#discomfort in a Married state

[temporal-discounting]

It's easy to forget how utterly unhinged Stede is, but as I was watching Discomfort in a Married State the other day, this line jumped out at me: "I should take a leaf out of your book. Maybe I'd live a little longer."

Stede is under no illusion that he has chosen to do something incredibly dangerous. He didn't become a pirate with the expectation of living a long life of noteriety. He wanted to do something exciting - something diametrically opposed to the life he was forced into, even if it killed him (and knowing it likely would).

Just... What a character. No wonder Ed was so deeply fascinated by him

[livwifeofkarl]

Lift anchor and let the ocean current drift us into the warm embrace of safety.

[ofmd-ann]

Peasants marry for love

[crimson-and-clover-1717]

So many moments where I go, ‘This changed me.’

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This changed me 💕

[arsenicflame]

happy "our marriage is never gonna recover from this" day

[quaintlyfig]

This is my favorite episode of Our Flag Means Death.

I don't even usually have favorites of anythings - colors, songs, etc - but while the whole show has my whole heart, there is something extra, extra special about watching them instantaneously become best friends, their souls already intertwined before either of them even realize that's what's happened. The tremendous, unmitigated, unselfconscious, spontaneous, deeply honest joy they feel around each other before they even know each other. My heart can barely handle how happy they make me and all the things they've taught me about living.

So happy September the 1st, friends! A day magic was born, a day love burst into the universe in a form it had never seen before, a day that reshaped my own heart, reminded me that there is such unbelievable beauty in the world, and that wrote itself on me in permanent ink.

🔥🥰💞🏴‍☠️

Image from ofmdframes on twitter 💖

[bluishorange]

something I’ll never get over is the fact that Ed and Stede know each other for like ten minutes and then they just. swap clothes. two grown men, pirates, PUT ON EACH OTHER’S CLOTHES and then run around the ship pretending to be each other.

and then Ed wears Stede’s cravat for the whole rest of the season.

it’s so romantic.

[follows-the-bees]

Speaking of light motifs and how light is used in OFMD to show hope and love, I gotta talk about this important bonding moment.

On one hand, this moment is the basis of Ed's burn off Stede's face and take his identity plan; but on the other hand, it is Ed and Stede cementing their ability to work together. They bonded talking about their lives, looking at the fine fabrics, and even switching identities, yet coming up with the plan and executing it shows how well they play and work and is the stepping stone to their partnership.

And the symbolism/motif of light and lighthouses come to the foreground.

For Ed, this light shows the hope he has been missing for years. The hope for a new life, for change, to live, not crack up on the rocks or feel like he's drowning. And it's no coincidence that this moment is with Stede. Ed is so joyful, he hugs Stede for the first time.

For Stede, it represents many of those same things it does for Ed. But he is helping to create this light; he takes the kindling light already there and adds the alcohol to it, making it bigger, creating that lighthouse, saving his crew, and letting that inner light shine on everyone.

I am working on a whole thread of how light is used to symbolize Stede (the overexposure shots in the pilot when Stede's on screen) but also Stede's love and hope to the crew and especially Ed. The way cinematography is used in this show makes my film heart beat overtime.

[thehappyfeminist-22]

I realized a while ago that the first episode of OFMD starts on June 3rd (as Lucius says when he's reading Stede's journal in Act of Grace) and we know that Discomfort in a Married State happens on September 1st, so according to the headstone from the same episode, between episodes 1 and 4, Stede has a birthday! I wonder how they celebrated or if he ever even told any of the crew because his birthday was never a big deal to anyone before? 😭

[temporal-discounting]

This post by @celluloidbroomcloset got me thinking about how safe Stede feels with Ed pretty much from the get go.

Just a few episodes prior, we see Stede mocked and ridiculed by his childhood bully for the extravagance of his ship - and his cabin in particular. A very understandable response to that would be to make himself small, to downplay the space, to try to deflect attention elsewhere.

And yet, from the moment that Ed rubs that cashmere so reverently against his cheek, Stede senses he is in the presence of someone who won't mock and belittle him. He feels safe enough to reveal the one part of the ship that he hasn't shown to anyone else. It's such a brave thing to do

And of course, Stede makes the right call. Ed doesn't laugh at him, doesn't call him ridiculous. He's blown away by it - he's blown away by Stede.

They see each other and get each other so early on. It's just such a beautiful moment

[livwifeofkarl]

Rather exquisite cashmere.

[ofmd-ann]

Bonus ✨:

[bi-buckrights]

“His friends felt he [Bonnet] suffered from “a disorder in his mind, which had been but too visible in him for some time” and which was supposedly caused by “discomforts he found in a married state.””

- The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down, Colin Woodard

For all you OFMD fans this is a real life quote about Stede Bonnet I found while researching my pirate au

[handlebarstiedtothestars]

So I made a real life friend for the first time in YEARS and of course told him he HAS to watch OFMD. Last I’d talked to him, he wasn’t totally sold yet but he was going to at least watch up to episode 4.

Cut to today in his yoga class, he’s winding us down for the guided meditation. Normally he sets us up in a forest or a desert oasis or something. Today it started with just a white dot of light, and as you breathe in it gets brighter, almost blinding, and as you breathe out it fades to nothing.

My OFMD brain rot instantly goes “LIGHTHOUSE!?!” and I start internally berating myself for having the OFMD brain rot and why can’t I think of anything else and just have a nice calming meditation, no my brain has to go “GAY PIRATES!!!!!” every 15 seconds.

And then he goes

“And you smell the salt in the air, and hear the waves, and you realise……the light……is a lighthouse.”

Reader, I had to bite my tongue to stop myself cackling 🤣

I’ve converted another one 🏴‍☠️🩷

[hang-on-lil-tomato]

[follows-the-bees]

How negative space shows Ed a hopeful future (Part 2.5)

I want to continue on the Ed negative space theme from Part Two.

Particularly this Ed's back center-framed shot that I kept out of the last thread. That is because this shot is the exact opposite meaning of the isolation in Part Two: How center-framed shots of Ed's back show his emotional state.

In part two, I broke down these shots into three different categories: Stede's absence; when Ed switches into character (Jeff the accountant, innkeeper); and when he is alone while shuffling on the Kraken part of him for protection.

In this shot from 1x4, Ed sits on the couch, shot up from mid-back. The focus of the negative space around him doesn't show isolation but instead hope and a future.

This is one of the rare shots where someone else is actually in the shot when Ed's back is center-framed, and it's no coincidence that it's Stede. The camera placement gives the audience Ed's view of Stede's excitement at being able to show off his cabin and connect with Ed.

It is also a contrast to Ed's captains quarters. Stede's are a rich brown, with lots of shelving for books and trinkets, art. (A fireplace and two chandeliers!) It is warm and inviting.

On the other hand, Ed's cabin on his ship is dark: in lighting, mindset, and aesthetics. Full of items like skulls that reflect the persona of Blackbeard, who is shot with mainly his side and back as the main focus. The light shining through in streams hit him like the thought of Stede broaching Ed's dark thoughts and demeanor as Blackbeard.

Back to this shot.

The lighting in the cabin is rich, warm, welcoming.

Light is a running motif of hope in this series, especially between these two. (Stede's colors are gold/yellow, Ed's are red and purple.) Here, we have one of the large chandeliers shining down on them, particularly Stede, and there is a reflected light right above Ed's head. Like a halo or spotlight, reflecting that joy and hope in front of him. The top of his head and shoulders glow.

Stede's outfit contains three facets: the burnt orange pants that blend in with the aesthetic of the cabin, the white shirt that stands out from the background and draws the eye's attention to Stede, and the black cravat, which we know the importance of the rest of the season.

The curtains framing the shot on each side give the allusion of Stede opening his world up to Ed. And Ed looks at this stage, how his life could change for the better, and he is presented with hope and light, with Stede. The openness of the space isn't negative but positive, just like Ed's future.

Part One: The use of greenery in negative space in episode 1x7: This Is Happening

Part Two: How center-framed shots of Ed's back show his emotional state and isolation