ANYWAY!!!” and ed’s like. teehee yeah <3. something something jim seeing through ed’s bullshit something.

this is getting longer than i wanted it to so i’m not gonna get too deep into this point but since s1 i’ve thought that ed and jim feel very similar in terms of like, being raised with people expecting them to do violence and not actually wanting to live their lives that way. also they’re both badasses who have so much gender.

yeah so. something abt jim’s eyes not being painted and jim being the one on the ship who can see what’s going on and what ed’s doing better than any of the other characters. this could be nothing tho i’m just spitballing this. it maybe could just be that the costume dept decided vico looked better without the raccoon eyes idk

#ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 #ofmd 2 #our flag means death #ofmd meta #jim jimenez #ofmd jim #ask #anon #mine #txt #meta #og

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blue-b-bro · 7 months

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But what if Stede was telling the story about the wooded boy because it's about him giving his crew the gift of full life, what if Jim telling the same story in a moment of hopelessness was about them keeping their humanity, not wanting to loose it again

#Was that obvious?#Am I late to the party?#Ofmd #ofmd s2 #our flag means death #stede bonnet #jim jimenez #ofmd meta

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louisinart · 6 months

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rewatching ofmd s1 and I'm absolutely blown away by how much Jim comes into themselves by the end of season two. Knowing the character they become its really stunning to see how disengaged and cynical they are at the start of it all.

Their motivations are almost entirely reactive, to escape Spanish jackie and then to live out their nanas dream of justice. The while time they are in survival mode, moving quickly and efficiently and quietly. Ultimately, moving how they were trained to and nothing else. Because it works! It works so well that I didn't consider something might be missing.

But in season two they're made to be messy, loud. They are stuck on Ed's Breakdown Ship and so have to act differently than they ever have. Not just because they are yelling and screaming and covered in blood cutting a guys leg off, either. They're connecting and caring and critiquing and supporting, they're emotionally engaged in a real way that they very much weren't in season 1. Every day on Ed's ship is horrible, but at least they're present for it. Every day pushes them to be in survival mode but they refuse. They tell fang a story, they kiss Archie back. When Ed says "kill or die" they say "no."

And then, after all that, when they finally get to rest again? Yeah, it's a rough transition, but once they get through it they're absolutely fucking teeming with life. They're painting on a mustache, they're creating conspiracies, they're crossing boundaries to get olus girlfriend back. When the dust settles Jim is inhabiting themselves in a way we haven't seen in the show previously. There is a richness to their character that feels incredibly natural and earned, to the point that I didn't even notice it until I went back to season one and realized how lost they were.

Its pretty obvious that this show is about Ed and stedes collective mid life crisis, but it wasn't until now that I realized its also Jim's coming of age

#Which is to say NOTHING of the gender of it all #ofmd season 2 #Ofmd #Jim Jimenez #I was starting to think I wouldn't write any meta for this season #And then #Mine #Ofmd meta #I have s1ep4 paused halfway thru rn because this swept through me like a hurricane #I will take my attention now thank you 🫴🫴

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itswhatyougive · 6 months

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He Was Their Dick (and they loved him)

It's really hitting me again how the Kraken crew saving Izzy was such an act of LOVE.

There was nothing for them to gain by saving Izzy once he'd been shot by the Kraken, nothing at all!!

Not even the possibility of Izzy protecting them from Krakbeard, since the deranged captain had already made it very clear he wanted Izzy dead.

Also, as Izzy was very badly injured at the time, it could be assumed that he would not be able to move from his hiding spot.

Since Krakbeard basically signed his death warrant, Izzy would never be able to move freely aboard the ship without facing rhe Kraken's wrath. He would have to stay sequestered in that little hidden room.

If anything, the crew keeping him alive was making their own lives harder, as well as putting said lives in danger.

It would've been much simpler and straightforward to shoot him, throw him aboard, and shrug it off as the humane way to end his life. We'd seen them waste others with little remorse, after all, and Izzy had been a dick to them in the past anyway.

And yet!!

Almost immediately after Izzy had been shot, one or perhaps all of them must have decided to take that chance to save this seriously wounded older man.

They had to quickly find a hiding place, haul his body, do their best to treat his wound, keep him sedated and quiet as best they could, then sneak him medicine and probably food and rum, help him relieve himself and clean that up.

They would have to do this for the foreseeable future, as Krakbeard told Frenchie in no uncertain terms that he had no intention of ever going back to land.

They would have to keep him alive and hidden for as long as the rest of their lives would allow on that doomed ship.

Surely that would sound like too much trouble for a crew that was focused only on living second to second? Not even Archie really understood their reasoning at the time.

All the same, the ever-opportunistic Frenchie and survivalist Jim put aside their self-preservation instincts just to hide this guy and keep him safe.

Fang had known Izzy for the longest, so it stood to reason that he would be the most inclined to help. And yet, Archie and Jim scrubbed Izzy's blood from the deck while Fang cried and Frenchie was likely tending to Izzy.

Frenchie also went to fetch medicine for him, and Jim and Archie cut off the rotten leg. While it's likely that Fang was just too traumatized to see Izzy in that state without crying and drawing attention, the fact is that the other members of Kraken crew stepped up when they really didn't have to.

Frenchie jeopardized his own position as first mate to lie multiple times to cover for Izzy.

Deranged as the captain was, first mate is considered a pretty privileged station. One would think a clever guy like Frenchie would try to get in the captain's good graces to try to ensure his own survival and not do anything that would potentially get him in big trouble.

And yet......well, you get the picture.

The Kraken crew risked it all for Izzy, and they did it for LOVE

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khruschevshoe · 5 months

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OFMD Critique: Mermen, the Gravy Basket, and Cognitive Dissonance

Warning: this is going to be a bit rambly.

So, I can't stop thinking about the end of "The Innkeeper." (OFMD 2x3, if you need the reminder.) About how I have completely different reactions to the final scene of the episode depending on who's POV/plot I'm considering it a part of.

As part of the Stede/Ed plot, and as part of Ed's personal character arc, it's masterful. The cinematography, the swelling music (and music choice, god is "This Woman's Work" a fantastic pick), the acting, the lighting, everything about it is so well done. It's a story about a man who has hit the absolute bottom of a depressive episode because he believes that love is only meant to hurt, that no love can exist without it dying, and who is pulled from the absolute Darkest Night of the Soul by the man who loves him- in the form of a merman. (I'm not going to harp on the symbolism and the perfection of choosing a mermaid, a rainbow, beautiful, queer-as-hell mermaid, as Stede's form here because others have done it so much better than I ever could.)

This final scene is PERFECT for the Stede/Ed plotline. I will give it all the props in the world for its gorgeous portrayal of the healing, divinely-coded power of queer love.

But from the crew's POV? From the end of a plot that was literally about a man spiralling and taking everyone down with him? From the POV of people who were just forced to shoot themselves, to fight to the death, to amputate limbs, who finally got to stand up to their monster after months of fear, of sobbing when Blackbeard couldn't see, of living on a knife's edge because if they put one toe out of line they'll get shot in the leg or pushed off the ship or worse?

I'm not looking at a man's rebirth; I'm looking at a villain's resurrection.

All I can feel is dread on behalf of a crew that literally just admitted to having been "living second to second" for months now. A crew that was ready to die at Zheng Yi Sao's behest because that's what they had been expecting from the man they just had to kill to survive a storm.

I can't ever fully immerse myself in the scene as I did the first time around, because I know how the crew's subplot is going to go. I know that they are going to vote Ed off the ship, finally gaining some agency, and then Stede is going let Ed back on the ship within a day with a slap on the wrist. Ed is going to give an "influencer apology" and that'll be that, because as Archie says, "they just kinda get away with these things." The crew will get no more agency in their own trauma recovery or their reactions to Blackbeard beyond Lucius' (very questionably handled) trauma recovery arc. This season is going to end with a character dying from a random gunshot wound to the side after Ed survived a CANNONBALL TO THE HEAD. (A character who, by the way, Ed put a gun in the hand of and told him to shoot himself. A man who, by the way, Ed shot in the leg, permanently disabling him. A man who, by the way, dies by apologizing to Ed for Ed tormenting him and the rest of the crew for months on end and driving them to the point that they would kill him.)

I try so hard to remain in the emotions I felt watching the merman scene the first time around, the hope I had for the Ed/Stede storyline, the hope I had for all of these characters. What I thought I was looking at was a sign of hope for all of them, the idea that they could all heal from their trauma, that everyone could experience some version of this love (whether romantic, platonic, or otherwise) for themselves.

But instead, the only other character to get a song died by the end of the season without ever getting a chance at a Gravy Basket of their own. And thus, I cannot ever feel what every possible Cinematic Cue in his scene is trying to get me to feel, because it will always, always be tainted by knowing that every one of those beautiful choices have been denied to Izzy, Jim, Archie, and Frenchie when it comes to their recovery arcs strangled before they could ever be completed.

#izzy hands #ed teach critical #ofmd critical #the innkeeper #ofmd season 2 #meta #please forgive me for the rambling nature #ofmd 2x3 #ofmd 2x03 #archie ofmd #lucius spriggs #not tagging this ed bc i don't want to upset the fans #jim jimenez #frenchie ofmd

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sarucane · 5 months

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Do we just keep telling the same story forever? Meta on OFMD S1E7 "This is Happening"

In this S1E7, two characters--Ed and Jim--have to answer a simple question: Am I ready to tell a diferent story?

At the start of the episode, Ed's framing his time on Stede's ship as "sitting idle." He's thinking about preparing for the next adventure, whatever that may be--the next chapter in a story he knows and understands. Because there are rules. A ship has only one captain.

When Stede tries to prove that Ed can tell the next chapter in that story without leaving the Revenge, Ed is pretty unapologetic in his disdain. But he does come along, even while moaning and complaining.

And Stede's just trying to tell the same story, too. What he imagines a pirate's tale is supposed to be, not what it actually is. He doesn't recognize the difference between nonsense and truth, he's so caught up in "entertaining" Ed that he doesn't realize he needs to feed Ed.

But in fairness to Stede, Ed has a poor grip on what he really wants as well. When he fantasizes as he flirts with Stede, he's not imagining a swashbuckling adventure. He's imagining opening a restaurant. He's half in his old life, and half out.

Lucius, the unemotional observer, figures all this out of course.

He sees that Ed is absolutely very receptive to Stede, and that Stede is crazy about Ed. But Ed is caught up in who he's been, without seriously considering how to move forward in this story he's in now. So Lucius confronts Ed. He points out that Ed's story as it is going now ends one way: pain and loneliness. And he asks if Ed wants that.

Stede didn't want Ed to leave, so he told a story about treasure hunting. And Ed doesn't want to leave and be alone again, so he tells the story too. And by telling that story together, Ed and Stede find their way to the same place: beginning a new chapter. Imagining a life they can live together, without devaluing or overwriting anything that came before.

It sounds nice, although it's shallow (Ed's not going to be happy as a pirate, Stede is bad at telling this pirate's story and he'll never be a successful traditional pirate). But it's still a hopeful story, because they're still moving forward. Right on the edge of telling a different story.

And resolving in the opposite direction is Jim's plot. Jim's story is relentlessly upbeat and funny in this ep, but it's a tragedy through and through. Jim, like Ed, is half in their old life and half out. Has been with Olu for more than a year, without actually doing anything, while keeping him at a distance.

And it turns out they were "raised by a nun to be a killing machine." That Nana projected all her own trauma and righteousness onto Jim, and passed cruel judgement when Jim says that they already killed "the only one that matters." When Jim suggests that they might have moved on, and be ready to tell another story.

Jim regresses in this episode. They let Olu walk away instead of telling a new story with him, one where he's their family. They take the petrified orange as a sign that they should go back to being who Nana told them they were, to being obsessed with revenge. But really, it's more like a warning of what they'll become if they cling to the same old story.

It's sad. And it's a painful foreshadowing of what awaits Ed and Stede when they falter on the path forward, when they think their past defines their future. When they tell someone else's story, instead of their own.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd s2 #ofmd meta #ofmd spoilers #ed teach #stede bonnet #blackbonnet #jim jimenez #oluwande boodhari #ofmd oluwande #legit i think this is my least favorite ep #the plot with ed and stede is nice because it gives them something to aim for in terms of how they can just be chill together #and the conversation with lucius is good for ed pushes him in an interesting way--does he REALLY want this he has to figure that out #it's a nice bit of nuance for his character and the story's richer for it #and it's great crew development in this ep sure #but they really pulled their punches with Jim's plot #nana is super cool and funny and all but she's also toxic as hell #and jim's plot feels like the writers just played everything safe and it's annoying

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de-meaning · 7 months

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Our Flag Means Death, Season 2 Finale Prediction Card // I made this for me and my friends. Sharing here for anyone who wants to play along.

Photos are screenshots from the show and pulled from the Warner Brothers press site.

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