#4: ed and fang stuff

[jellybeanium124]

I think the reason I love "The Curse of the Seafaring Life" so much is because it's the "22 Short Films About Springfield" of OFMD. It's just a silly exploration of these characters! 11 Short Films About The Revenge.

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Samba had a baking class! There he revealed some scenes that were cut/rewritten at some point in the process include:

From Samba: Calypso’s birthday was supposed to be LuPete wedding and wee John and Roach were trying to get Ed and Stede to hook up. Roach is the one who would have given Stede the pierced ear. Wee John makes Ed an outfit. Then Stede & Ed actually danced! Samba likes what the episode changed to, and that they didn't force the Ed/Stede relationship earlier. This episode would have been a combination of Parent Trap+Makeovers+Slow Dancing [SLIGHT agreement about being happy they didn't push the relationship (as they move it from being the point of ep 6 to the end of ep 6), I'm just more mad that they made the LuPete wedding a last minute thing. This still would have felt rushed after multiple non-apologies from Ed. A part of me says they wanted the drag bits? But then you're telling me Lucius wouldn't want Wee John in drag at his wedding, which just sounds SO out of character]

[CUT SCENE] The reason Buttons had a rope around his waist for ep 1 was because he kept on trying to run to the sea. They had scenes showing this but it was cut.

[CUT SCENE] S2E1 where Stede's crew were all making wishes for a ship. Black Pete wished that Lucius would be alive on the ship, Olu wished that Jim would be on the ship, and Roach wished for a big kitchen on the ship!

[CUT SCENE] Apparently a LOT of Jim/Olu scenes were cut, including one where Archie and Olu step out of the bedroom in boxers. Confirming 100% that they are all poly, and Jim/Olu was still together together. With a hint of maybe Olu/Archie?

BEHIND-THE-SCENES STUFF

The 'Don’t you want your Sammie' sandwich scene in ep 4 was fully improvised, and that on top of getting hit in the face is why Nathan broke.

Thumb war scene was improv, which is a shame, as to me this was the most romantic moment of the fucking season. It's just so soft, and sweet, and happy.

Stede's jacket from ep5 is cursed irl bc the fire alarm went off w/ no explanation in the first scene with the jacket

David Fane got bit by an eel on the toe while filming the Roach&Fang spa scene

So they really seemed to have had a decent script then changed it, for some reason. It wouldn't have fixed everything, but it does confirm my theory that they mostly cut scenes with the crew/rewrote episodes so the crew wasn't heavily featured.

ALSO: Samba wanted to do an official podcast when the season was releasing but couldn't due to the strikes.

[adickaboutspoons]

@bogeymangrandy I’m sorry - I know it’s prolly bad Tumblr etiquette to address a reply in a whole new post, but this is kind of too big an answer to address in the space a reply offers.

So the weird, shitty unchecked racist stuff isn’t JUST contained to episode 5. In episode 3, Izzy says Ed “was a wild dog, and we dealt with him like one.” It’s to set up the “doggy heaven” line, which is doing some heavy lifting in terms of conveying to Izzy exactly how much Ed trusted and confided in Stede, but referring to a MOC as a dog, especially a wild one, is still fucking gross, and, worse, it’s only part of a pattern of racist sentiments. In episode 6, Izzy tells Ed “I thought you were Roach” - that old “they all look alike to me” chestnut. Thanks, I fucking loathe it.

But episode 5 is particularly packed with troublingly racist bullshit, and carries with it connotations for the wider season.

The most straight-forward is when Stede tells Izzy that Blackbeard “credited you with a lot of his skills,” and then “you taught him everything he knows.” If it’s meant to be read as true, it’s attributing all the talent, skill, and brilliance of a MOC to some white dude. But even if it’s meant to be read as Stede flattering Izzy to get what he wants out of him (which I think it is - the whole thing with the fog in season 1 episode 4 kind of hinges on Ed having knowledge and skills that Izzy does not), it’s still not great because it means Stede thinks stroking some mediocre white guy’s ego is worth more than Ed’s reputation, which means he learned nothing from the tavern scene in season 1 episode 10 where he similarly disparages Ed’s reputation for the gratification of his white compatriots.

Similarly, consider him shouting “those fucking barbarians!” after the mostly POC (and Pete) crew rip his red coat, and compare to “You savages!” in season 1 episode 2 when Stede thinks the indigenous people who have captured him have roasted Wellington and Hornberry on a spit. But at least in season 1 Stede gets rightfully called out for being a racist. Season 2 has yet to push back.

Then, there’s the portrayal of retributive justice (the idea that, for justice to be served, a transgressor has to be punished). We start the episode with Ed in his penitence onesie and cat bell. And there is that whole Biblical connotation of sackcloth as an expression of humility, but it also calls to mind the ill-fitted and low-quality material of prison uniforms, with the cat bell as a low-tech ankle monitor, uncomfortably tight and alerting everyone to his position at all times. I’ve seen his non-pology framed as a corporate “apology” and I do think that’s mostly what they’re going for here, but there’s also an element of the preformative penitence that prisoners are forced to undergo during parole hearings. This is Ed being punished for his Kraken-era transgressions.

Now compare to how Izzy, a white dude, has been offered rehabilitative justice this season - never had to grovel, never had to debase himself, never even had to offer a single word of apology for any of the dire shit he inflicted on the crew in season 1, but was nonetheless given the unconditional support and resources he needed to transform into essentially a completely different person. 

It’s not just the races of the people upon whom these different modes of justice are being implemented that is significant - it’s also the races of the aggrieved parties in how they respond to the “justice” imparted by the retributive model, because we also see two direct, individual applications of retributive justice in the episode; Ed offering Lucius to push him overboard, and Fang describing how he brutalized Ed’s body after Jim knocked him unconscious. With Lucius, we see that he experiences a momentary thrill of vengeance, but almost immediately it flares out, and he’s still just as traumatized as before, and perhaps even more obsessed with Ed. Clearly, for him, a white dude, this primitive, Hamurabian form of justice does not give him closure. With Fang, a MOC, it’s the exact opposite - Ed terrorized him, he beat Ed up, and now they’re sweet.

In isolation, this wouldn’t read as implying that white people are more “civilized” and “evolved” than POC - except all the other POC that Kraken!Ed tormented are also seemingly fine now. Jim and Archie are immediately laughing and joking about torture after the non-pology, and Frenchie is debuting a new fancy cat flag and pointing out that “at least he’s wearing the sack” when Lucius starts freaking out about Blackbeard being back. There’s also a running through-line across several episodes about the supremacy of white, colonial values and civility, but I’ll get back to that in just a moment.

Because now we have to talk about the matter of the curse. Because, again, we’re seeing a break-down across racial lines. Team Curse is Jim, Archie, Olu, Frenchie, Roach, and token white guy Pete (the Swede having abandoned the crew for his new paramore, Buttons having transmogrified, Lucius busy being traumatized elsewhere, and Wee John just MIA). Team “Curses aren’t real” is Izzy and Stede. So this isn’t like season 1 where everyone is just kinda hilariously science illiterate and superstitious (like with the “not a mermaid” conversation) - instead, we’ve got a group of superstitious POC vs. the rational, enlightened White Dudes. And the White Dudes are unequivocally correct. Peanuts ARE a serious allergen (and a legume, not a bean). Yeast is what causes bread to rise, not fairies. Ergo curses AREN’T real, and the crew are being irrational. So when Stede relents at the end and agrees to give up his suit, it’s not him conceding that there is validity to his POC crew’s worldview - it’s a white dude condescending to the poor, simple-minded, uncivilized folk even though he’s for sure in the right. Isn’t that just SO magnanimous of him? Isn’t it awfully white of him?

And given that the White view is the Right view in episode 5, we have to start interrogating the other places where that idea shows up. In episode 1, we hear a white priest bloviating about how "The natural condition of humanity is base and vile. It is the obligation of people of standing, such as yourselves, to elevate the common human rabble through the sacred transaction of matrimony.” Normally (and at the time when I first watched it) I would clock this as CRITICAL of the tendency of predominantly white cultures to be self-congratulatory of how THEIR ceremonies are so much more CIVILIZED than those of the savage  - as though they invented the concepts of commitment and monogamy, and as though those concepts are inherently better than the alternatives. But then we have Ed, a MOC, issuing an objection - not to the specific union, but to the concept of a nice, white wedding in general, followed by a raid that Jim later comments on: “Is it just me or was the wedding thing a bit over the line?”

And, consider, in season 1 episode 3, Jim drops this line on Olu when he points out that Jim killed one of Jackie’s husbands: “We live in a state of nature.” So the “natural condition” is intrinsically tied up with that hyper-violent pirate lifestyle, and if even one of the practitioners thereof is clocking it as “a bit over the line” - does it not follow that the bloviating priest was RIGHT? That the white man sure DOES have that burden to take up, doesn’t he?

Which is exactly what Ricky is proposing in his little speech in episode 6: "It's up to us fine gentlemen to stand up against this modern piracy and stay vigilant". And we KNOW that Ricky is full of shit. We KNOW that he’s backing up his racist agenda with a self-serving, revisionist narrative. But maybe it would be better if he also didn’t, maybe, have a point? I guess what I’m saying is that I really miss the days when a racist got a knife through the hand or their ship burned down and it was something to be celebrated, and that I’m not loving the idea this season that maybe the racists are kind of in the right.

[three--rings]

So it turns out there were a lot of things from S2 I was waiting to pass judgement on until I saw how they played out and...I ended up not thrilled about. And it's all these little things that keep bothering me.

Things I'm not happy with in OFMD S2:

-Jim and Olu feel retconned into not being in love. Like I know we want to talk about happy polycule but it feels like they aren't even very close this season? They were even more of a secondary ship than Lucius and Pete in S1 but we got essentially no good Jim/Olu stuff in S2. Instead we got the Olu/Zheng Yi Sao romance which on paper sounds good, but lacked chemistry. Especially from Olu's side. I feel like they kept repeating that "break in your day" thing cause they didn't have anything else. IDK weird weird decisions were made. I don't mind the Jim/Archie stuff at all but that was also not given any real romance time. They kissed and then I guess that was that?

-While on the subject of Zhang Yi Sao...why was she there? Like, don't get me wrong, I love her character and her inclusion in the show, but while the build-up in the first few episodes was great, then...they did basically nothing with her. Her entire plan was foiled by a moron in a split second and then..IDK she's now just riding on the Revenge and not even in charge? She's come way down in the world and I don't like it.

-Izzy dying. I don't mind the death scene itself, (though i wanted Izzy's friends on the crew more involved) but I think having him die shifts the genre and is disappointing in a way that feels unlike this show. more to be said obviously but not in this post.

-Speaking of that scene I grow more and more annoyed with Izzy saying "they love you, Ed." Not because it's not a great sentiment that would be narratively meaningful, but because it's NOT DEMONSTRABLY TRUE. Who loves Ed on that crew? Maybe Fang? There was absolutely no moments between Ed and crew after ep 3. They tolerate him for Stede's sake is all I can say. They love Stede. They love Izzy. And then Ed just leaves them and they are probably relieved.

-the way the central problem the whole season with Ed and Stede was communication but they never actually do anything about that, just declare victory.

-the way there was no climax or resolution with any antagonist in the last episode, they just barely escape, swear revenge like they're gonna head into battle, and then retire. Which makes ZERO sense and it bothers me SO MUCH.

-The lack of Stede and Ed costuming. IDK if it's because I've been writing a fic for a year centered around the clothing but like the show feels incomplete if they're not getting to dress up. I was looking forward to Ed wearing more than his leathers and we got a rice sack. This is entirely a personal gripe and not important but, yeah.

-Zero focus on the crew and no new info about any of them. I was really, really looking forward to getting more backstory, more personal info on characters like Roach, Frenchie, Wee John, but no.

And yanno, the thing is that I'm not unhappy with what S2 GAVE us. I like most of it. I love eps 1-6. Though 6 is showing the pacing issues badly. But what I miss is what we DIDN'T get. None of the stuff on screen was bad per se or couldn't have fit into a very excellent, cohesive season of TV. But I feel like all the connective tissue, all the thematic resolution, all the stuff that would have made it shine was missing.

Like they had a bunch of notecards of great scenes and filmed them but forgot to write the parts to connect them in a meaningful way? IDK this season feels a little like a first draft?

Not eps 1-3 though. I feel like they were perfect, and then they ran out of time/energy to polish the rest. (4-5 were also great, but they could have fit in with the rest better ultimately.)

I feel like people who are happy with this season are like 'we got this moment and this scene!' and that's great and cool and I also love that moment but I'm still left unsatisfied by the whole, yanno. Sigh.

[neurosiscocktail]

OFMD finale spoilers ahead-

I’m on my third rewatch because I read the Vanity Fair article, and I’ve heard some really interesting opinions that differed from my own, and so I rewatched it with all of that in mind. unfortunately I still just think the last episode was not great. Some stuff I really enjoyed, but a lot that I didn’t.

1) no one searched the hostage for weapons? You’re telling me not one of the people who have been pirates most of their lives thought to search the hostage.

2) Izzy might have insisted, but putting the most notable and visibly recognizable pirate on your crew front and center feels like a very stupid move. A large part of this season was about Stede learning to be a pirate, and it feels like they slashed his character development and Ed, Izzy, Fang, Roach, and several other crew members critical thinking skills because they wanted to kill Izzy.

3) they did a good job foreshadowing his death. I kind of always knew it was coming, but wasn’t paying much attention because I didn’t want to. I really dig the fairytale themes. Someone else mentioned this and once I was looking for it I really loved it!

4) now that I’m looking for it, I see a lot of places where Izzy was a mentor and I get what he was going for and don’t mind it, really like it in some ways. however, the docking joke made me very uncomfortable now that he’s said Ed sees Izzy as a father figure. (I think I was a little delayed on seeing this because I was busy making jokes about how they were cowards for not hiring a child to play Izzy, since in real life he was estimated 15 years old when ~38 year old Ed and Stede met)

5) now that I’ve rewatched it with the writers intent in mind, I still think the “killing your redeemed antagonists” and the “killing your mentors because they have nothing left to teach” troupes are bad and lazy. Knowing that that’s what he was going for didn’t make it less so. I thought it might. If you love this troupe, more power to you, they did a good job with it and this finale was probably right up your alley. I unfortunately find it to be lazy writing and the troupe stopped being good 40 years ago.

6) Lucius was AMAZING this season. I thought his arc dealing with his trauma was very good and very realistic. I love that they didn’t just hand wave off his experience, but had him deal with things in a tangible way.

7) again, I still don’t understand why cartoon rules apply to everyone but Izzy and this gunshot wound.

8) I really loved the relationships between Izzy and the crew this season but especially him and Jim, Frenchie, and Lucius. I thought the casual intimacy really showed how their relationships developed.

9) His death speech and funeral were worse on the second and third watch when I was really paying attention and not bawling my eyes out. Ed has really… not been forgiven by the crew. A lot of them did, but Lucius sure didn’t, and it seems like they accepted his ‘apology’ but they still don’t trust him. So to have his death speech, one, include him taking more accountability for Blackbeard, which Ed hasn’t done at all yet, and then follow it up with the crew being his family who love him felt weird. It felt like that speech was written when we had 2 more episodes of character growth that got cut. Because that did not seem like how they felt. There really wasn’t much happening with the crew during his death or funeral which felt weird. Except Roach at the funeral. That was excellent.

- addendum: I know that death speeches in shows are for the protagonist but I feel like some of it should have been about him, and not an apology? The whole thing just felt awkward. And we have heard from creators that Izzy is a deeply sentimental man, not burying him with his ring and using it as a grave marker where anyone could steal it felt bad.

10) I felt when they first introduced the prince that he was supposed to be a wake up call for Stede. It seemed like he was meant to represent what Stede could have been. A spoiled rich brat with no common sense or thoughts about how his actions effect others. Someone who views themself as a main character and everyone else is a supporting role. When he was first introduced it felt like that was supposed to be a wake up call for Stede- “this is what you could have been if you didn’t want to be better. If you weren’t kinder and more empathetic” and I thought that started off really well, but then it felt like they took back some of Stede’s character development and it didn’t pack as big of a punch.

11) I really feel like Stede and Ed have not been put in a good position to be successful in the very intense relationship they have just started. They have just decided to completely isolate themselves, when we just had a whole episode foreboding doing that. I LOVE Mary and Anne, but I do feel like the finale had Ed and Stede just ignore every warning they got and I feel like that’s been disappointing- feeling like their characters were making progress but ended somewhere where they didn’t actually make any progress. It was all very romantic but lends itself to 0 longevity.

12) Ed especially felt stunted this season. Stede made some great progress, but Ed just kept running away from his problems, figuratively and literally and not taking accountability. I love Ed, but I think if I didn’t already love him before watching this season, this season wouldn’t have convinced me to. I’m not sure where that leaves us for season 3- I think maybe that season will be about him having to actually face himself, and I look forward to it.

Overall I feel like I could have really loved this season if the writers were given more budget and time, and they weren’t, and that’s not their fault. However, I’m really not thrilled about the product we were left with. Which is unfortunately kind of what MAX wants because it has really seemed like they’ve been trying to cut this wildly successful show.

Again, dissatisfaction with a season is not a reason to harass other fans, writers, or actors. I’d love to hear how other people are feeling about things

[remypat]

Theories for Episodes 4 & 5

If you haven't watched the first 3 episodes, beware! Spoilers up ahead!

Ok, so Blackbeard tried to murder literally everyone on the revenge. There is not a single person person aboard that would be cool with him just hanging about (with the exception of Stede ofc). My thinking is that for episode 4:

-the crew will be begging Stede to maroon Ed, or just leave him at their next stop, Stede's gonna be all, 'i can change him, we can make this work'

-the Bell comes into play here because Ed is alive and terrifying and his presence must be known at all times. When he is near, everyone flinches, Fang nearly cries and that sets everyone off.

-Ed isn't going to want to stay aboard the revenge anymore. He would be happy to leave especially with Stede being so close by, it's just a stab wound to the heart everytime they're near, which brings me to my next point

-We all know the reunion is gonna be awkward as hell and Stede's heart is gonna fucking shatter, because yeah they love each other and yeah, Stede literally brought Ed back from the purgatory, but as if Ed's gonna just be straight up with him about it. Nah, he's gonna downplay it all and they are gonna pine for each other and it's gonna drive EVERYONE INSANE

-Just imagine it, the pining, Stede and Ed wistfully glancing at one another from across the ship, Ed turns away, Stede looks down all sad, Ed looks back at him, you can hear the swell of their hearts, its gonna be ridiculous, it'll be very akin to the "Ohmygod this is happening"

-Auxiliary Wardrobe reveal!!! Since only Ed and Stede know of it's existence, I am willing to bet that they spend some time talking in there but what is the state of the room? Is it pristine, untouched and unsoiled? Is it Ed's personal crying hole? Has he been sleeping in there, running his fingers across silks and throwing stuff around in fits of anger? I'm not too sure, but it'd be sweet if it's almost as Stede left it. Ed already destroyed so much of Stede's but this was something he also loved.

-Mary and Anne!!! The crew of the revenge decide to port and lo and behold, Ed knows where to go and finds his old friends! I have a feeling that after that whole awkward dinner double date, Ed will finally tell Stede that he isn't coming back aboard the revenge. That he doesn't want them to be like Anne and Mary just doing crazy shit to make their romance interesting. They'll see the red flags in their own relationship and well

-Ed leaves...

Something interesting that I noticed upon my rewatch of the teaser for episodes 4 & 5 is that when Stede is talking to Izzy and is basically asking him to teach him all that he knows, Stede says, "Blackbeard did say you taught him everything you know" Blackbeard??? Why isn't he calling him 'Edward'??? Just an interesting lil detail.

-the curse episode is gonna be goofy as hell and a much needed palate cleanser after all the angsty shit we've witnessed.

-another lil detail from the teaser, Stede has made they captain's cabin his again! He's getting dressed up, he has fixed the furniture or gotten new stuff, and it's very telling to me that Ed is gone . Izzy is even sitting in the cabin, entertaining Stede's antics .

-So, Izzy will become (somewhat) loyal to stede. After all, he saved their lives,didn't take out his anger upon them even after they admitted to killing Ed. No, Stede is flourishing as a captain and Izzy sees the potential to serve under Stede, and now that Ed's gone what else really is he to do?

-Izzy and Stede become (somewhat) besties!!! They train together, probably mourn the love of Ed together too. The crew grows back together and it's fun times again! But Stede still misses Ed deeply..

OMG actually what if they do indeed 'break up' so when we see Stede back at Spanish Jackie's, he's gone full 20-something-year-old, and is all 'Yeah, see this Ed? I'm having a great time without you! I don't feel even a sliver of sadness since we broke up, I'm gonna get absolutely trashed, I don't miss you at all-'

I'm gonna scream into the next year if that happens.

Anywho, these are just my predictions! Literally had to write 'em down because we still have 3 more days until we get our next episodes and I'm losing my mind!

Tell me what you guys think!

[cyborg-squid]

i am quite excited with all the new Arknights stuff but 1) i finished playing Chapter 13 but still have to go back and read it, so the story portion is a little jammed in me right now, 2) i will have to play and read Zwillingsturm as well, 3) whatever big big stuff went on with the Babel event, and 4) i really am getting tired of Arknights alts. at least the way they've been doing them. so i'm a little Arknights-ed out at the moment.

a new Amiya class is good, an alt for Fang is a-okay, but an alt for W feels really unnecessary. she's already good! she already has a large story presence! the anniversary video literally has her walking alongside Amiya and Ch'en, showing her possession of the Protagonist Nature! she doesn't need an alt to prove that! AND SHE'S ALREADY LIMITED!!! i mean, i guess it's kinda like what Granblue's been doing with new versions of their already SSR units, selling you back characters that you already own.

i'm mostly fine with alts and new versions of low-rarity operators (Lava, Hibiscus, Fang, Kroos, Jessica) or ones for operators that, frankly speaking, weren't the best or even particularly good when they first came out (Texas, Skadi, Swire), but ones of units that are/were good, like Specter, Eyja, Ch'en (debatably)? c'mon man. and actually it further sucks that the Ch'en and Swire ones are seasonal swimsuit ones. like, okay, a seasonal version more powerful than the original one, that's old hat in gacha games and i'm used to it (*cough cough* Yukata Vania *cough cough*) but i don't like, in Arknights, these seasonal versions being where the continuations of Ch'en and Swire's respective stories are being put.

Also i wish that Bloodline of Combat skin for Ch'en Alter was available for original Ch'en, it's quite good. or really just give OG Ch'en a new outfit that does away with the Cop-py-ness, it's been shown multiple times that she has progressed past solely Lungmen and is a Rhodes Island operator, give us an outfit to illustrate that. it really sucked that the paid outfit for season 2 of the anime was even more Cop-py than her base E2 art.

also hey wait a second, with the new outfits, is this Corrupting Heart's 2nd Bloodline of Combat outfit? like, it looks good, she looks good, but c'mon, distribute that to those who haven't gotten any yet.

this turned into mostly me complaining and then talking about Ch'en. i really like her, not in the "bluh bluh muh waifu" sort of way, she's just such an interesting character and gets so many cool moments in the latter half of Reunion Arc (doubledragons), she's more than just the sort of "One Chapter Protag Operators" that we get every now and then (Blaze+Greythroat in chapter 6, Horn+Bagpipe in early Victoria Arc, Stainless in 10 and 11, etc...), she's really really central for a large part of AK's story and has well written relationships with Amiya and Talulah, the 'full' protagonist and antagonists of Arc 1, she is on a similar level as them, so to speak.

[mx-flint]

So huh, this season sucked. They made so many decisions i don't understand or completely disagree with. For example adding so many new character for some reason (when there's no way we're getting a s3, especially not after this shitshow of a finale) like Jim's girlfried and the pirate queen (jankins really saw the criticism of s1 concerning the fact that there was 0 women in s1 and said aight bet. And then gave us nothing) and ignoring all the other characters that were beloved and interesting in s1: Olu, Jim, Frenchie, big john, Fang... they all had like. 4 lines between them. I also don't understand why they had to ''broke up'' Olu and Jim??? When they had a really nice relationship??? And set Olu up with pirate queen after literally 2 interactions??? All the ned Lowe's episode they wated when they could have used it for better character development instead of for Stede to show off his ''pirate skills''. I don't undestand why they made Ed leave in ep7 just for him to get back in the first 3 minutes of ep8. Also Ed and Stede opening an inn makes no sense for where they are in their journey, especially Stede. They put too much stuff together when they know full well they're not getting a s3

They should have cut all the new characters and focus on the ones we already had. Because i don't give a fuck about Jim's girlfriend and all the other new characters. Pirate queen had the possibility to be a really fun character and yet did nothing all season. This season had real pacing issues, character development issues, fucking button (a fun character) turns into a fucking seagull in ep3 or 4 and just disspears (again why since he was actually funny and this is supposed to be a comedy). Ed is a terrible character in this season, just does what other people tell him to do and treats the crew horribly and no one cares! He doesen't apologise and no one cares! And the chemistry between him and these is horrible. And then they go and kill off Izzy after a season of very interesting character development, you can't just kill off a suicidal character after a suicide attempt and justify it with ''he wants to go'' fuck you. I hope there's no s3 because i don't think the writers and creators deserve it.

(Also Izzy's monologue in ep8 was bad. You're not black sails you will never be black sails. Get better writers)

[crimsonblackrose]

.

Poor Miggy looking for Sam.

And of course they're fighting. Sam, just listen to Tory would you. (I know she's having a rough time.)

Both Miguel and Robby need like body armor for the Tory Sam fights.

I also think it's funny that they keep doing this and it literally never works.

Sam yelling that Tory's been working with Kreese. Like a lot of conversation was listened to before Sam went on offense.

Oh hey at least both girls left without any damage, and neither Robby or Miggy got hurt, so actually progress.

I also like the way they meet up after both girls leave and are like wait did you know about this? No, no idea.

UGH it's literally been maybe 4 weeks max since Carmen is considered pregnant, the baby would not be that big. It for sure wouldn't have features.

Johnny wouldn't know that, but Carmen for sure would.

Carmen's doctor is Dr. Howard.

Johnny remembers where they parked, "Punch twice, p2"

Carmen says "Lawrence-Diaz" and Johnny likes it and cue Silver.

Silver got in on 3, quite possibly another hint of him being sick/dying or something.

"To congratulate you. What you and your partner have accomplished is a joy few get to experience." Johnny: Who told you about the baby.

Silver says he's doing everything for their future and his own, and tells Johnny to savor every moment before it's gone.

Which sounds like a threat, but I mean if he's dying it could be like Tommy's note.

Daniel wants to go to the portugese place on Laurel.

Louie wants to plan it and use it as an away to apologize for blowing up his car.

Reggie can hook Louie up with a free limo.

Johnny says there has to be dancing because Carmen loves dancing.

Louie told them to dress nice and he'll pick them up at 8, they don't all live together bud.

Anoush has a date.

Demetri to Hawk: Never let me miss a house party again.

Bert says he's friends with Stingray and stingray wouldn't lie to him.

Robby walking into Cobra Kai to apologize, Robby is so freaking brave. "I let you down. I turned my back on you. I didn't understand at the time but I realize now I was wrong. I shouldn't have just left.

Like he knows Silver kicked his sensei's ass, beat the tar out of Daniel. He knows Kreese was in prison, that his guy beat Stingray into a coma and was like yeah, I'm going to waltz in and tell his students I'm sorry for leaving them behind here.

Robby is a badass.

There is pain in this dojo because it's built upon fear, because this man is not your sensei, he is your enemy.

Tory shouldn't have nodded, Kim saw it.

Reggie's ride or die.

And this is Reggie:

Chozen has to remove all his weapons, he keeps sai's in his jacket pockets. But he'll at least get to pick them up again when he leaves.

Johnny looks around to see what he should order, sees a white claw, tries it, spits it out, says "It tastes like watermelon took a piss." and then shrugs and takes another sip

The LaRussos order a ketel martini, straight up, Macallan 18 neat and Chozen says no drink. He wants to stay ready in case Silver attacks.

Chozen orders a long island iced tea

Louie omg

Louie shows up with a tray full of shots "Oh, i've got shots kids" and gives this look to Johnny

when he says this stuff is strong, almost like a kick to the face.

They all cheer in Okinawan Karii

Stingray is hosting dungeons and dojo's games where he's the DM

he's the worst dojo master. Apparently, all of the party or at least most of the party died.

Everyone is gluten intolerant so he's not sure whose at the door.

His whole D&D group leaves past Bert.

Miyagi-fangs, oh this is a trap, you admiral ackbar-ed me.

Carmen points out that if Chozen was using fake weights wasn't he scamming himself out of money and not the villagers?

I like Daniel using Chozen's words against him. "No, I will get" in a very jokingly angry voice. Mimicking Chozen.

Amanda: That dance floor is calling my name. Carmen: Mine too. Amanda: Come and get it girl.

Carmen asks if Johnny is coming to dance with her but he looks at Chozen drinking his long island alone and tells her he'll catch the next one.

Dude truly knows what it's like to be alone, and probably to be an extra wheel with couples and doesn't want Chozen left fully alone.

Chozen asks Johnny how he's doing. Johnny: Honestly? I'm not sure.

Johnny says his whole life has been haunted by one stupid kick.

dodge it, block it, his life would be fixed. The kick wasn't the problem he had to stop focusing on what was behind and start looking at what was right in front of him.

Chozen says We are same. Both make mistakes. Both feel guilt for pain we caused. Now you have, uh, friends. family, children. I always wanted same things.

Ugh the thing that Terry started with Daniel but now stone. Someone please save her.

"it's solid stone, I will break my hand" "it will heal in time for the tournament"- Kim

Tory tries to leave, "I'm going home." and three of Kim's hench- sensei's literally block her path.

"I broke up with him because of this dojo you bitch." literally breaks the stone behind Kim. You go girl, but also owie.

"That must've been a hard decision."

They literally all leave Tory there curled up on the mat bleeding.

in another universe this was Stingrays D&D group

If I tell you what really happened he'll find out. I can't. It's not that easy you guys.

And then he realizes he can just tell a story instead. "I've been working on this new D&D campaign" and Miguel is like okay we don't have time, but Eli gets what Stingray is up to.

Stingray is a dwarven monk

and he pretty much says he'd give up everything he got if he could, after all the silver haired king nearly killed the monk. And his voice trembles when he says it and Bert I think catches how bad it really was.

Stingray wanted to be a proud and nobel warrior like Sam and Hawk but he's neither proud nor noble and not a warrior either. He's just really scared. He apologizes.

Sam leaves upset that she didn't get the info she needed. She's frustrated because if she had know, then the dojo wouldn't have had to close, maybe her and Miguel wouldn't have broken up. Just a lot of painful what if's.

Miggy pointing out that Tory telling them what happened must've been so hard. Sam doesn't know what it's like to be a part of Cobra Kai, but Miggy does.

Chozen's a good dude man. | Ah, that's putting it mildly.

Johnny tells Daniel that Chozen likes Kumiko and before he can continue Carmen pops up, says "No more talk, you're mine" and drags him towards the dance floor. "Gotta go." is all Johnny says clapping Daniel's arm on his way.

"I'm pretty sure they don't keep giant slabs of ice on hand Chozen."

"What kind of bar is this?"

as children chozen and kumiko played together in the ruins of king shō hashi castle. Chozen would hide and Kumiko would always find him. After Chozen's disgrace, he tried to hide from everything and Kumiko found him again, her kindness brought him back. She doesn't know how he feels. How he treated her, what he did to her. Unforgivable

Louie sees anoush, see's he's with Vanessa, Anoush tries to calm him down, Louie punches him in the face, Vanessa slaps him. Louie: You can do better than him, you're embarrassing the family. Anoush ducks down and charges at Louie.

Louie: Get your boyfriend off of me. Vanessa: I'm trying.

Daniel: Classic Louie. Limo, drinks, and some trouble.

Chozen: I'm glad I came here, but I made one big mistake, I should've taken you with me. (panic) okay bye.

Carmen and Amanda are going to take an uber home. Chozen has already dived into the limo yelling party time.

As a sketchy uber driver Johnny tells them to make sure it's an uber black.

Sam seeing injured Tory and then saying if you're having trouble with cobra kai i'd be willing to listen, tory lets her in.

Sam finally sees everything pretty much everyone has been telling her.

Her mom is now in a hospital bed. Previously she was in a bed with some machines but it was still a bedroom, now it looks empty of everything but the hospital bed.

The interior layout is different from before. I think this is the same interior layout as Johnny and Miggy's place

Kim wants Devon Lee to be the new champion.

I remembered being so tense the first time I watched this. With Silver saying he was going to take care of it, our party splitting into three. Amanda and Carmen on their own, Anoush and Louie finding out Reggie's not driving, the guys plastered but singing eye of the tiger. (Maybe they should do a rock karaoke night)

Daniel and Johnny realizing they're not there yet.

Lol i forgot they end the episode on Johnny, Chozen and Daniel realizing they're trapped in the back of the limo and don't know whose driving, can't get out and it's just careening so they keep slamming from side to side.

[bemusedlybespectacled]

One of my major problems with Season 2 is that, yeah, technically stuff happened, but you end up needing to take what the show is telling you entirely at face value, with no thought as to the overall implications or how it fits with the rest of the fucking plot. Like, sure, on its own a particular plot point is fine, like, "Ed apologizes to Fang" - it's when you try to string it together with the other ones that you start having problems.

Ed already had his moments of apology to the crew (Izzy, Fang).

And... Frenchie, whom Ed psychologically tormented for at least one episode? Jim, whom Ed made fight Archie to the death because they had one romantic moment? Any of the crew he marooned? Like, the whole joke in Episode 5 is that he's very much not apologizing, but the crew (minus Lucius) has no frame of reference to recognize it and are just glad he can't sneak up on them:

Lucius: So we're laughing. Blackbeard's back and we're all just back to it. Archie: Hey, bro, that's what happens, ya know? They just… get away with it and we move on. Frenchie: Yeah, at least he's wearing the sack. Pete: And the bell. That was my idea. Roach: And he apologized. Jim: I actually thought it was pretty solid… for him. Lucius: And yet, the words "I'm sorry" were never mentioned. Did anyone else clock that? Roach: I've never heard an apology before, so, to me, it was amazing. Lucius: Ah. The bar is on the floor.

His moment with Fang that same episode is the most meaningful because he does actually apologize for something he did, though notably it's not the past however many weeks/months of the Kraken, it's something totally unrelated (the "Knife Parade"), it's something he had genuinely no idea was a problem up until that moment, and the actual reason Fang is okay with him isn't because Ed actually apologized or did fucking anything, but because Fang got to beat him up:

Ed: Fuck, how come you're not mad at me? Fang: I kinda got it out of my system when we beat you to death.

Like, the only person who explicitly "got their own back" from beating Ed to death is Fang, who also gets the only apology in that same scene. Everyone else's reaction is "well, I can't do anything to make him change or show remorse, so I'll just move on and ignore it." Lucius is made out to basically be in the wrong for complaining (Pete's "come find me when Blackbeard isn't living rent-free in your head" speech), and his moment of emotional acceptance comes, not from anything Ed does, but by adopting the same "oh well" attitude as everyone else (the wooden shark).

The crew [...] had half the season to work through their trauma and by the time of E6, they're on good terms with him

First, let me just correct something: they did not have half a season of working on their trauma. They had two episodes, Episode 4 and Episode 5. Episode 4 was them re-integrating back with the other crew and handling their triggers (which they do by coming together to make Izzy a new leg). Episode 5 is about them just "oh well"-ing the rest of it.

That's it. That's the whole thing. Them being on good terms with him (which I'd dispute for everyone other than Izzy but eh) a whole [checks notes] two days after they banished him from the ship is part of the problem.

Regardless, the crew sort of tolerating Ed is a far cry from Izzy's dying speech about how the crew loves Ed and is his family. And it's especially nonsensical given that was Izzy's arc this season, not Ed's.

Ed also almost died with Stede crying over him at the beginning of the show, so it would be kind of redundant to have another scene like that.

Ah, see, my point is that it would be a call-back, not to Stede crying over Ed's body, but the storm. Have a shot of the whole crew standing in a circle around Ed to take care of him as a visual parallel to the Kraken crew standing in a circle about to brain Ed with a cannon ball.

I'm not sure that the retirement is going to be permanent, but by having Ed and Stede choose it, it signals a step of development in their relationship.

Again, I am sure that's what the story is supposed to convey. Like, it has the right tone and beats of that happening. The problem is the complete lack of build up prior to it and in some cases active contradiction.

Like, okay, the issues in Stede and Ed's S2 relationship, according to the plot:

They are both "whim-prone."

Stede is either naive or willfully ignorant of Ed's issues, and Ed is

They need more experience in relationships/with each other in general. Therefore, they need to take things slow in the relationship and not jump into stuff like sex right away.

Ed wants to move away from a life of violence, but Stede is starting to come into his own as a pirate, and their goals are incompatible. This results in Ed and Stede breaking up over this incompatibility.

And this is just according to the plot itself, not even getting into what I consider underlying problems that were raised in the first season that have never been addressed and have apparently been completely forgotten by the writing team.

What happens at the end of 2x08:

Ed and Stede decide to open an inn together. We know this is a quick decision because of the timing around Izzy's funeral and their choice of burial place, and it's not a terribly well-reasoned decision (Ed has a whole-ass scene that's just him demonstrating his inability to handle people being even slightly HYPOTHETICALLY rude to him IN THAT EXACT JOB). In short, they are doing it on a whim.

This requires them to move in together ONE DAY after they argued about taking things slow and Ed calling sex with Stede a mistake.

This requires Stede giving up piracy for Ed. Again, this is the day after they argued about their different career goals, with Stede trying to get Ed to understand he can't just go be a fisherman when he's caught all of one fish (i.e. he shouldn't jump into a career with no experience and expect it to work out), which is borne out by the fucking cold open of the next episode.

None of the issues raised by the characters themselves are actually addressed and are just straight-up ignored. We have no proof that anything in the past day or two so profoundly affected them that those issues are now resolved, which means that they aren't actually developing anything, because nothing has changed.

Realising they suck at it is probably going to be the next one.

We cannot use speculation about what might happen in a future season to justify what happened in this season. This season ends with them actively making a bad decision, and that decision is treated like the good and mature thing to do and the next logical step in their relationship.

But also, even if the next season does address it, it doesn't really matter. It's a problem either way. Either a) it really is a good thing and a sign of their relationship maturing, in which case it contradicts the rest of the plot, or b) it's actually a bad thing, in which case neither they nor their relationship have really matured and they learned nothing this whole season.

Which is kind of the problem with the finale generally. It feels like it's coming from the end of the third season/the show proper, rather than at the end of the plot of this season, so it's behaving as if everything's been resolved already when it hasn't been. Which incidentally has now scuppered any potential third season, IMHO, because they've already used this particular ending (Ed and Stede retiring together to run an inn while the adventure continues for the rest of the crew), so they can't reuse it as the actual ending.

So what is S3 going to be aiming for? If all of their character flaws and relationship problems are fixed, which is what the show seems to be trying to tell us, what growth is there going to be? And if they're not fixed, 1) why portray it as a happy ending and 2) what was the fucking point of this season, then?

tl;dr: I'm not gonna lie and say that Izzy dying wasn't emotionally shitty for me, but it and (indeed that entire episode) also sucked from a writing perspective. My post is addressing that and patching those holes, not simply trying to find a way to justify Izzy living.

y'all. y'all. I cracked the fucking code and I am so fucking mad about it because it's a fix that solves every major problem with the finale:

have ed get shot (injured, not killed) in defense of izzy.

seriously, hear me out, this solves LITERALLY EVERY PROBLEM:

"Ed never gave Izzy a real apology!" "Izzy would never accept one!" okay, then don't have Ed apologize to Izzy verbally. have him apologize by taking a bullet for him. have Izzy cuss out Ed for doing something so stupid while cradling him in his arms.

"Ed never gave the crew a real apology!" okay, then have him get shot defending Izzy as both a subtle callback to Izzy shooting Ed in defense of the crew in "red flags" and as proof that he's changed.

"it makes no sense for Izzy to say the whole crew loves Ed when that hasn't been shown at all!" okay, then show it. any lingering hatred the crew has gets wiped out when they see that Ed really does care about Izzy (keeping in mind that him not treating Izzy well was a major unifying thing for them), and they all work to help him: getting the bullet out, holding his hand, telling him he's going to be okay. Ed's accepted back into the family because of his deeds, not his words, and we get a nice call back to the scene where the crew makes Izzy's leg.

"Izzy's death was all about Ed and Ed's arc and that's fucked up" okay, so have there be a REASON that Ed is the center of attention (the reason being that he's been shot and the entire crew needs to care for him) and make it actually part of Ed's arc (acting selflessly in defense of them when he's been pretty self-centered and not really accepting responsibility this entire time).

"it makes no sense for Ed to retire to an inn on land when we just established that he's bad at things that aren't piracy!" okay, then don't have him retire voluntarily. he needs to recover from his bullet wound on land, and so the crew needs to reluctantly leave him behind.

"it makes no sense for Stede to retire to an inn when his entire arc has been him finding a family in the crew and getting the respect he never had!" okay, so make it a really difficult decision for him – staying on land with Ed, the love of his life, or staying with the crew and being a big bad pirate – and ultimately choose Ed. have Ed even try to talk him into staying with the crew, because he loves piracy so much! but given another choice to leave Ed (one that Ed would be aware of and understand), he stays this time.

"Izzy's death is inconsistent with the rest of the series where the good guys survive absurd levels of violence and the bad guys die hilarious karmic deaths" okay, so don't have him OR Ed die. have Ed get shot, have him be seriously injured, maybe even fake us out by having him get shot on the right side (which is of course the side with the important bits!), and then have him live.

"Izzy dies right when he was starting to enjoy life and find his own family/community outside of Ed!" exactly. so don't kill him. shoot Ed. and then have Ed retire on land.

[torc87]

So I was having thoughts on Episode 4 and wether Ed was actually planning on killing Stede and retiring or if he was lying to Izzy to manipulate him into staying.

I think, considering who Edward is and how he thinks, he was being honest.

He did have a plan, an impulsive one, to kill Stede.

Here's why.

I don't think that he chased Stede or rescued him with that plan in mind. He was mostly just going 'ooh, new, different, interesting, shiny!'. He was bored. Stede was new and different. So Ed wanted to meet him and was willing to fight the Spanish to do so - they can't kill him, he hasn't satisfied his curiosity yet!

I don't think it was about kindness or heroics. Ed was just curious and Stede was interrupting the boredom. Plus, if Izzy told him about Stede's fuckery on the island, here was someone who might understand Ed. After all, Ed is lonely as well as bored.

But then! He meets Stede, and here are all these cool things Stede owns that Ed likes. Yes, here is someone who is on his wavelength but I don't think that had time, in one days acquaintance, to matter MORE than Ed no longer being bored, or his longtime desire to be 'those kinds of people'.

And then Stede suggests retirement.

New idea to Ed. He can just stop being Blackbeard. He can just be Ed, and people can treat him like Stede is doing. He tests it out - let's switch clothes!

I don't think he had a full plan yet. But he is a tactician. New goal - retirement, his brain starts thinking how to get what he wants. And Ed gets what he wants by fuckeries.

He plays with it, plays at not being Blackbeard, at letting someone else take the pressure. I bet he liked it. Being able to tell Izzy to push someone else. Not his problem. He's tired.

Then they come up w the lighthouse idea and it's fun for him again! Success, praise, but - he's not Blackbeard during, he's Stede Bonnet in his fancy clothes, helping Stede create the flame, playing a supporting role.

Here's what retirement could be like! And then Stede at one point says that he would give all his stuff up to be Blackbeard.

Ideas, ideas.

Ed is a Master Tactician.

I think he had the plan in mind when he suggested the skill swap. He learns what he needs to fit into society the way he wants. Steals the riches from the ship that he wants.

Did he click w Stede and like him? Probably. They had a few like-meeting-like moments by then. But it was a day. One day vs years of being bored and wanting something new.

So then Ed tells Izzy the plan.

And I don't doubt it is a manipulation. "I need you", "you can be captain after me" - Ed is absolutely manipulating Izzy into staying and helping. He can't kill, remember? So if he plans to kill Stede and replace him, he needs Izzy.

And jumping ahead, as soon as the plan was fully off, after the duel, when Ed was absolutely certain he no longer wanted Stede dead? He could care less about Izzy leaving. He no longer needed him.

Going back to the moment he told Izzy of the plan, though. The reason I absolutely think it was the truth?

Ed is a Master Tactician. He thinks three steps ahead.

So what was step two if he was lying to Izzy? He knows Izzy is like a dog w a bone once he is convinced of something.

So what was his plan for afterwards once Izzy actually expected him to kill Stede and retire?

If he was lying to Izzy to get Izzy to stay, it's a fuckery. And a fuckery has steps. Step one - lie to Izzy, convince him to stay. Great. Done.

So what's the next step? How does he plan to cancel the fuckery? Deal with Izzy's understandable disappointment or confusion?

He's a Master Tactician. He must have thought about what would happen next? Two steps ahead, right?

Except there is no next step. He is caught flat footed when Izzy and Fang and Ivan demand he kill Stede. He doesn't have a reply ready. The way he would, if it was a Fuckery he was playing on Izzy.

He had a reply ready, seemed to expect Izzy's behavior, the entire time he was keeping silent about his plan with the fog. He wanted the admiration of the entire crew, so he raised the stakes till last minute, made it seem like he didn't care, like he would be willing to die.

Master Tactician. Good at understanding how other people work. Great at manipulating people, eliciting the response he wants - fear, awe, admiration.

So what does it mean if he is caught unprepared?

When he doesn't have a response ready? Hasn't predicted the behavior of his mark?

Must not be a fuckery he is in the middle off.

Bc Izzy's behavior is not unexpected. Him drawing in Ivan and Fang may be, the pet accusation might be unpredictable, but if Ed was trying to trick Izzy, was lying about planing to kill Stede, he would know a confrontation of some sort was coming. It's very much in Izzy's character to do so.

So why wasn't he prepared?

Bc it was not a fuckery. He was being honest with Izzy about killing Stede, so he didn't think he would need a plan to deal with Izzy later. Then he got to know Stede, got to feel that meeting of the minds, feel less lonely, not bored, started to fall in love with him after the French Ship Burning, and didn't notice as his plan stopped being something he wanted any longer.

So when Izzy confronted him, he was faced with the fact that he had changed his mind without noticing. And since he didn't realize, he hadn't prepared a plan to deal with Izzy about it. And as we saw from him walking off with "if you know how to swim, jump now", Ed is not great at reacting when his plans fall apart. It takes him a bit to recover and plan again, and he flails in the meanwhile.

Flailing, like agreeing he will kill Stede and pulling his knife out to do so.

So that's why I think it wasn't a lie. Bc Master Tactician, two steps ahead, Edward Teach, didn't Have a plan to deal with Izzy when he didn't kill Stede like expected. So not killing Stede must not have been IN his plan.

[tinytinybumblebee]

Everyone on the Revenge who has a babie space - izzy, Ed, Jim, Swede, anyone else? - normally their regression gets spaced out so there's only one or two babies at a time, but every so often it coincides so that the Revenge turns into a nursery for the day, everyone is just trading off babies in shifts, tryna keep them all fed, clean and happy

Aww!! Those 4 are definitely the ones who slip to a babie, even newborn headspace amongst the crew ;w; ♡

But 🥺 aaaa!!! 4 babies!!! 4 itty-bitty pirates!!♡♡♡

Oluwande has Jim, babie Jim only wants their Oluwande!! No one else can hold Jim, maybe Lucius but only if Oluwande is within view ;w;

Swede clings to Roach and Frenchie, Frenchie is probably thrilled to be big brother to Swede, playing him music and playing! Roach makes sure the blonde babie is eating healthy/drinking his juices!!

With Izzy and Ed, oh goodness those two babies want their Mama Stede! Stede has two arms so he can hold his boys but, Fang + Ivan are there to help out! Shifts when Stede needs to go change Ed, so Fang bounces Izzy on his knee while Ivan is cooing at the babie Izzy♡♡

Lucius, Pete and Wee-John are there to help out too! They're like, the cool babysitters because Lucius reads to the babies, Pete will show the babies stuff he's widdled and Wee-John plays with the babies with dollies he's made for them♡♡

[adickaboutspoons]

OFMD Meta masterpost

Meta I've written both as dancing-with-the-madmen and here at spoondick, llc.

The Relationship is the Show (meta about the nature of Ed & Stede's relationship) The Art of Buggery Speedrunning U-Haul Pirates I Object to the Term “Whim”

A Fancy Man on a Fancy Ship (Stede meta) Stede and the Thanatos Drive* cPTSD trauma responses in Ed and Stede But Why Piracy? Touchy-touchy Talk it Through as a Crew (not for me, though, just for you) Stede is No Coward (a “no-but” tag novel) Did Stede CHOOSE to abandon Ed? (a “no but” tag novel) Stede didn’t abandon his crew (a totally measured and level-headed response to the idea that Stede owes the crew an apology for what happened after he “abandoned” them) Stede also didn’t set the French Boat Party on fire Stede also also isn't uniquely nor excessively susceptible to flattery or compliments (a tag novel) Lines in the Sand: Why Stede telling Ed “I don’t like who you are around this guy” is a Character Growth moment The Seeds of Tragedy: How Ed’s choice to leave with Calico Jack primed Stede to break his heart When a Steard is not a Beard

This Fictional Character is Having A Hard Time (Ed meta) Spooky Scary Speculation (what if Ed thinks the reason Stede didn’t join him at the dock is because Stede is dead?) Clearly I was wrong about this, but whatevs. It’s not bad reasoning; just not the way the show chose to go. And that's okay. Scraps of Evidence, or the Maps that Lead to You Fire Marshal Ed Guilt and Struggling with Worthlessness (a “yes-and” reply) Team Never A Plan (a “no but” reply) I will contend to the end that Ed saying he was planning on burning Stede’s face off in s2e4 was just him being mad at Stede and try to score one off him in much the same way him saying "last night was a mistake" in s2e7 was about pushing Stede away, not expressing regret that they slept together. Because it’s either that or he’s not as smart as I thought he was. Because it’s frankly a dumb plan. Ed Knows about Mary (a “no but” reply from before we got uncontestable s2 confirmation) Ed and the Hornighost (self loathing and the capacity for self-love) Kicking a man (out) while he’s down By the Neck; or, Pearls Mean Tears (the significance of the pearl necklace) Ed’s relationship to using violence: Part 1 Part 2

A Normal Amount of Secretive (Jim meta) We Live in a State of Nature Why The Kraken Kept Jim and Frenchie (and not anyone else): (a “yes and” reply)

Never Apologize (Mary meta) Mary is not without fault (and that’s a good thing) (a “yes and”-ing tag novel)

Girl How ARE You? (Zheng Yi Sao meta) Tea Soup and Sympathy

Deep Dives by episode: S01ep06: The Lamentable Tragedie of Hands-let Why Are Fang and Ivan Backing up Izzy During the Doggy Heaven Scene? S01ep8: The Massive Aggression of Calico Jack Homophobia in a $5 Halloween Mask (a series of "yes-and" replies) S01ep10: The Significance of Ned S02ep05: The Curse of “The Curse of the Seafaring Life” Season 2s Racist Problem

Set design: Ok, so I’m a dick about spoons Ship-shaped, Part 1 - What We Know Ship-shaped, Part 2 - Best Guesses Ship-shaped Part 3 - Rampant Speculation and Vile Calumny Ship-shaped Part 4 - A Proportional Response Ship-shaped Part 5 - The Not-So-Secret Stairs Ship-shaped: Part I Give Up Ship-shaped: Part It’s Just A Tardis, Ya’ll Gay Love on the Horizon Into the Metatext (reading Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates, the book Stede shows Ed from his library, for insight into OFMD) A conversation with @nicnacnonsense about the significance of the illustrations of Blackbeard used on the show Additional commentary on the nature of the illustrations used on the show launched by @triflesandparsnips More Thoughts about the relationship between in-universe Text and Images and how they represent Reality (now with S2) Cooking with Roach Season 2 on the rocks (themed cocktails and mocktails to enjoy with OFMD S2) 85 days?!?!?!?! 5 of Swords Season 2 Timeline Stuff I’m a giver ;)

Costuming: I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues (a response to and expansion upon weirdgirlcore’s meta on the use of blue in Stede’s wardrobe) Orange (the conclusion to I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues. Brevity? I don’t know her) Let’s do the Time(line) Warp Again! (adding on to @nicnacnonsennse’s excellent timeline video. Not STRICTLY costuming-related, but I’m putting it here because my first addition was predicated on costuming evidence) On Indigo and Not-So-Secret Ghosts On Gloves and Cravats: Why the Kraken went from full gauntlet-style gloves at the end of s1 to half-gloves in s2, and why they later disappear altogether, and what's the deal with the lack of s2 cravat Steal Ed’s Party Look: A Step-by-Step Hair Styling Tutorial with Pics Ed’s Princess (with a disorder) Hair: A Step-by-Step Hair Styling Tutorial with more shitty mirror selfies

[boreal-sea]

I think you're trying to say that you saw evidence of Ed growing with the crew this season? I certainly support the idea of Ed growing with the crew! It was what I wanted to see this season! It's just not something I saw on screen.

I'm gonna rate each episode on its "positive interactions with the crew" rating, with 0 being "no interaction". Ed gets 1 point for every positive face-to-face crew interaction he has, and a -1 for every negative interaction.

TL:DR: Ed gets a score of -6, oof.

Note #1: I know that actions have individual weight. His shitty ass apology probably weighs less than the negativity of his confrontation with Frenchie about how Frenchie didn't kill Izzy, but that involves a level of subjectivity I don't want to get into here, and as you'll see, it doesn't matter much overall.

Note #2: I'm not counting interactions between Ed and Izzy unless that interaction directly involves the crew, because while Izzy is part of the crew, he's also one of the main characters this season.

Note #3: In fairness, I will restrict the actions to solely things we see on screen with Ed directly interacting with the crew.

--- Episodes ---

Eps 1-3: Interaction rating: -13

Ed spends the first few episodes terrorizing the crew, they try to kill him, and then they exile him. This is not "growing with the crew", obviously. This is creating a rift between them.

Wedding raid (-1), confronting the crew about the "fucked atmosphere (-1) (can we give a -1 for every crew member he aims his gun at?), shooting Izzy (-1), making Frenchie first mate (-1), telling Frenchie they're never going back to land (-1), telling Frenchie to kill Izzy (-1), confronting Frenchie over how he didn't kill Izzy (-1), kicking the crew out of Izzy's sickroom (-1), steering the ship into a storm (-1), telling them he broke the wheel and he's planning to shoot the mast down (-1), Ordering Jim and Archie to fight to the death or he'll shoot the mast (-1), trying to shoot the mast anyway (-1), the crew having to attempt to murder him to get him to stop (-1).

So that's at least a -13, possibly more.

Ep 4: Interaction rating: 0

In "Fun and Games", Ed's not with the crew because he's been exiled. He's with Stede on shore, then Stede brings him back to the ship against the will of the crew, and the episode ends. He does not grow or bond with the crew in this episode.

Ep 5: Interaction rating: 3

The next morning ("The Curse of The Seafaring Life") Ed gives a terrible apology (1 point for trying) and starts his probation. The problem is, he spends a lot of his probation away from the crew repairing the ship and is very rarely shown around the crew. During his probation, we see him interact with Lucius (1) and Fang (1), and that's it. Lucius pushes him off the boat and Fang takes him on a fishing trip, and the rest of the episode is the crew having fun with Stede and Izzy as they raid the cursed ship. Ed does not grow or bond with anyone except Fang in this episode. His attempt to help Lucius fails, and Lucius ends up getting the help he needs from Pete and Izzy instead.

Ep 6: Interaction rating: 3/10

Ed's probation is apparently over immediately, since the next episode ("Calypso's Birthday") is set the next day and he's back in his leathers. He briefly chats with Izzy and "apologizes" for Izzy's leg. He and Stede decide to sell his stuff (1 point for this even though he doesn't actually interact with the crew about it). He is not with the crew when the crew goes off to buy fun stuff, he's alone with Stede on shore. Then the party happens. Again, he observers the crew, but he's still on the periphery. He interacts a little here (1), but he mostly hangs out by the railing.

Here's the crew, in the center of the screen, and Stede is overlapping with them. Then there's Ed, clearly separated from the crew, not just emotionally but visibly. Notably, Stede is visually between the crew and Ed, but at least in this shot, he's part of the crew. So the show itself is visually reinforcing the fact that Ed is very much not part of the crew. Now, right before Low attacks, it does seem like Stede and Ed were about to join in with the dancing, but they don't get the chance.

The rest of "Calypso's Birthday" happens. Stede and his welcoming leadership style saves the day, then he kills Low and Ed follows him into the cabin. The rest of the party is the crew having a good time together without Ed or Stede present. So personally, he doesn't do very much bonding with the crew this episode.

Ep 7: Interaction rating: 0/10

Now we have "Man On Fire". Ed spends zero time with the crew in this episode. Ed throws his leathers overboard, makes an adorable breakfast, and has some really nice scenes with Stede this episode... but he's not around the crew. He takes Stede to Jackie's, spends some time with Jackie, and then leaves after he has an existential crisis. He speaks briefly with Izzy, and then has his falling out with Stede and leaves. Ed does not interact with the crew this episode at all.

Ep 8: Interaction rating: 1/10

Ed spends some time being a terrible fisherman, then decides to go save Stede. Not the crew, Stede. And like, it's fine he's only concerned with Stede! But his motivations are not about the crew, and it's unfair to claim they are. Izzy gets a beautiful moment showing how his motivations are about the crew, but that's part of Izzy's story this season, not Ed's.

Anyway - Ed gets into a big fight on the beach, and Stede shows up with Zheng. Ed, Stede and Zheng show up a Jackie's, and the trio teams up with the rest of the crew to kick the English off the island and get the Revenge back.

Notably, Ed didn't save the crew - the crew escaped all on their own. If they had not escaped, I'm sure Stede would have said "we need to go save them!" and Ed would've gone along, but I don't think Ed would have gone after the crew on his own. His goal was getting back to Stede. And again, I don't think that's a bad thing!

I'm giving Ed an interaction rating of 1 here because he technically fought with the crew during the raid, even though he didn't talk to them. He has a line at the end where he orders someone to get help but the only person who listens is Stede and that's not really a bonding moment, it's just an order.

--- Summary ---

Total points: +7, -13, for a total of ... -6.

Ed just... isn't shown bonding with the crew in S2, certainly not enough to make up for what he did to them. He had FAR more interaction with them in S1. I think we see a lot of bonding in S1! But that's erased by his cruelty in the first few episodes of S2.

I understand you saw more than I did, or maybe those small moments held more weight for you than they did for me, or maybe you assumed he also had moments offscreen with other members or the crew or something. I'm just saying that based on what was shown ON SCREEN, Ed does not reconcile with the crew.

The season ended claiming Ed had gone through a "found family" story arc, except he didn't.

Izzy did. The Revenge was Izzy's family, even more than Stede's. Izzy became defined by his love for the crew, and by their love for him.

Ed? Ed hurt them, got half-murdered by them, was voted off the boat by them, and then offered a shitty non-apology. And I guess that's supposed to be good enough??

Meanwhile, Izzy was shown on screen advocating for the crew even when he knew that meant he'd lose another toe. He stood up for them and got shot for it. And the crew sees that, and respects it, and they bring Izzy into their family. And then, finally, Izzy says enough. He ends it with Ed. He drags himself back up on deck and shoots his former captain to protect the crew, his new family, and he lets the crew do what they do. He even watches, unlike when Ed turned away during the Stede-Izzy duel.

He continues to protect the crew. They gift him the leg, showing him that they will literally support him, both as a person and as their figurehead. He opens up, relaxes, and settles into his new home. He's able to express himself now that he feels safe for the first time in years! He has an entirely new identity, and the crew loves him.

And sure - he's still struggling a little, he's still drinking, but recovery isn't a one-and-done thing. He had so much life ahead of him, so many new experiences to have.

But sure. Ed is the one the crew "loves". Sure, Izzy "wanted to go".

Give me a fucking break.

[maxer-blaster]

Some of my favorite OFMD Fanfic things

1. Lucius/the crew NOT immediately forgiving Ed. They get to process their issues too.

2. Lucius gets swimming lessons. I've mostly seen this with Izzy but people teaching Lucius to swim, taking his PTSD seriously, that's the stuff.

3. Izzy existential dread. Who is he w/o Ed? With the group reunited, where does he go? Is there a place for him anymore?

4. Lucius and Izzy bonding over lost digits (I've read a lot of Lucius/Izzy ok, shut up).

5. Trauma bonding. Lucius, Fang, Ivan, Frenchie, Jim and (sometimes Izzy) bond over trying to survive Kraken!Ed.

6. LUCIUS IN THE WALLS!!!

7. People reacting to Izzy's toe thing with, "even Izzy didn't deserve THAT"

8. Saying that Ed's mental health issues predate Stede. That they are a combination of factors, (not just Stede leaving, or Izzy manipulating, but brain chemicals too).

9. The crew have to interact with Mary and/or the kids.

10. Ship gets a pet. Bc fuck it. They need comfort after the shit they've been through.

11. Izzy redemption arc specific. He regrets what he's done, helps reunite the crews and, when they decide to celebrate etc. He walks away like, "well that's the end of my part here, should probably not 'ruin' their fun". And someone's like, "oh no you don't, you sad bastard. You were a part of this."

12. Izzy learns positive reinforcement/that respect has to be earned. That the less he yells/stomps around, the easier things will be.

[wing-dingy]

Since I’m tired of looking up monster high and seeing depressing stuff (particularly pro ed stuff), and I’m struggling with insecurities myself, i made some positive affirmation edits of the ghouls of monster high to make myself feel better and hopefully make other people feel better. Photo ids below

[Photo I.D. start: Image one (1) is a photo of Abbey. She stands in front of a light blue background, and has a pink heart emoji next to her. The text says “your friends love you, and they love you for who you are”.

Image two (2) is of Clawdeen She stands in front of a purple background, and has a purple heart emoji next to her. The text says “your identity is important”.

Image three (3) is of Cleo. She stands in front of a teal background, and has a blue heart emoji next to her. The text says “You don’t need to hurt yourself for made up beauty standards.”

Image four (4) is of Draculaura. She stands in front of a pink background, and has a sparkling heart emoji next to her. The text says “you’re boo-tiful the way you are.”

Image five (5) is of Deuce. He stands in front of a green background, and stands next to a green heart emoji. The text says “remember to drink water, feed yourself, and get enough sleep.”

Image six (6) is of Ghoulia. She stands in front of a red background, and has a blue heart emoji next to her. The text says “your disabilities are not flaws.”

Image seven (7) is of Lagoona. She stands in front of a light turquoise background, and has a yellow heart emoji next to her. The text says “it’s okay to ask for help. it’s okay to reach out.”

Image eight (8) is of Frankie. She stands in front of a green background, and has a green heart emoji next to her. The text says “your body type is fang-tastic.”

Image nine (9) is a group shot, including Abbey, Spectra, Ghoulia, Lagoona, Frankie, Cleo, Clawdeen, Draculaura, Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus. They stand in front of a pink background. The text says “you are loved, you are important, you matter. take care of yourself. End photo I.D.]

Remember beasties, it’s okay to just be yourself, don’t hurt yourselves and please take care of yourselves/