#and neither is ed

[angelicpiracy]

i was really expecting ed’s objection to be more of an “act of grace” style yell but honestly it hurt a million times more how heartbroken he sounded. like he was imagining that this was his and stede’s wedding & someone interrupted his cute little fantasy. and then he stole the caketoppers and made himself the bride??? theres no way he didnt make the caketoppers have their own little wedding ceremony after that

[fish-bowl-2]

I love it when Ed and Double Dee are just being silly together.

[cinnamonsikwate]

"why couldn't shuro have just been honest about what he felt with laios and falin it's not that hard" are you. are you White

[poison-into-positivity]

So this is like third-hand news so take with a grain of salt, but I saw on twt that there was apparently a scene filmed between Ed and Izzy that wasn’t included in the final cut because, in Con’s words, it would’ve made Ed “irredeemable”. It’s not confirmed but a part of this scene may still have made it into one of the s2 teasers (Ed throwing knives at Izzy’s head).

On the one hand I think they should’ve kept it in, because I genuinely do not think that anything they would write for Ed would make him irredeemable. That’s like, one of the whole points of his s2 character arc, and including a scene where he’s doing some truly deranged shit might have even fleshed out that arc more.

On the other hand though I am so thankful to be free of the discourse that would’ve erupted from it, because there is already a significant chunk of the fandom can’t seem to grasp that Ed, as he’s currently written, isn’t an irredeemable monster.

[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!! 💖💖)

[yin-shimo]

Truth or Drink FWB ed. ft. meribel

Question 2

believe it or not, but Abel was slightly aroused by Meri's response.

prev | next

[livuvur]

I've discovered a new edwin love language

[hisuian-history-makers]

I’m verrrrrrry tempted to write either a one shot or an AU where Ed ended up dying to the flesh and blood mascot Mollie (Macie), then Laura goes “missing” too. The fact one human already died outside where Rambley can see… would make his interactions less friendly. If anyone else ventured into the park, he would be actively trying to dissuade them from entering.

For example:

“Hey, you! You cannot come into park right now.”

“Why? It’s. Closed for repairs! Don’t you see all the boxes and tarps around the entrance?”

“Has anyone else been here? Noooooo—

FIRST GUEST IN APROXIMATELY; EIGHT DAYS, FIFTEEN HOURS, THIRTY SEVEN MINUTES AND FIFTY-SIX SECONDS.

…I forgot that counted automatically…”

(I know the whole eight year count when you first meet Rambley seems voluntarily told.)

“Don’t climb the gate! Get—Get out!”

When that doesn’t work: Rambley would take to locking doors and maybe even lock Lauren inside one of the shops if he can manage it.

The rumble that fell after Ed managed to get into the area near Rambley’s Railroad would force his best friend to climb over it. Depending on how unstable the area/roof is, I could see Laura falling into the backstage parts of the ride. Not the greatest time for either party.

“Why won’t you listen?! This isn’t a safe place. You don’t want to get lost—or trapped here.”

“Careful! One wrong fall… you could fall on your head…”

She’s not exactly impressed by the AI managing to follow her around on the screens nor the more accidentally ominous warnings. All Laura knows is that Ed disappeared a week ago and no one has seen him since. The smarter move would be to call the police, but her best friend has a few warnings from past trespassing so. Police might not put in the effort for a search.

Mollie’s animatronic—ha—parroting what Ed heard would make her even more suspicious! (“No not Rambley. He hurts Lloyd. He hurts Lloyd. He hurts—“) Laura would no doubt start getting more worried since the place is literally falling apart all around her. Did Ed accidentally fall somewhere and.. fall wrong? Did this AI version of Rambley lead him somewhere as unstable? The pictures from the photo kiosk at the end of the ride paint a really grim picture.

“Look! Look here!”

Ramble eventually shows her the blurry picture of Mascot Mollie running after the train.

“The mascots here are dangerous. The guest prior to you found that out the hard way… Please be careful if you see Mollie.”

Y’see he must feel awfully guilty for accidentally leading Ed to his death. The first guest in eight years, who freed him from the lobby, died due to the monstrous version of his best friend. It was semi-Rambley not telling the truth about the killer mascot situation that—made the other human meet his end. Mollie had fresh blood on her beak after not hearing from his new buddy. It. It wasn’t hard to connect the dots for him…

And.

———————————————————————

And that’s about where I lost steam for the AU idea. This could be an interesting narrative since Mollie’s chase scene is actually difficult.

Hmm. Casual Casualty AU? I’ll workshop it.

Edit: There’s a part two!

[riddle-man]

don't impulse click n gotham 2014 ONLY

as usual reblog for reach + explain your vote if you want!

[koa-boner]

sigh, another episode of pure insanity.

[angryducktimemachine]

OC Shenanigans. You just know it was all Matthäus Idea.

I also thought it'd be quite the fun exercise in drawing people interacting with each other - and it certainly was!

[ID: a digital drawing of Jeremy, Friederick, Matthäus and Machuriel, the artists OCs. Jeremy is in the upper right corner, leaning out of a window, grabbing Friedericks right hand with both of his. He's a Halfling with light brown skin and dark hair with lighter ends. He looks worried. Friederick is a gnome with light skin and brown hair in a long braid. He's holding onto Matthäus ankle with his left hand and doesn't look happy about it. Matthäus is a three headed Ratfolk with brown fur. He's dangling by his ankle and has his tail wrapped around Friedericks leg as he's curiously looking at Machuriel. Machuriel is standing on ground level so that they are at eye level with Matthäus. They are a Diathim with white glowing skin and blonde, curly hair held back by a headband. They are smiling and booping Matthäus nose with their left hand. The background is a light beige with black borders that are broken up by the characters. /End ID]

[stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage]

my greatest achievement in DA2 is maxing out Carver's friendship

and all it took was begrudgingly kissing a little templar ass in act 1 because Carver didn't want to plan a prison break if my Hawke got his ass arrested for being stupid.

[dailypearldoodles]

Day 534

Yup it's more fma au aha

Decided to go ahead with the idea that Pearl was given a Philosopher's Stone during Ishval, thus also gaining the title The Red Pearl Alchemist for a short time. The stone is returned after the war ends, but later she finds it again in the Fifth Laboratory with Gem

[dreamgirledward]

the thing about blackbonnet being so good fundamentally is that stede is a bitchass and a loser and ed is a prick and insane but theyre sooo obsessed with each other and when theyre together the rest of the world literally melts away but they are still that same loser and psycho deep down like that doesnt actually change. do you understand

[darkshrimpemotions]

Thinking about how Izzy blames himself for so much that isn't his fault and eating my own hands about it.

[plumsilk]

This is embarrassing to ask because I’m in my late 20s but I always thought the gspot wasn’t that deep inside? I’d always heard it described as the textured spot behind your pubic bone but I never felt anything special there so I figured mine wasn’t that sensitive. But the other day my gf was fingering me and rubbing this one spot pretty deep in me and holy fuck. It felt better than rubbing my clit. Was THAT my gspot? Is mine just deeper than most? Is it just some random spot that did it for me in that moment? idk

anon honestly im not the best person to ask since im not very well versed? experienced? w sex? lol.

i do think it is the g spot since. honestly my logic is what else is in my/your/our anatomy that would feel like that, right? but i have the same thing where it is reaallyy deep in there and doesnt really have the texture thing going on as advertised 🤷🏻