prepare4trouble

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Crucial aspect of Ed and Stede as a couple that we learned in s2 is they can NOT stay mad at each other. They might try but they just can't do it. At worst they're gonna be a little bit catty and snippy with each other, but Ed's big sad eyes and his cute little grumpy face and Stede's earnest whimsy are gonna break down walls in no time. They just want to have fun with each other and enjoy each other's company so they just can't stand being upset with each other.

All their fights as a couple are gonna be like. Ed's got his arms crossed and he's sulking and pouting SO hard but he keeps inching closer. Pretends it's a coincidence and he just wants to sit next to Stede on the couch because that's his favorite seat in the house. The first thing Stede does after an argument is make tea because he knows it'll help them both feel better once they calm down. They're holding each other's hands and sitting with their backs to each other because they get sad when they fight and they hate thinking about the other one being sad.

Within twenty minutes Ed's going to say something like "you know. if you were actually a mermaid you'd be nicer to me." And Stede would be all "well you don't know that. I've read some stories about mermaids that are real dicks." And Ed's like "well you were a real dick just now. and so was I, I guess." But then Stede would be like "hey. hey. we mermaid for each other. D'you get it" and Ed would go "... :3" and then they'd forget about whatever their little spat was in the first place because they'd be too busy making out

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yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr you greedy fucks

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can u imagine going to a tarot reader and this is the deck the pull out

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#our flag means death #ofmd #astroglide #lube as a crew

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oh my god they're engaged to be engaged...

(also this is entirely separate from the izzyguana series fyi, but my god I have drawn their little island so many times by now)

(ID in alt and under cut)

ID: 1a. Wide shot of Stede and Ed's ramshackle house on a hill of long grass, a forested mountain sliding into the sea behind them as the sun peeks above the waves, painting them orange and yellow. Some work has been put into the house since they found it: the holes in the roof have been boarded over or covered with tarp, a rickety porch railing and staircase off the left side have been built on from scraps, oil lamps have been hung on each corner, and an addition on the right side is in progress, rocks stacked on the wood-slat roof and tarps hanging from unfinished walls. Planks of wood, tools, and fishing poles are leaned up against the porch, the path to the house has been cleared out and defined by stones and shells, and a wooden sign out front has the words "Best Little Inn By The Sea! +fishing equipment" carved into it. Stede and Ed, wearing a teal blouse with brown leather trousers and purple tee with black leather trousers respectively, are standing on the porch and looking out over the land, arms around each others waist. Stede raises his arm in a wave and shouts, "Great to see you two! Come again any time!" In the foreground, Pete and Lucius are walking down the path away from the house, looking tired. Pete has one arm around Lucius's shoulders and his eyes are closed, head listing to the side. Lucius covers his mouth as he yawns, lifting the other to throw a halfhearted wave over his shoulder. 1b. Waist-up in profile of Stede and Ed on the porch, sunrise behind them. Closest to the viewer, Stede stares out after their guests, hand lowering, smile fading to something a little bittersweet. Ed leans into Stede, free hand in his pants pocket, and rests his head in the crook of his neck as he follows Stede's gaze with a thoughtful smile. Ed asks, "You ever think about that for us?" 1c. Repeat. Stede's hand drops further, wrist dangling, as he turns his face toward Ed with a bewildered smile. "What?" Ed straightens from his cuddle, embarrassed, but keeps his right hand on Stede's waist. His left gestures randomly as he scrunches up his face, avoiding Stede's gaze. He explains, "Y'know...the matie-monie thing, whatever."

2a. Zoom out slightly; Stede takes a step back toward the house to face Ed as he pivots with his back toward the yard. They are still connected waist-to-hand. Stede plants his free hand on his hip with a smug little smirk and says, "Well I certainly hope that's not your proposal." Ed waves his free hand in a 'stop' motion, flustered as he meets his partner's eyes, and splutters "Wha- no! No, mate, I just... 'M having a dialogue." 2b. Repeat, zoom in. Ed dips his chin to look up at Stede through his lashes, red-faced and accepting defeat as he mumbles, "...How would you want it to go, though? Hypothetically." Stede giggles helplessly, free hand leaving his hip to rest fingertips on Ed's chest. 2c. Repeat, the background cutting out in favor of the sunrise occurring between them. They are almost forehead-to forehead, both of Stede's hands now pressed to Ed's chest and idly playing with the tips of his hair. Ed stares at his face with hooded eyes. Stede smiles, gaze lowered to focus on his hands, and says "Oh, I don't know. A bit of romance, you know. Dazzle." 2d. Repeat, zoom in to bust, background now mottled oranges and yellows. Ed raises his head to look past Stede with a frown, brow furrowed in confusion as he repeats blankly, "Dazzle." Stede hums idly to himself, concentrating on petting Ed's chest. 2e. Repeat. Stede lifts his head with a little smile, putting them nose-to-nose and adds, "I wouldn't say no to some fireworks." Ed flusters at the pointed reminder of their first time, cheeks turning red and a wobbly smile creeping across his face.

3a. Repeat. Stede asks, "What about you?" Ed leans back from their embrace, smile turning incredulous as he repeats, "Me?!" 3b. Waist up of Ed as he turns, sunrise at his back, to lean his left arm against the porch railing. He glances over the yard with a resigned little frown, fiddling with a piece of his hair with his right hand. He replies, "I dunno. Never really thought about it." 3c. Chest up of Stede as he mirrors Ed's pose with a fond if slightly amused smile, stairs and forest behind him. Offscreen, Ed continues, "Bet you had a whole scrapbook of ideas, eh?" 3d. Repeat. Stede straightens with a "Well!" and turns his body to face the house. 3e. Knees-up from the house POV as both men lean against the porch railing, the yard, ocean, and brightening sky beginning to streak itself with orange beyond. Stede is facing the viewer, back to the yard, leaning with his elbows braced on the railing. He aims his gaze to the side with a bit of a pained smile and says, "When Mary and I were engaged, a scrapbook wouldn't have been much use." Ed is turned toward Stede, left elbow propped on the railing. He scowls and sticks out his tongue at mention of Mary. 3f. Repeat. Stede turns his head toward Ed, who quickly tucks his petty tongue back in his mouth and schools his expression into one of interest. Stede continues, "Everything had been decided for us already. Never really got to the proposal part."

4a. Repeat. Ed turns his body more fully toward Stede, folding his arms on the railing and leaning his head over them with a warm smile. Stede raises his eyebrows in surprise and goes slightly pink as Ed says, "I'll have to make it really good, then." 4b. Stede turns his body toward Ed, left arm sliding against the railing behind him and right hand cupping Ed's chin as he leans closer, nose to nose. Ed's eyes hood, looking at Stede's mouth as is curls into a loving smile. Stede responds, "Can't wait." 4c. Repeat. Ed suddenly goes pale and blurts out, "You'll say yes, though, right?" Stede freezes in surprise, lips puckered in preparation of a kiss. 4d. Repeat. Stede throws his head back in a loud bark of laughter, straightening up and turning fully toward Ed to cup his cheek in his right hand and his shoulder with the other. Ed aims an embarrassed, besotted smile at him as Stede replies, "Ed, of course! Who could say no to you?"

5a. Repeat, both now in profile. The orange and yellow light of the sunrise is slowly spreading across the sky from the left. Ed straightens up from his lean to bring their foreheads together, still a bit red-cheeked and with a nervous edge to his smile as he lowers his gaze. He says, "You can say no if you want, though." Stede smiles at him with every ounce of tenderness he has, hands firm on his cheek and shoulder. He replies, "There's nothing I want more than to say yes to you, Ed. Permanent ink, remember?" 5b. Repeat. Stede moves his right hand from Ed's cheek to hook around his back, tugging him closer as he leans himself back. Ed stumbles forward with a helpless grin, cheeks even redder, bracing himself with his right hand on Stede's chest. When their eyes meet, Stede's smile turns teasing and faux-sinister, continuing, "You're stuck with me regardless. Foreverrr~" 5c. Repeat, larger and brighter, as Stede and Ed finally come together in an affirming kiss, the land behind them retreating to allow the sea and sky to fill the background. The sun finally breaches the horizon, sending glitter sparkling across the waves and gilding the pair in warm golden light. Ed's right hand is cupping the side of Stede's neck, thumb tracing through his sideburns, and Stede's right is hooked fully around his shoulders, cushioned in his soft hair. They are both smiling into the kiss, unhurried and in harmony.

6a. Repeat as they pull back from the kiss just far enough to meet each other's gaze, arms still around each other, Ed's right hand brushing Stede's cheek and Stede's buried in the back of Ed's hair. Ed smirks flirtatiously, eyes hooded, and says, "You know... I hear there's a traditional engagement sex sabbatical, too." Stede matches his expression, left hand sliding down Ed's shoulder to press against his lower back. Stede replies playfully, "Oh, is there? I suppose I can plan that part, then." 6b. Repeat. Ed brings his left hand up to mirror his right, cupping both of Stede's cheeks, and arches up on his toes to lean over Stede with a teasing grin. His movement forces Stede to arch his back in the first motions of a dip, hands briefly flying free of their grip on his future fiance to try to catch his balance. Their lips a centimeter apart, Ed hums, "Mmm, gimme a rehearsal, first." Stede tosses his head back with a giggle in response, eyes closed, cheeks pink. Hearts float above their heads. 6c. Shot at the bottom of the hill Stede and Ed are stationed on, the packed-dirt path to the house curving upward in the background, the stones and shells now more conservatively scattered. Amidst the tall grass and tropical plants lining the way are handmade wooden signs shaped like arrows pointing the way to the inn. Words carved into them say "this way!" and "best inn!" Pete and Lucius are in the foreground, walking down the hill towards the viewer, Pete's right arm still looped around his husband's shoulders. They still look very tired with dark circles beneath their eyes - Pete still hasn't opened his. Lucius has, barely, and is scowling his way forward with a furrowed brow, declaring, "We are leaving them the worst review." Pete nods solemnly. Text nearby points to them and says 'kept up all night by noises'. Pink hearts and exclamation points spill out behind them from the bend in the path, echoing the lovey-dovey noises from above that must have made their stay so insufferable. /end ID

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don't mind me, just casually spending my evening painting some gay pirates

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the sound you hear is rhys swimming to costa rica

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I'll say that again and again bc it's just that important to me:

That we get to see Desire portrayed between queer characters without it made to be 'funny' or weird or in hiding or as a betrayal to some other relationship...

You don't understand how deeply satisfying that was for me personally.

No stares. No giggles. No dumb questions. Just heartfelt desire and passion and mutual want.

I can't.... I need them back right now!

Gif by @livelovecaliforniadreams

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One of my absolute favorite scenes is when Stede is watching Ed and Jack through the telescope, one because bitchy Stede is life, and two because of how...absolutely sweet Lucius and Olu are with him? When Stede asks if Jack is better looking than him (lol) and says he has nice hair and Olu goes "you've got nice hair". Lucius walking in "well don't you look awful" and "has this been going on all night?" "All night. No breaks" kills me. The two of them providing Stede with company (even though Olu could have gone and slept somewhere else if Stede was really annoying him) and moral support (he's fantastic at breakups) is something I love, and I really wish we saw more of the three of them interacting in S2. Stede/Olu/Lucius bestie squad is real to me and I will not hear otherwise.

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If we're talking from the heart, when I saw it for the first time I felt a little sad. And I'm not surprised that Taika Waititi didn't post anything about Our Flag Means Death. Whatever he does, comments are predictable. And even in the (wonderful) OFMD fandom you can find terrible people. This is normal. But how many times can you read the same insults? This must be boring.

Anyway #SaveOFMD #AdoptOurCrew 💖

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‘get over it. there are other shows with gay rep’ i’m gonna stop you right there chief. looks like you’ve fallen into the trap of thinking queer is a genre :/

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Boy (2010) Behind the Scenes

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i can make up a million scenarios about their s3 wedding but it simply won't be the same 💔

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I hate that the fanon idea of Ed as someone with a small vocabulary/someone who is "bad with words" is still presented so often without criticizing it in fanworks.

It's just not supported by canon at all. Ed speaks very casually, but that's true of every other character on the show (including Stede, who's so often made into someone who talks like the poshest of Brits, but that's a topic for another day).

The only times we see Ed stumble over words, it's more that he's unfamiliar with the concepts they represent. He doesn't know what "retirement" means, but he's a pirate from a low-class background, so it makes sense he's never heard it before (and that he assumes other pirates, like Izzy, wouldn't know what it meant). He stumbles over "passive aggression," mishearing the first word as "massive," but if mishearing one very similar word as another is a sign of a limited vocabulary, I'm sure we're all guilty there - and the way Ed corrects himself and acts a bit embarrassed makes it clear he's not used to messing up his words like that.

Ed's vocabulary is often shown to be absolutely fine, bordering on impressive, in the show itself! He sure as fuck never needs Stede to explain big words to him (please stop making me read that). Ed frequently chooses larger/less commonplace words to describe things (diabolical, optimal, intercourse, etc.) when smaller words would do fine. He does not have a limited vocabulary. In fact, the way Hornigold chides Ed for using "purgatory" to describe the gravy basket when he thinks a simpler term would be better makes it seem like Ed's even a bit insecure about how other pirates might think his vocabulary is too hoity-toity.

Now, writing Ed as someone who is self-conscious of his ability to come across as good with words is something I've seen done very well as a commentary on race and class, especially by other fans of color. Writing about Ed thinking he's "bad with words" while at the same time being very obviously eloquent is a great deconstruction of this theme. But I hate when it's used uncritically, and especially when Stede has to explain perfectly commonplace words to Ed. Ed doesn't need Mr. "Calm down mr. wavey blade" over here to give him vocabulary lessons.

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This was entirely self serving, I hope you love it too though! The reference was insane.

I will post the gorgeous reference in a reblog so you can see what I’m talking about.

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I've seen a lot of OFMD fans pointing at other fan campaigns recently, especially the failed campaign to save Anne with an E, and getting disheartened by what they see, and I think something that's missing in those discussions (particularly after the weirdly negative slant at the end of that Guardian article) is that not all fan campaigns are the same.

The campaigns to save shows that started out on Netflix (Warrior Nun, Sense8, Anne with an E, Shadow and Bone, etc.) are very different to what we are facing with OFMD, because Netflix is much more protective of its IP - and yes, they even hold the IP of shows that they've cancelled tightly to their chests and very rarely let them go. Some have been able to make the jump to different platforms, but not many, and it's actually pretty hard to do so (“For most shows, shopping away from Netflix is reportedly very difficult when Netflix owns the underlying IP”).

Because of this, fans of shows cancelled by Netflix are often campaigning directly for Netflix to reverse that decision, rather than campaigning to get it picked up elsewhere. Warrior Nun (I saw people panicking at the length of effort and the numbers they had to put in before they got their success) and Sense8 were both granted final films by Netflix to wrap up their stories after long-running successful fan campaigns - they were not saved by a different platform, and likely couldn't have been because of Netflix's strict grip on its IP. So comparing ourselves to fan campaigns for shows cancelled by Netflix isn't accurate or fair to us or to those other campaigns.

It's also worth pointing out that Anne with an E was a joint venture between Netflix and CBC, and that relationship appears to have fallen apart, which may have been a factor in its cancellation (see more at this tweet). This is also likely a contributing factor as to why, despite the campaign to save it being huge, it didn't get the reprieve from Netflix that other shows have received. That is baggage that OFMD simply doesn't have.

OFMD is in a very different position to many of the shows that were cancelled by Netflix and then went on to have fan campaigns around them, in that we have confirmation from HBO Max that they are happy for it to be shopped around. HBO Max is not holding a firm grip on the IP the way that Netflix does. We are able to try to find OFMD a new home. And that's a very different sort of campaign and trajectory than trying to convince the platform that cancelled us to reverse/amend their decision (I'd also argue it's slightly easier - nothing is certain, nothing is easy, but I think we have a better chance being allowed to look for someone else to pick us up rather than relying on the company that cancelled us to show us mercy).

Yes, some fan campaigns have had many more petition signatures than us (don't sniff at 80,000 signatures in two weeks, that's huge and fast), but that is only one part of the story. Petition signatures alone won't be the thing that clinches it. There are fan campaigns with hundreds of thousands of signatures that have failed, but there are also fan campaigns with way less signatures than us that have seen their show saved. There's so many elements at play, and every single one is unique. It's very tempting to play 'like for like' with these sorts of campaigns, but it's simply not a truthful reflection of the situation.

Every show is different. Every fan campaign is different.

We have every reason to be hopeful, and every reason to keep fighting. OFMD's numbers are good, it's already incredibly marketable to other streamers, and then ON TOP of that the fan reaction has been loud enough for a lot of people to take notice.

Yes, we're in a dip right now because that's what happens - every campaign has peaks and troughs because nothing sustains at the same level forever, and, again, it's only been just over two weeks and look at what we've done - but the impact we had, and the noise we made, happened at exactly the right time and kept happening for long enough to make an impression. A lot of things will be happening behind the scenes right now that we don't know about, and there's so many factors at play that we have no control over. It's a long game.

So don't look at other fan campaigns and be disheartened by what you see. Because what you see on the surface is nowhere near close to the full picture.

Even if we don't get our S3, lets celebrate the fact that we have made a huge impression, kicked up a huge stink, and been the thorn in the side of some people who absolutely fucking needed a couple of thorns in their side. And I think that's the best legacy that our rebellious little gay pirate show could possibly have.