#ofmd s1e05

[animoogus]

Reblog for a larger support group

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

godddd the way the original e5 “you wear fine things well” scene was backlit by a giant full moon that didn’t actually exist bc this was ed and stede’s fairy tale romance, the way they’re both all dressed up in finery and looking their best after a fancy night out (which didn’t go how either of them expected but that’s not the point the point is it was an Event it was a whole Thing they went to)

and then in the e5 “wear fine things well” 2 electric boogaloo scene the moon is a waxing gibbous because it’s real and stede’s wearing what remains of his fancy suit he had to get rid of and ed’s wearing a fucking. sack and a cat collar. and holding a fucking dead fish. and they’re just catching up after both of them had a pretty normal day doing their own things. this isn’t the picture-perfect fantasy from last season this is both of them grounded in the moment taking it slow because their relationship is worth handling with care. they want this to last and they want this to be real so they’re taking their time, being gentle. they’re not as completely absorbed by each other the way they were last season, they’re their own separate people who can exist in different plotlines for an episode and then come back at the end of the day and catch up, swap stories, kiss and hold hands and just hang out and enjoy being in each other’s presence.

now if you’ll excuse me. i have to go cry.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

wait fuck ok i’m back to being sad about it now

like the thing is that ed doesn’t really hang out with anyone but stede in season one, not really. and whenever he is talking to other ppl on the crew, stede is right there. the only exception to this is in episode 8 when jack brings the party energy and everyone is getting drunk and rowdy together specifically as part of jack’s efforts to exclude stede.

and as a fandom we always make jokes and theorize about what the relationship between ed and stede must look like from the outside, if they were all placing bets for when they’d finally hook up or if they had zero belief in stede’s ability to pull THEE blackbeard

but now i’m thinking about the crew’s perception of Ed Himself. of the crew’s perceptions of The Legendary Blackbeard and how that must’ve changed over the course of the first season. because when they first meet him they’re all impressed and starstruck bc yeah, duh, this is Pirate Beyoncé we’re talking about. they’re also in varying degrees “worried he’s gonna kill them.”

but they quickly see that the real pirate beyonce isn’t all leather and murder and head made of smoke. blackbeard swaps clothes with their cringefail (derogatory) boss for fun. he dresses up and goes to a fancy party just because he wants to—he’s not even trying to get anything out of it, doesn’t have an angle the way frenchie does, he genuinely just wants to go to a very un-Blackbeardy party and have fun. he tells them scary stories. he shows them some of his trade blackbeard secrets. he hypes them all up after their first fuckery (and i will never get over how cute that is exchange is, “scared the pants off me” and “i thought blackbeard didn’t feel fear” and “and i didn’t, until tonight” and the crew’s genuine excitement and pride). he goes on a treasure hunt with their cringefail (affectionate, now) boss and lets him dig in the ground to get it out of his system. they learn that ed isn’t just a scary pirate, he also can be silly and goof off and enjoy things that aren’t exactly compatible’s with the Blackbeard Brand

and beyond just not adhering 24/7 to the Brand, they learn that ed—that blackbeard—is human. is fallible. they see his first plan to escape the spanish fail, and they get to participate in the backup plan that he and stede come up with. frenchie sees ed get hurt at the fancy party in a way that he completely understands. lucius realizes that ed is just as into his cringefail boss as his cringefail boss is into ed, and over the course of giving ed a shovel talk he maybe learns that The Legendary Blackbeard might actually be nervous about a boy liking him back.

and none of this—NONE of this—makes the crew lose any respect for him. even pete never has a moment where his perception of his idol is shattered, where he’s disappointed that blackbeard isn’t all nine guns and zero mercy all the time. instead, pete expands his idea of what The Ideal Pirate (the ideal MAN) looks like.

i think by the time jack rolls around, ed is no longer on that Pirate Beyoncé pedestal to them. he’s still on a pedestal, a bit, but instead of seeing ed as this untouchable badass legend, they see him as like. the coolest guy on the ship. still a badass, still somebody they all respect and admire, but someone they can hang out with. someone they really want to hang out with. they want to impress ed because they want him to like them, they want to be his friend. and yeah, it’s played as a “your father and i are getting a divorce but we still love you very much” joke, but they really are so sad when ed leaves with jack.

and ed showing up with no beard and no stede, ed hiding in his cabin for. a day? multiple days? ed singing a song about his feelings. ed saying he no longer wants to go by blackbeard.

the crew is confused, but they’re on board. they don’t laugh at him for his (bad) singing, they don’t think less of him now that he’s sans iconic beard. ed, to them, is still The Coolest Guy On The Ship, and they want to be his friend. they’re excited to be his friend.

they want to put on a talent show.

and ed, right after getting stabbed in the back by jack and izzy, and then stede, and then izzy again—ed, who was so affected by the jeers of the rich fuckers at that fancy party, who grew up in a culture that doesn’t allow for friendship, a culture of everyone in various stages of fucking each other over—can’t see that. he’s got fresh heartbreak and fresh betrayal that are compounding on years of trauma and he hears them all chanting his name and he can’t trust this crew. he couldn’t trust his first mate, and he couldn’t trust his old shipmate, and he couldn’t trust stede. he cannot, cannot risk vulnerability with the crew. not again.

(and like, cmon, who is ed even kidding? he’s not made for things like softness and friendship and genuine camaraderie. trying to be anything other than blackbeard is like a wolf trying to fit in a sheep’s clothing, but the clothing is too small and everyone can see right through him and they’re all laughing and laughing and he’s the only one who can’t see what a joke he is. ed’s not an idiot, he knows there’s no way the crew is up their chanting his name and asking for another song because they like him. they just want the great clown pagliacci to come out and make them laugh.

so sure, ed’ll give them a show. they think ed’s funny? well he’s about to be fucking hilarious.)

EDIT: those of y’all seeing this in the ofmd tags are missing the additions where it gets even sadder

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

also confirmation that the “ooh daddy” scene was izzy imitating all the gay sex he’s overheard ed having haha who said that

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

no but ever since the trailers fans were already talking about how stede wearing red represented stede replacing the red silk and the red silk was symbolic for ed's heart and stede is ed heart etc etc etc

but to put stede in this full red outfit in THIS EPISODE SPECIFICALLY. where we get a direct callback and a take two on the "you wear fine things well" scene, the one where stede put ed's silk in his pocket and said it suited him, wearing his heart out in the open like that. for this episode to be the one where stede is wearing red!!!

in s1 stede folds and tucks that red silk into ed's left pocket, right over his heart. and in s2 they kiss, stede gets hot n bothered, ed asks to take it slow, they hold hands and play a silly little game with their fingers and stede whispers you won. and stede folds himself up and slots himself in right beside ed's heart.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

i know we all love to laugh at how THIS is one of the moments stede reminisces about while mary is monologuing about being in love

but i DO want to point out that stede's response to that moment rlly went from this

to THIS

stede, a few days after meeting ed: oh shit!!! he just threatened to stab that guy in the eyeball!!!

stede after knowing ed for several months: heehee. yeah <3

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

what does a viceroy do

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

thinking about how months later we have half this fucking fandom thinking that the izzy and lucius conflict in this episode IS an “evil gay seductress man manipulates his way into getting what he wants” storyline

Thinking about how Lucius flirting with Fang to get out of doing Izzy's chores would've been played as an "evil gay seductress man manipulates his way into getting what he wants" in any other show but in ofmd Fang and Lucius care about each other. It's not just a one off joke of Lucius drawing Fang naked, Fang stands up for and dotes over Lucius from then on. The moment that i decided to trust ofmd with it's queer characters was when Fang said "I've never had anyone take interest in my form before!" And Lucius immediately and genuinely replied "you've never met anyone worth a damn then." The respect ofmd has for Lucius is so refreshing after years of the only gay character in a show being the one that's manipulative and quick to be used for a shitty joke.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

Oh shit!

alright so i have a read on this scene from e5 that i don't think i've seen anyone else make a post about, but it feels like the most straightforward reason for why fang was worried about blackbeard getting back early?? but since im seeing some "ed is usually very strict and cruel as a captain" takes (which i get why people might think that, but imo it doesn't feel like that's really supported by canon) i figured i'd make a post about it!

my interpretation builds off of two things:

based on what little we see of ed on his ship in e2 and e3, and based on ivan's "this is the most open and available i've ever seen him" in e6, it's pretty logical to assume that ed wasn't interacting with his crew all that much pre-canon. he probably had izzy deliver his orders, let his reputation keep everyone in line, and just hung out in his cabin by himself smoking opium wrong

i have said it before and i will say it again: ed is Pirate Beyoncé

so like, if you're a backup dancer for beyoncé, you're probably not actually interacting with her that much. you're probably getting all your instructions passed down from assistants or choreographers or directors or whoever.

but if and when you DO interact with beyoncé, you're gonna straighten up and pay attention and be on your best behavior because holy shit, it's beyoncé. if you're on a lunch break and someone walks into the room and is like "hey, beyoncé is looking for you," you're gonna say "oh shit!" and drop everything to go see what she wants.

that's what i think is happening in this scene!

back on ed's ship, actually being directly addressed by their captain is probably a rare occasion for blackbeard's crew. it's almost certainly a Big Deal, they probably see it as a chance to impress Thee Pirate Blackbeard. if blackbeard is looking for you specifically, you're gonna go report to him ASAP

and remember, this episode starts with stede saying it's only been a few days since the lighthouse fuckery. we haven't gotten to ivan saying "this is the most open and available i've ever seen him." so far, all they've done is run a few demo raids for stede's crew, and fang sat in for stede's dining lesson and carried out ed's order to skin the french captain. and this is before "you wear fine things well," so probably before ed started really letting himself enjoy himself on stede's ship.

so from fang's perspective, blackbeard aka Pirate Beyoncé went to a party and wasn't supposed to be back until nighttime. and this cute guy was flirting with him, and fang had some down time, so he stripped naked and had himself a fun little "draw me like one of your french girls" moment.

and for a second, when wee john walked in and said "the boss is lookin' for you," fang thought that Pirate Beyoncé was back early and was looking for him right now, and he was fully and completely nude.

idk about you guys, but i would also panic and go "oh shit!"

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

there’s really not enough fan content about ed having skilled fingers considering we we have a whole scene where he shows off on the harpsichord

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

ed telling ghost stories, saying, "turn your enemies' worst fear against them, you'll own them," as izzy glares down at him disapprovingly. ed talks about how he’s not able to feel fear, but what he’s saying is that blackbeard can't be owned.

lucius, smirking: "see? we dont own each other." izzy doesn't see. izzy doesn't understand. what's the point if you don't own each other? all izzy wants is to own and be owned, to possess something (someone) in his clenched fists and hold on until the bitter end. if izzy can’t be at the top (and he can’t, he’s no match for ed and he never will be), if he can’t be the most powerful man at sea, then at least he can dedicate his life to the man who is, and in turn he can own part of that man. at least izzy can have a piece of blackbeard, the part hidden behind the curtain, by being the only one to call him ed.

there are two times when edward, terrified, is standing on the sidelines as stede faces death: the duel with izzy, and the act of grace. and it’s no coincidence that and izzy is the catalyst of both these scenarios. first in challenging stede, setting the terms, and fully trying to kill stede by running him through, and then by going to the british to strike a deal. yes, his plan was to get ed out of there, but that doesn't matter, does it? izzy took the risk, izzy made the plans, and izzy is directly responsible for the result. and the result is that once again, ed watches in terror as stede almost dies.

(“fear is the most powerful emotion,” he’d said. he watches as four rifles take aim at a blindfolded man, and ed has never been so afraid in his life)

badminton says, "a friend of the crown has prevailed upon me to remand you to his custody.” his custody. his custody.

custody: immediate charge and control exercised by a person or an authority. there is custody as in care or guardianship (as if ed is a child who needs to be monitored, an insane shell of a man who can’t take care of himself, can't captain a ship), or there is custody as in imprisonment.

turn your enemies' worst fear against them, you'll own them.

izzy was listening when ed said that. izzy was watching ed share ghost stories with stede and his crew. owning your enemies by turning their fear against them is something he’s familiar with, something he’s seen ed do countless times.

but izzy doesn’t want to own his enemies. he wants to own blackbeard. he wants to own ed.

[littlegaysweater]

Also Ed is probably very aware that he WOULD be in danger if his cover is blown. They're pirates crashing a party full of rich white people who would absolutely call security if they realised Jeff and co aren't who they say they are. He was right to come armed imo.

i can't believe we as a fandom are back to this but i'm seeing discourse again about how ed loading his gun in response to being laughed at by the french guys at the party is evidence that he has anger issues and overreacts to perceived slights.

guys that is not what's going on here. like think about the episode as a whole. do you think the takeaway was supposed to be that ed needs anger management classes? or do you think it was supposed to be setting up something about his relationship with stede? who i remind you still definitely killed a lot of those guys, a response that is difficult to characterize as less violent, and the show portrays this as very cool and sexy of him?

imagine something like this happens at spanish jackie'z. if you are disrespected by a bunch of pirates there then pulling out your gun is a completely reasonable reaction. in fact it might be a necessary reaction: having a reputation for being a badass keeps you alive, and a badass doesn't tolerate disrespect. in the context of pirate culture people laughing at you is very often a sign that you are in danger, because it means they aren't afraid of you, and if they aren't afraid to antagonize you then you aren't safe. we know this because we in fact repeatedly see people - including successful and high-status people like jackie herself - responding to slights with violence. we know it because in the very first episode of the show buttons told us that pirates who are perceived as weak get murdered, and that the way to not be perceived as weak is to demonstrate your willingness to do violence.

so ed is doing what would work in the cultural context that he comes from. it is not what works in this context; he's a fish out of water. that's what the scene is showing: that ed doesn't have a good response here and the response that would normally work for him isn't going to work. but stede knows this context, and he knows how to accomplish the same thing, not by being less angry or less violent but by knowing the rules of the world they're in, and by doing that he manages to show ed what he's capable of and seduce the world's greatest pirate captain. like that is the point of the episode. this show is a romance.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

do y'all think ed's ever had anything more serious than a "dalliance" or was him going in for a kiss in e5 the first time ed thought there could be actual romance involved

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

hey wait. another detail about the e5 izzy vs lucius b plot

so izzy's been on the ship for a few days. and izzy's opinion is that the crew does a lot of lying around.

and he decided to do something about it now, when his boss and the boss of the ship are gone. when the two captains are away. he only tries to assert the authority that he technically doesn't have over stede's crew when his boss isnt there to tell him to cut it out.

much to think about

anyway if you want to read a really long breakdown of the beginning of the izzy vs lucius b plot here's a post i made going line-by-line on the "ooh, daddy" scene

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

honestly when lucius says “sorry, iggy, i only take orders from my captain” he’s SO real for that. i mean not literally, he doesn’t take orders from stede either, but the bitchiness is SO deserved.

like imagine if right after you were done hooking up with someone you left your room* and this guy who had invaded your house** and was yelling at you and all your roommates a few days ago but now has just been hanging around for a week because his boss wants to hang out with your boss (who owns and lives in the house you live in) so like TECHNICALLY this guy is your guest sort of?? anyway so that guy is standing right outside your door and he’s staring at you all judgy and you try to laugh it off and play it cool bc whatever right you’re a grown adult and you're allowed to have sex you’re not ashamed of it and then that guy starts MOCKING YOU going “ohhh daddy oh daddy”*** and THEN he’s like “enough. stop having sex and get back to work. i’m giving you chores” like what the FUCK??? who the FUCK does this fucking creep think he is to judge me for having sex and then try and PUNISH me for it?????? acting like HE'S MY BOSS and like he can tell me what to do on my DOWN TIME****???? calling him iggy is a VERY restrained response to that i would’ve started biting

*(i know it's not lucius's room but crucially lucius does not have a bedroom so actually a barely-concealed corner in the galley is the most privacy he’s gonna get)

**(like yeah technically the Revenge is where lucius works but it’s also where he LIVES 24/7 so like it's ALSO his house)

***(idk the "ooh daddy" bit is supposed to be something izzy heard them saying or if izzy’s just saying something he ASSUMES lucius would’ve said but either way i’d feel SO uncomfortable and frankly very violated???)

****(like before you come at me with “well he was being lazy he should’ve been doing something productive” literally NOTHING izzy told him to do was stuff that actually needed to get done. and anyway lucius was hired to be stede's scribe and scraping barnacles is NOT in his job description)