blackbonnet-ruined-my-life - Tumblr blog

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

I chose a side and I stand by it

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

I was having writers block and so I took a break and soon enough it was 3 in the morning and I had impulsively sewn together a tiny mouse you’re welcome

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

And Ed never got to see the dorky little glasses!!!

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

I spent longer than I would care to admit trying to figure out why we’d leave cheese and crackers out for Neil Gaiman. @neil-gaiman do you want me to leave you out some cheese and crackers?

everyone make sure to set out cheese & crackers for neil tonight <3

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

Honestly I think the crew was thinking out of sight and out of mind. I also think, whether consciously or not, it was as much about Stede as it was about Ed.

Stede had abandoned them when he ran back to Mary and to a certain extent he created the situation that lead to Ed’s behaviour. I think it might have been about punishing him as much as Ed, taking away something he cared about because he left them. There could also have been the thinking that them splitting up caused all this to happen so preventing them getting back together prevents any possibility of future breakups.

I also think they were banking on Stede protecting them. Not because they thought he stood a chance against Blackbeard but because they knew Ed wouldn’t want to hurt him. So long as Stede stayed with them then they would be safe.

Which brings me to my final thoughts on the subject which are that it could have been a test. They wanted to see whether Stede would actually let them send him away. Stede had fully intended to leave him there to satisfy the crew which I think is also why they let Ed come back. Stede had proved to them that should things go wrong again he would have their backs.

Making myself so sad thinking about Ed shackled to the railing at the beginning of s2e4.

He's so disoriented he can't hold his head up straight. His vision is all blurry, he can't speak, and it's a clear challenge to focus on what Buttons is trying to say to him. Someone's helped him get his face cleaned up, but fuck, it must've been so confusing and awful.

Like, I get where the crew are coming from. From their perspective, Ed has acted erratically and unpredictably, with very nearly fatal consequences for all of them. They are well within their right to be pissed as hell at him. But it still breaks my heart, that Ed's literally fresh out of a suicide attempt and he's being treated like the wild dog Izzy said he was.

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

So, the “OFMD is queerbaiting/heteronormative” is obviously bad faith, but it is interesting how this show manages to be so damn subversive by proposing a world in which being queer is not subversive. It is normalized to the point that finding characters who are not queer becomes a chore (as Taika said, it’s a game of spot the hetero).

And as so many have pointed out, that’s shocking. The lack of big speeches about Being Gay, the lack even of the use of common slurs against queer people, means that OFMD doesn’t LOOK like it’s subverting anything. It’s a pirate tale. It’s a love story. And everyone is queer.

Which can feed into the impression that it’s therefore conforming and assimilating, when it’s the exact opposite. Queerness is such a part of the fabric of the show that characters talking a lot about queerness would come off as odd. Why talk extensively about something that’s such an integrated part of their lives? When queerness is more explicitly dealt with, it’s often by the antagonists (Jack’s buggery comments, Chauncey’s “plague” speech). Those moments are important because they contrast with the world on the Revenge, where there’s no need for people to explicitly define themselves or their relationships. Even Stede’s coming out is not him declaring “I’m gay” but realizing that he loves Ed. His queerness is so integrated into who he is that the revelation is not of abstract sexuality but of being in love with his best friend.

It’s quite remarkable, really.

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

100% legit totally real facts about the historical stede bonnet

no the title is not a lie these are really REAL bc believe it or not, somehow the show made our stede MORE competent than the real one

sources: Real Pirates podcast (ep1, ep2, ep3, ep4, ep5), Dirty Sexy History podcast (with jeremy moss, bonnet's biographer, who LOVES the show, and said it changed his perspective on bonnet's and blackbeard's relationship PLUS he has the stedesrevenge handle on twt)

the library on the revenge was a real thing. the man really did that.

running away from his family to be a pirate

paying a salary to his crew

SHOWING UP IN NASSAU IN FRILLY GENTLEMANLY CLOTHES AND A POWDERED WIG

before bonnet's capture, he ran his ship aground and that's how the english caught up with him BUT the two english ships also ran aground (😭), so they fought each other with their flintlock pistols from behind their ships (until the tides turned and dislodged the english ships first. rip)

adopted an alias when he started pirating so people wouldn't know it was him but he raided ships near Barbados (where he's from), so that didnt turn out well. his solution? burning every ship from Barbados

he only succeeded in his early days bc merchant ships knew they would get off easier if they surrendered

ATTACKED A WARSHIP that whooped his ass so bad he almost died. the remaining crew steered the ship to Nassau where he met blackbeard

blackbeard stole the revenge from him but "allowed" him to stay on BB's ship (either as a guest or as a prisoner, it's not clear, but he def wasn't a crew member bc he didn't have any chores)

he was seen on deck running around in his gowns 😭😭

BB eventually reinstated him as the captain of the revenge and they sailed together for a while

"there is a 4 month period where stede and blackbeard kind of disappeared and no one really knows what they were doing" 👀

BB allowed bonnet to raid on his own which lead to him getting his ass beat by the Protestant Caesar. BB then proceeded to HUNT DOWN THE PROTESTANT CAESAR while flying the RED FLAG (which meant no mercy to anyone on board)

bonnet would raid ships and take what provisions he needed and give the other ship what he didn't need (essentially the library raiding scene lmaoo)

BB betrayed bonnet by raiding his ship and marooning his crew while bonnet was off getting a pardon

SO BONNET SWORE REVENGE AGAINST BB who was at the time, the most feared pirate

this led to him adopting another alias - "he also changes his name, at the time he goes by captain edward's. which is really interesting, I don't know if that's an homage to, you know, edward teach, but.. captain edward's with an "s", that's as if he's.. a possession of captain edward" ONCE AGAIN 👀👀👀👀

HE ESCAPED PRISON BY DRESSING AS A WOMAN

after escaping, he was promised a sloop by some rando. when the rando didnt deliver, bonnet "WROTE HIM A STRONGLY WORDED LETTER REPRIMANDING THE MAN"

that letter led to him being recaptured 😭😭

he was hanged while holding a bouquet of wilted flowers

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

One of the things I most appreciate about OFMD is how it doesn't flinch.

We see the sticky bits. We see Stede get to stumble at being a captain, we see how his recollections of his family change with guilt and time. We get to see Ed absolutely Going Through It, and his pain, heartbreak, and desperation are all shown with such care and sympathy. One of the first times I can remember thinking "oh this show is good good" was Ed's panic attack in s1e6, because he's allowed to cry and look terrified and need help. Stede's allowed to fuck up and slide back, Ed's allowed to be an imperfect victim who gets angry and fights back. They're allowed to do things that hurt themselves and others because those are human mistakes to make.

And through it all, because it's done with such honesty and sympathy and care, the overall effect is warm and loving and comfortable. The entire show feels like a warm hug, like joy and someone telling you it'll be okay. It's so earnest and special.

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

I adore Izzy and Stede's interactions in s2e3, because they're so consistently proving to Izzy that he does not know Stede like he thought he did.

Going into s2, even as Izzy begins to realize that he fucked up by threatening Ed until Ed went so hard back into the Blackbeard persona, Izzy has two big assumptions.

he knows Ed better than anyone else

Stede Bonnet is his rival

And in s2e3 Stede is just consistently responding to those with "??? wtf is your problem?"

Izzy telling Ed that he knows him better than anyone else was already laughable. At this point in his arc, he's still talking about Ed like some crazed animal with erratic, unpredictable behavior. He does not talk about or treat Ed like a person with feelings. But when he starts in trying to tell Stede about how Ed was a "wild dog" (that line still makes my lip curl, jesus) and makes Ed out to be wildly cruel by saying deserting him "was better than he would've done for us" despite how Ed literally did just that in the s1 finale, Stede consistently meets him by thinking of Ed's feelings, not taking the bait, and feeling awful for how much his actions hurt Ed. He thinks of Ed as a person and refuses to conform to the language Izzy uses.

Izzy, in s1 and at the start of s2, sees Stede as a sort of romantic rival at the same time as he clearly considers Ed and Stede's love for each other as a whim, a passing crush. Neither Ed nor Stede think of Izzy in romantic terms, this is abundantly clear, and Izzy (world's most repressed man) doesn't have a fucking clue what love looks like. Izzy spends so much of this episode trying to get a rise out of Stede, pretending he was the one who slashed up the painting, challenging Stede to yell at him after Stede sees what he thinks is Ed's dead body. And Stede doesn't give him fucking anything. He's just constantly kinda fed up with Izzy. His mental energy is elsewhere - he doesn't even look at Izzy when Izzy tries to thank him near the end of the episode.

Absolutely fascinating to think about where Izzy's mind must have been this episode. He learned he was expendable to Ed in s2e1, here he's learning that he doesn't take up literally any space at all in Stede's brain, either. Stede constantly proves him wrong by making thoughtful, empathetic guesses about Ed's mental state, and when he brings up the "doggy heaven" reference, something he wouldn't have known about had Ed not told him, it confirms that he was a confidante for Ed, something Izzy never was. Izzy never understood either of them, and this episode is him getting to realize that.

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

This show has done absolutely amazing things. It made Taika fall in love with acting again, it gave Rhys the confidence to know that he can be a leading man and an incredible one. Con felt so much love from the fans that he was comfortable coming out as queer.

They loved the show as much as we did and it makes me happy that at least the renewal campaign achieved something, if not the result we hoped for

The renewal campaign wasn't for nothing. I hope everyone knows that. The cast and crew felt valued and supported and DJenks made sure to let us know that made this whole terrible thing so much easier for them. That's not nothing. That's a real, tangible impact we had, and we should be damn proud of it.

This show meant so much to so many people. Nothing can ever take that away from us. Permanent ink.

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

@badthingshappenbingo

Bad things Happen Bingo: On a Leash

Warnings: Dehumanization, Whipping, Referenced/Implied Torture

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Our Flag Means Death (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet Characters: Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Stede Bonnet, Crew of the Revenge (Our Flag Means Death) Additional Tags: Stede Bonnet Needs a Hug, Stede Bonnet Whump, Circus, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, MerStede, Mermaid Stede, Dehumanization, Whipping, References to The Little Mermaid (Disney Movies), Alternate Universe Mermaid, Implied/Referenced Torture, Implied/Referenced Abuse, No Beta, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat Series: Part 2 of Bad Things Happen Bingo Summary:

When a flyer for a circus is dropped at his feet, Ed makes a shocking discovery.

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

It’s a week until Easter so time to share this. Original doctor who format by the person in the watermark (far as I can tell they deleted their account) and GO addition by me

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

Bad things Happen Bingo: On a Leash

Warnings: Dehumanization, Whipping, Referenced/Implied Torture

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Our Flag Means Death (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet Characters: Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Stede Bonnet, Crew of the Revenge (Our Flag Means Death) Additional Tags: Stede Bonnet Needs a Hug, Stede Bonnet Whump, Circus, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, MerStede, Mermaid Stede, Dehumanization, Whipping, References to The Little Mermaid (Disney Movies), Alternate Universe Mermaid, Implied/Referenced Torture, Implied/Referenced Abuse, No Beta, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat Series: Part 2 of Bad Things Happen Bingo Summary:

When a flyer for a circus is dropped at his feet, Ed makes a shocking discovery.

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

“The entire British museum is an active crime scene” - John Oliver

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

I'm glad this happened in the first place because jfc look at the world and look at the tv landscape right now, it's so surprising it was allowed to take off in the first place. it got a happy ending and yeah they never got to finish the story but they still told some of it and it changed so many lives and people even with the little it was offered. Through bloodied knuckles and clenched teeth, they still managed to tell a godsdamned good story because - good art endures. Fandoms older than us, older than the creators even have lasted and will outlast everyone.

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

David Tennant and Michael Sheen at the BAFTA 2020 presenting the award for Best Mini Serie. They did it Staged style 😍

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

ofmd as text posts: oops! all ed edition | part 12