#I'm here for Ed's character

[cuddlytogas]

there was some Twitter madness recently where someone left a comment on someone's art to the effect of, "Ed shouldn't wear a dress, he's a man!" which I do disagree with on principle, but unfortunately, it brought out one of my least favourite trends in the fandom

so, naturally, I had to write a twitter essay about it. and I already largely argued this in a post here, but the thread is clearer and better structured, so I thought I'd cross-post for those not on the Hellsite (derogatory). edited for formatting/structure's sake, since I no longer have to keep to tweet lengths, and incorporating a couple of points other people brought up in the replies

so

I want to point out that the wedding cake toppers in OFMD s2 aren't evidence that Ed wants to wear dresses. Gender is fake, men can wear skirts, play with these dolls how you like, but it's not canon, and that scene especially Doesn't Mean That.

People cite it often: 'He put himself in a dress by painting the bride as himself! It's what he wants!' But that fundamentally misunderstands the scene, and the series' framing of weddings as a whole. I'd argue that Ed paints the figure not from desire, but from self-hatred; it's not what he wants, but what he thinks he should, and has failed to, be.

(Yes, I am slightly biased by my rampant anti-marriage opinions, but bear with me here, because it is relevant to the interpretation of the scene, and season two as a whole.)

The show is not subtle. It keeps telling us that the institution of marriage is a prison that suffocates everyone involved. Ed's parents' cycle of abuse is passed to their son in both the violence he witnesses then enacts on his father, and the self-repression his mother teaches, despite her good intentions ("It's not up to us, is it? It's up to God. ... We're just not those kind of people. We never will be."). Stede and Mary are both oppressed by their arranged marriage, with 1x04 blunty titled Discomfort in a Married State. The Barbados widows revel in their freedom ("We're alive. They're dead. Now is your time").

But even without this context, the particular wedding crashed in 2x01 is COMICALLY evil. The scene is introduced with this speech from the priest:

"The natural condition of humanity is base and vile. It is the obligation of people of standing ... to elevate the common human rabble through the sacred transaction of matrimony."

It's upper class, all-white, and religiously sanctioned. "Vile natural conditions" include queerness, sexual freedom, and family structures outside the cisheteropatriarchal capitalist unit. "The obligation of people of standing" invokes ideas like the white man's burden, innate class hierarchy, religious missions, and conversion therapy. Matrimony is presented as both "sacred" (endorsed by the ruling religious body), and a "transaction" (business performed to transfer property and people-as-property, regardless of their desires), a tool of the oppressive society that pirates escape and destroy. That is where the figurines come from.

When Ed, in a drunk, depressive spiral, paints himself onto the bride, he's not yearning for a pretty dress. He's sort of yearning for a wedding, but that's not framed as positive. What he's doing is projecting himself into an 'ideal' image of marriage because he believes that: a) that's what Stede (and everyone) wants; b) he can never live up to that ideal because he's unlovable and broken (brown, queer, lower-class, violent, abused, etc); c) that's why Stede left. He tries to make himself fit into the social ideal by painting himself onto the closest match - long-haired, partner to Stede/groom, but a demure, white woman, a frozen, porcelain miniature - because, if he could just shrink himself down and squeeze into that box, maybe Stede would love him and he'd live happily ever after. But he can't. So he won't.

The fantasy fails: Ed is morose, turns away from the figurines, then tips them into the sea, a lost cause. He knows he won't ever fulfil that bride's role, but he sees that as a failure in himself, not the role. It's not just that "Stede left, so Ed will never have a dream wedding and might as well die." Stede left when Ed was honest and vulnerable, "proving" what his trauma and depression tell him: there's one image of love (of personhood), and he'll never live up to it because he's fundamentally deficient. So he might as well die.

This hit me from my very first viewing. The scene is devastating, because Ed is wrong, and we know it! He doesn't need to change or reduce himself to fit an image and be accepted (as, eg, Izzy demanded). Stede knows and loves him exactly as he is; it's the main thread and theme of season two!

(@/everyonegetcake suggested that Ed's yearning in these scenes includes his broader desire for the vulnerability and safety Stede offered, literalised through unattainable "fine" things like the status of gentleman in s1, or the figurine's blue dress. I'd argue, though, that these scenes don't incorporate this beyond a general knowledge of Ed's character. Ed is always pining for both literal and emotional softness, but the significance of the figurines specifically, to both Ed and the audience, is poisoned by their origin and context: there is no positive fantasy in the bride figure, only Ed's perceived deficiency.

Further, assuming that a desire for vulnerability necessarily corresponds with an explicit desire for femininity, dresses, etc, kind of contradicts the major themes of the show. OFMD asserts that there is nothing wrong with men assuming femininity (through drag, self-care, nurturing, emotional vulnerability, etc), but also that many of these traits are, in fact, genderless, and should be available to men without affecting their perceived or actual masculinity. It thematically invokes the potential for cross-gender expression in Ed's desires, especially through the transgender echoes in his relieved disposal, then comfortable reincorporation, of the Blackbeard leathers/identity. It's a rich, valuable area of analysis and exploration. But it remains a suggestion, not a canon or on-screen trait.)

Importantly, the groom figure doesn't fit Stede, either. Not just in dress: it's stiff and formal, and marriage nearly killed him. He's shabbier now, yes, but also shedding his privilege and property, embracing his queerness, and trying to take responsibility for his community. In a s1 flashback, Stede hesitantly says, "I thought that, when I did marry, it could be for love," but he would never find love in marriage. Not just because he's gay, but because marriage in OFMD is an oppressive, transactional institution that precludes love altogether. All formal marriages in OFMD are loveless.

So, he becomes a pirate, where they reject society altogether and have matelotages instead. Lucius and Pete's "mateys" ceremony is shot and framed not like a wedding, but as an honest, personal bond, willingly conducted in community (in a circle; no presiding authority, procession, or transaction).

That is how Stede and Ed can find love, companionship, and happiness: by rejecting those figurines and their oppressive exchange of property, overseen by a church that enables colonialism and abuse. Ed is loved, and deserves happiness, as he is, no paint or projection required.

ALL OF THIS IS TO SAY: draw Ed in dresses! Write him getting gender euphoria in skirts! Write trans/nb Ed, draw men being feminine! Gender is fake, the show invites exploration, that's what 'transformative works' means! But please, stop citing the cake toppers as evidence it's canon. Stop citing a scene where a depressed Māori man gets drunk and projects himself onto a rich, white, silent bride because he thinks he's innately unlovable and only people like her can find happiness, shortly before deciding to kill himself, as canon evidence it's what he wants.

(Also, please don't come in here with "lmao we're just having fun," I know, I get it. Unfortunately, I'm an academiapilled researchmaxxer, and some of youse need to remember that the word "canon" has meaning. NOW GO HAVE FUN PUTTING THAT MAN IN A PRETTY DRESS!! 💖💖)

[elapsed-spiral]

I know it's a weird thing to say, coming off the back of eps 1-3, but I really feel like under all his despair, Ed is fundamentally a hopeful person. He just cannot quench that little spark of hope inside him.

That's why he didn't end it decades ago and was "waiting to drown" instead. That's why he went looking for this fascinating new pirate he heard about. That's why he was trying to egg other people into taking him out, in the hope that they'd actually stop him. That's why, even at his absolute lowest ebb, he still draws up a list of pros and cons for staying alive.

He really wants to keep clinging to that spark of hope and Stede leaving is the closest he comes to it snuffing out, but when he hears Stede's voice again, boy, it just comes roaring back to life.

[averlym]

litany of the martyrs (click for better resolution!)

[sarucane]

Stede's *sob* Last Story (Kinda)

(Parentheses in title because I'm a big believer in stories having a life of their own, and hell this is the kind of thing where a cast would agree to a movie in 10 years, and that's before we get to fanfic...but as far as OFMD the tv show goes, this is the last one)

Stede's last story doesn't really begin with him. It begins with Ed.

Ed's the one who's suggested being innkeepers. Who decided he wanted to stay on this island, to set aside the impossible bird and rest on land. Ed's adding one more story to his cacaphony of contradictory stories. But this one isn't an extreme "I'm THIS now, and my name is JEFF." It isn't a death, or a personality shift. It's a story he'd like to "give a go."

Stede used to be so obsessed with his own stories that he couldn't--or didn't dare--see what others thought of them. He had to learn to set some stories aside, in order to live the life he wanted to live.

And that's just what he's done here. The life he wants to live is one with Ed, and this is the life Ed needs to live.

This is the story Ed's telling. So, Stede tells it too. With his whole heart, and no second thoughts, none of the doubts and fears that plagued him for so long.

Stede may be binding himself to land now, to Ed, but he's more free than he's ever been--to tell any story he wants.

Ed is more scared than Stede. Is too willing, as always, to tell a story that devalues himself.

But Stede takes that story and transforms it. Because telling a story together is far, far more powerful than telling a story alone.

So Stede takes Ed's story and transforms it. Into something full of honest hope. No more buying a boat and crew and pretending to be a pirate hoping it'll change him; no more clinging to vision without action. The house needs work. The relationship needs work. The story won't become reality all by itself.

But it can.

And I love that Ed doesn't quite engage with this (yet). That even now at what turns out to be the end, he's still a bit more uncertain than Stede because he's just not as secure as Stede yet. Because that's honest.

Instead, Ed focuses on the practical. On needing some food , on the need for a bit of violence.

But that doesn't change Stede's story. And neither does the crappy smell awaiting them inside.

This is a story of hope. And it can shape reality. A heap of painted wood can be a real boy, and a terrible smell can be a smell of the future.

And Stede holds true to that long enough for Ed to finally join in telling this story. To say, "love that," and stop trivializing or devaluing the story he wants to tell.

And then Stede says "Me too." They're in the same place, telling the same story.

And then--now that the story has legs, now that the core truth of love is where it belongs, at center --Stede doesn't cling to perfection, to completeness. He doesn't try to pretend the smell is nice, or doesn't bother him.

He embraces reality, and goes about doing what needs to be done to make the important story true.

A seabird to land; a unicorn still standing in defiance of everything and everyone; two mad queers packed with insecurity and trauma finding love and peace together.

A last story, gently setting aside any ugliness of reality, kindly shoring up insecurities, and seducing its listener into becoming another storyteller.

Stede's stories carried him from one family, to another, to one last and truest family. The one he chose, with both eyes open. Took him to a home he'll build with his own hands, alongside his love.

It's story that will shape his reality--and that of those who trust him--forever. A story he'll tell, forever.

Because now, he can. He knows how.

And he won't do it alone.

[xkzy8]

I wanna make more of these guys!? There's so many characters to choose from tho, so you guys pick !! In an ideal world I'll end up doing everyone anyway, it's just a matter of when >:P

& remember that each one sold helps me fund more ! Even if your fav isn't up yet, consider getting one anyway to help me out !! ok ty love you all, & remember to reblog for a bigger sample size!!

[mariocki]

Death Weekend (The House by the Lake, 1976)

"They'll go away."

"They won't go away! Can't you see that? They're not gonna go away. For God's sake, can't you guess what they're gonna do next?"

[meep-meep-richie]

ᴛʜɪꜱ ʟɪɴᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇ ꜰᴀᴍᴏᴜꜱ

[hamletisabitch]

Thinking about Ed protecting Stede in s2. Putting his whole body between Stede and danger. Begging Threatening Ned against his choice to torture Stede. Then later, that night, protecting Stede in a different way, giving him a place to hide.

Resurrecting his leathers and emerging from the ocean when he thinks Stede's life is on the line.

And mundanely, sweetly, assuring Stede in front of Zheng that he's not left out of the Cool People Group.

[izzyjazzhands]

lol I remember when I first made this account I posted something like "hey does anyone know if anyone's going to be weird about me having izzy in my url? he's not my fav but I couldn't pass up this name" and now he's literally my favorite and I do not give a shit /pos

[slowlyvaliantmoon]

eegggghhhhhhhhhhhhh

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

If your HOF/Hawke/Inky couldn't romance their usual partners, who would they choose instead?

Oof, this is a hard one.

Tabris/Alistair, Hawke/Anders, and Lavellan/Cullen are such an integral part of my canon run that I can't imagine them romancing anyone else. Like, it feels wrong to imagine them not ending up with their respective partners.

But, for the sake of discussion, I'll do my best to answer.

Rose is probably the hardest one because she and Alistair, and their romance, are so intertwined with everything that happens in DAO that I feel like she'd remain single if he wasn't an option, y'know? Her other options are Leliana and Zevran, and I can't see her going with either of them.

Leliana's sweet and Rose likes her a lot, but she's a little too into the Chantry. That's something I see Rose having a problem with; she's not exactly shy about telling off the mothers, sisters, and templars, or pointing out how they mistreat elves and mages.

Rose and Zevran are friends but I've never viewed him as an option for her; after everything Rose goes through in her origin, his openly sexual nature is just a major turn off for her. He calls her a sex goddess in their first conversation and that's just not it. They don't even start to become friends until after she tells him to stop looking at her that way and he respects her wishes.

Plus, Leliana and Zevran lack the shared experiences of being a warden, Ostagar, having to deal with the blight from the very beginning. That's something only Rose and Alistair have and that's what separates him from the others as a love interest... so yeah, Rose would be single, me thinks.

As for my Hawke, Ed's gay so if he can't be with Anders, his only other option is Fenris. I've romanced him before and enjoyed it, so I think he and Ed could work out... though again, it's a similar problem I have where Ed's relationship with Anders is so crucial because Anders saved Carver's life in the deep roads... y'know, Ed's brother who he cherishes above all else. Kind of a big deal. A huge factor in bringing them together.

Ed and Fenris always worked better as friends but out of everyone, Ed's the one I could actually imagine with someone else.

Finally, there's my Lavellan... once again, Ash ending up with Cullen is a huge deal for the narrative of DAI. I've talked about this before, but how I play DAI is my Lavellan is actually Surana from DAO. She and Cullen knew each other and maaaaaybe had a thing... but because Duncan didn't show up, she escaped the circle with Jowan. After he died, Ash joined the dalish, changed her name, and ended up at the conclave... where she and Cullen reunited and proceeded to have hardcore ex vibes the entire time they're at Haven.

If they decided that they're never getting back together, I think Ash might've ended up with either Josephine or Solas. She views Sera as more of a little sister and a friend. She likes Blackwall but he's not her type. The Iron Bull romance progression doesn't suit her even though she admires his intelligence and strength, she's just not up for a friends with benefits turned romantic relationship.

Ash always craved knowledge, and when she was in the circle, she knew the game that she needed to play in order to survive and come out on top... her pride and inability to see when she's wrong led to her downfall with Jowan. She needs someone who she can challenge and who challenges her, both without backing down, on a variety of topics; she needs an academic, I guess?? But she also needs someone who isn't afraid to humble her. Cullen, Josephine, and Solas all fit this in different ways.

I'm more inclined to push her toward Josephine though... I don't think she would've handled the Solas break up well at all.

[sskk-manifesto]

(´；ω；｀)

[laundrybiscuits]

(technically this is a follow-up to in the half-light, we run, but I think it stands alone okay)

The postcard has “SEX LOVE AND ROCK&ROLL” written in gel pen on the front, with little lightning bolts around it. On the back, it reads: “Steve and Eddie request the pleasure of your attendance as they pledge their troth in unholy non-matrimony on October 31, 1998. Bring zucchini bread please Robin.” 

Robin is going to keep it forever. She throws her arms around Steve and sniffles into his shoulder, “I can’t believe you’re getting married, dingus.”

Steve rubs her back. “We’re not really. Eddie’s pretty clear about that. It’s just…a troth-pledging.”

“Troth-pledging. Dating a nerd has changed you, Steve Harrington,” says Robin. She pulls back a little. “And—and you’re okay with the, uh, non-matrimony?” 

She should already know this. She’s a terrible best friend. But they live in different cities now, and even though they talk all the time, even though they’ve talked about this before, even though she went fucking ring shopping with Steve in ‘88…she doesn’t know. Steve clams up about it sometimes. The fight he and Eddie had in ‘89 when Eddie turned down his proposal was the closest they’ve ever gotten to breaking up, and Robin knows he doesn’t like talking about it. So, she’s just checking in. 

Steve smiles at her, and she thinks it seems real. She’s not always the best at reading people, and as previously mentioned she’s been kind of a terrible best friend lately, but it’s Steve. And she thinks he seems really happy, like actually happy. 

“Yeah. Eddie and I talked a lot about what we want from, like, our future, and…this is it. Just us, promising to be family in front of the people who love us. It’s not gonna change anything between us, but you know how I always liked the idea of a big event. Plus, I reminded Eddie how much he likes dramatic ceremonial shit.”

She’s not sure this is the right thing to say, but she finds herself saying anyway: “I’m sorry you didn’t get the wedding you wanted.”

Steve shakes his head. “The wedding I wanted was something I thought had to happen, for people to be in love. But Eddie and me…I didn’t know I could have this kind of thing, this kind of relationship, without a wedding. And I’ll choose Eddie and no wedding over anyone else with a wedding, every single time. That’s what this whole thing is about.” 

“That’s so romantic, I'm gonna puke,” Robin says. She’s crying a little bit again, but it’s not every day her best friend gets not-engaged to be not-married. She’s allowed to cry.

“C’mon, Buckley.” Steve shakes her gently. “You just got invited to a party. It’s a good thing.”

———

It is a party. Robin’s actually a little surprised, despite the gel-pen save-the-date. But when she pulls up to their house, there are balloons tied to the mailbox, and she can hear laughter and kids yelling from the back yard.

When she pushes open the back gate, balancing foil-wrapped loaves of zucchini bread in one arm, she sees the Byers-Hopper clan is already here. Jonathan is wiping off his twins’ faces because they’re three years old and in a permanent state of stickiness; Joyce is helping Jim into a lawn chair while he grumbles, “What is the damn point of this walker if I can’t get around myself?” 

Will’s hanging out with his new boyfriend on the back porch. Robin hasn’t decided yet whether she likes the new guy or not, but Will seems happy enough. 

“Robert!” Eddie bounds over to her, beaming. “And zucchini bread!”

Robin hugs him, laughing. “I can tell which one you’re more excited about, Edna. Where’s Steve?”

“Oh, I see, that’s how it is,” whines Eddie. “My dearest friend is cruelly abandoning me for my bronzed boy-toy. It’s fine, I’ll just waste away here, alone and unloved.”

“Oh my god we’re literally at your not-wedding right now. This is literally your freaking love party, or whatever.” Robin sets the bread down by the pitchers of Kool-Aid and starts peeling open the foil. Eddie wraps his arms around her shoulders from behind and hangs off her like a monkey, which he is both too tall and too heavy to do.

The Sinclairs turn up just then, Max barrelling through the gate and hollering for El. Lucas and Erica are following at a more normal pace, toting big containers of what looks like some kind of potato dish; Eddie disengages from Robin to go steal baby Charlie from Lucas. 

El runs out of the house to throw her arms around Max, and right behind her, wiping his hands on a dish towel, is Steve. 

He’s dressed up a little bit, in a button-down shirt, but he’s wearing ordinary jeans and boots like it’s just another Saturday backyard barbecue. Robin’s kinda glad she decided to throw her beaten-up army jacket on at the last minute, but if she takes it off she’s going to look way too formal in her silky dress. 

“Hey, Robin,” he says. She’s gonna cry again, she just knows it. 

“Hey, dingus. Brought your stupid zucchini bread.” 

Steve laughs and pulls her into one of his jock-y bro-hugs that he knows she hates. “Did you bring—what’s her name, Becca?”

“What? Oh, Bethany? Gross. No. We’re not really dating. I mean we’re dating as in we’ve been on dates, but we’re definitely not, like…”

And then Robin completely forgets what she and Bethany are or aren’t like, because the Wheelers walk in, and Nancy Wheeler is holding some girl’s hand.

(Snippet directory)

[ridiasfangirlings]

au where idol k is a reality competition show and the popularity pool result is the final round up (which means yata and fushimi get to debut in the same group, yay?) (also, idk if you are familiar with korean reality shows like produce 101 or boys planet, but they usually arrange the seats in a way that the #1 seat is at the top and its usually a big deal where the trainees choose to sit on the first day. They can also kick other idols out of their seats in whichever way both trainees choose to compete for the seat, but this is usually done for the #1 seat)

Can you imagine that group, not just Yata and Fushimi debuting together but also Mikoto and Munakata too, the rest of the group would be trying just to keep those four from killing each other or destroying the set. Yata and Fushimi would probably be early frontrunners even from the start, like Yata's energy and Fushimi's mysterious aura of gloom make them very popular amongst the audience. Initially they take seats on opposite sides but maybe after the first round of voting Yata ends up first and in the middle seat, he's all proud of himself and gloating to Fushimi, who immediately decides to challenge him. From that point on the two of them are constantly swinging between who's in first and who's second, complaining that 'who would want to debut with you' even when it's more than clear that they're both going to end up in the final group together.

Meanwhile the rest of the group are all doing their best to be noticed with those two causing all the chaos. Munakata is the smooth polished idol who commands attention from the moment he steps on the stage while Mikoto's very lackadaisical about the whole thing, imagine Munakata always having to lecture him about trying his hardest for the fans and Mikoto just yawns in his face. Despite their differences the two are only below Yata and Fushimi, maybe something happens halfway through that nearly gets Mikoto disqualified and there's a whole storyline about how Munakata reacts (by appearing disapproving but really he's irritated that Mikoto could have blown his whole career). The whole issue also involves Mikoto's fellow trainees Kusanagi and Totsuka, say Totsuka has to leave for a while after being shot by a crazed fan and Munakata thinks Kusanagi has been encouraging Mikoto's poor behavior in the aftermath. This causes Mikoto's popularity to momentarily dip, but once the whole thing is resolved and Totsuka returns Mikoto jumps back up to just one spot below Munakata. Mikoto would prefer to take a seat as far from Munakata as possible but you know wherever he ends up sitting Munakata just so happens to show up next to him.

For the rest of the group, I imagine Kuroh and Shiro trying to be low key in the background, Kuroh working hard quietly and trying to avoid drama while Shiro sits next to him a lot and they become friends. Kuroh does have some issues when his adoptive brother Yukari ends up joining the show too and becomes popular, Yukari's true passion is beauty but he believes that can be found in singing as well. Kuroh had thought that Yukari gave up on performing when he left their training with idol producer Ichigen Miwa, Yukari however met up with young up and coming idol trainee Hisui and now they're a team, this probably somehow turns into Kuroh and Shiro versus Yukari and Hisui and Shiro's like I thought we were avoiding drama. Meanwhile actually avoiding drama are dark horse underdogs Doumyouji and Akiyama, who no one even noticed were constantly polling highly until they make the final group.

[pleasetakethis]

As a Severus Snape fan (I was a Snape fan when we only had 3 books released, btw, and the movies were a distant dream), the OFMD Izzy discourse is so, so, so tired and annoying and repetitive.

Characters, like humans, can be multi-faceted. They can grow (even if you don't see it happen on-screen. I never saw Snape grow--his growth happened off-screen, though we were given hints from Dumblebore's unwavering faith in him, the HPB textbook, and finally full-on evidence from the memories). They can change.

Izzy commanded with fear, much like Blackbeard did prior to meeting Stede. He was resistant to change (as are most adult humans who have been conditioned to believe that Their Way Is The Only Way). We're seeing him hit rock bottom and relearn a new way of life. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be emotionally vulnerable? To let a crew see that? To accept that the old way was not, in fact, The Only Way and that other ways might be better?

And we get to see that happen on-screen and experience it with him. Amazing.

[brokentoys]

this still pisses me off.