#this 'ed is irredeemable to me personally' thing

[suffersinfandom]

Controversial opinion (?): the Kraken Era wasn’t all that dark.

There’s a whole lot of meta and fic out there that portray early season two Ed as a bloodthirsty, hyperviolent monster, and when that portrayal is challenged, the rebuttal is usually along the lines of, “I’m just doing what canon did. Did you even watch the show?”

I did watch the show, and honestly? I expected Ed to be so much worse than he was! When I see people say they didn’t think Ed did enough to redeem himself or that he went past the point of no return, I just… don’t understand.

I already went into this in my way-too-long meta about Ed and abuse, but I do think it bears repeating (in a shorter post) because it seems like Ed’s actions -- more than the actions of any other character -- are scrutinized and discussed outside of the context of, y’know… a comedy about pirates. There’s tons of casual violence in Our Flag Means Death. Sometimes the violence is even funny! 

So what does Ed actually do?

As far as I can remember (I’ve only seen season two a few of times, so correct me if I’ve missed something!), we see Ed directly harm someone twice in the first two episodes: first on the wedding boat, and then when he shoots Izzy in the leg. Kind of unimpressive numbers, yeah? Tbh, I'd expect more out of a heartbroken Blackbeard.

The first instance involves Ed shooting a man during a raid. That man has a sword through his chest before Ed fires, leading me to believe that Ed’s still following his season one pattern of keeping himself a step removed from murder (technically, the sword killed that guy). We also don’t see the murder happen; the man tumbles offscreen before Ed shoots. This makes the action less brutal. If the writers wanted us to be appalled by Ed’s violence, we would’ve gotten a graphic kill (or several).

And the second instance is Izzy. Ed shoots Izzy in the leg after he suggests that the shitty atmosphere is because of Ed’s feelings for Stede. Hot take, maybe, but I don’t think that was entirely out of line -- definitely not for a pirate captain whose first mate is acting out! Ed’s feelings for Stede are not the only problem; a significant chunk of the problem is Izzy. Izzy called in the navy and led to their capture and, more importantly, Izzy bullied Ed back into the Blackbeard persona. This is what Izzy said he wanted.

We’re also told that Ed has taken more of Izzy’s toes between seasons. This isn’t cool -- bosses definitely shouldn’t be asking for their employees’ toes -- but there is a precedent for it: in season one, Ed told Stede that he used to feed people their toes for a laugh (yuck). For a laugh. This, to me, implies that it’s not a huge deal. It’s certainly not completely unexpected pirate behavior, and it seems more lenient than, like, a keelhauling or a whipping. I think both of those things would've felt way more gruesome and dark.

As far as violent actions go, that’s not a lot. Like, numerically.

Things get darker in S2E2 when Ed becomes increasingly desperate for someone, anyone, to send him to doggy heaven. He’s unhinged and working his way up to a murder-suicide before he’s stopped, but he doesn’t lay a hand on anyone. He orders Archie and Jim to fight to the death. He ignores anonymous crewmembers as they’re swept overboard in the storm. This is bad! It’s self-destructive and selfish! But violent? Monstrous? I don’t really think so.

In my opinion, the worst thing Ed does is force his crew to do violence for him -- not because it’s violence (again, they’re pirates), but because the violence hurts them. THIS is what traumatizes them! Their trauma flashbacks are scenes of them hurting others, not of Ed hurting them directly. Ed didn’t physically torture his crew (with the exception of Izzy, and that’s complicated). His crime was driving them to do one violent raid after another, killing and plundering without any joy or theatrics. Ed feels trapped in the role of Blackbeard -- the role that he’s been desperate to escape -- and, in his heartbreak, he opts to trap his crew with him. 

Yeah, Ed is messed up in the first two episodes of season two. I don’t blame the crew for almost killing him; it’s what needed to be done. I think that Jim, Archie, Frenchie, and Fang had every right to want Ed gone after Stede’s return. 

But I don’t think that Ed was a super violent monster who tortured his crew and murdered his way through his breakup. He engages in very little onscreen violence, and the person that most of his violence is focused on -- Izzy -- is the same person who told him to be violent. I think that anyone who says that Ed’s actions in the first part of season two are extremely dark is either looking at them out of context, misremembering what actually happened and just recalling the dark tone, or working with some kind of motive.

In conclusion: Ed is a man who, at his very darkest, was still operating pretty firmly within the bounds of "stuff pirates do" (but not stuff Ed has historically done, presumably).

Also look at him. Thank you.

GIF by unearthlydust

#ofmd #ofmd meta #edward teach #me typing things #idk i just keep seeing this thing? #this 'ed is irredeemable to me personally' thing #and that's fine? #hate characters if you want to? #but i don't think the kraken is all that evil #i mean i guess ed disagrees #hence the guilt and agreeing to humiliation and apologies #my poor mentally ill blorbo

[scaryhaven]

Yeah, don't mind me, just been walking around feeling weepy, like my hearts been ripped outta me and stomped on, I related to Ed too much in those 3 episodes, it was like being forced to look in an ugly, sad mirror that I'd had hidden away for years... I don't want to see myself nor for others to see me, it's all just very raw.

#ow #the thing is its just very bad timing cuz im not doing well and i just wanna enjoy the show but its a bit intense hopefully it lightens up #cuz my heart literally hurts thinking about them. like am i literally going to either try dating again or am i gonna... #anyway #self sabotage su!c!dal ideation and not feeling worthy of love is kinda my thing ed is coming for my brand #blackbeard #ofmd spoilers #personal #when fandom stops just being about the characters and actors but you see yourself in them and realize just how much youre hurting yourself #and i love ed he deserves happiness but i dont see that for myself? ive never done half the stuff hes done but im irredeemable? #fuck im getting angry at myself because i think i may have broken my brain so much i might try loving myself #is ofmd going to fucking fix me? im thinking... why cant i love myself like i love others. maybe it doesnt have to be so fucking severe #normally id delete this by now but no i dont care atm

[queerly-autistic]

Stede getting carried away with all the affirmation and attention he receives after killing Ned, especially after a lifetime of being bullied and belittled and not taken seriously and being treated like a failure, isn't some striking indictment of him as a person or something that makes him bad or irredeemable.

It's the most understandably human thing in the world.

The tendency to get swept up in people being nice to you, and making you feel good, even if at heart you might know it's fleeting or unhealthy, is probably one of the most common human flaws. And it's especially something that gets you if you're someone who has experienced bullying and rejection. I know for a fact it's a weakness I have (especially as someone who has, like Stede, spent a lot of my life being bullied and made to feel small), and I don't know many people who wouldn't at least struggle a little bit with it.

It's not just generally common in people, it's something we see throughout the show itself. Black Pete is desperate for adulation and approval. We see Ed get carried away at the fancy party in almost an exact mirror of Stede in the Republic of Pirates. It's such a predictable human thing that Zheng uses it as a tried and tested strategy to manipulate people. Heck, even Stede exploits it in Izzy by flattering him with talk of 'Blackbeard said you taught him everything he knows and made him the captain he is today!'.

Seeing Stede get carried away in the Republic of Pirates almost makes him more endearing to me because it's such a recognisable and understandable misstep for him to make (just like it was when Ed made that same misstep at the fancy party) given both his history and the fact that he's a human being.

Stede is a fundamentally good and kind person who has some serious and realistic flaws because he's a brilliantly written well-rounded character, and that's why I love him.

#ofmd #our flag means death #stede bonnet #ofmd meta #erin waffles #ofmd s1 ep7 #man on fire

[bornonthesavage]

Tell Me "Don't", So I Can Crawl Back In Part 2

Part 1 Part 3

Eddie Munson was having a crisis. No, maybe that was too strong a word. This was just a minor existential examination of everything he’d ever known. Because up until today, it had been a known truth of the universe that all jocks were irredeemable assholes whose sole purpose in life was to make Eddies worse. And for the most part, that was still what he believed. Except, now there was big, glaring dent in this truth. A big, glaring dent in the form of Steve Harrington.

When he’d looked up and seen that stupid, handsome face, he’d immediately known he was about to have a bad time. Would probably have his papers stomped on, maybe a few books ripped. So one can forgive Eddie his momentary lack of brain function when Steve actually got down and started to help. And then he apologized. Like, actually apologized. And he seemed sincere. Which had completely knocked the wind out of Eddie’s sails. He’d been so prepared to say something scathing, to mock him and then hightail it out of there before he got his ass kicked.

But then, to make it worse, Steve knew about Dungeons and Dragons. And he babysat. He babysat nerdy kids who played Dungeons and Dragons, and he offered that information up like it was nothing. Like it didn’t rock Eddie to his very fucking core. And then, of course, he delivered the killing blow in the form of a genuine smile. Like he was made of fucking sunshine.

Goddamn it. Eddie had done such a good job at keeping his horrible, ill-advised crushes on straight boys under control. Because sure, he’d looked at Steve before. It was impossible not to, when he looked like freaking Apollo, all golden tanned and built like a dream. Being that Eddie was the only queer guy he knew of in Hawkins, it wasn’t like he had any choice but to have crushes on straight guys. Pickings were slim, and Eddie was starving.

So yes, he’d snuck a look at Steve in the past. Either in the halls, or as he jogged around the track field, or on one memorable occasion when he’d accidentally stumbled into a swim meet and caught an eyeful of tight little swim trunks. But that was fine. Looking was fine.

Only, now he’d talked to him. And Steve was no longer just a hot, mean jock. Because he hadn’t seemed mean at all. He’d seemed pretty nice, actually. Maybe that was what happened, when a person lost everything that had once made them what they were. Now, Steve had to reinvent what he was. Well, if that was the case, he was off to a pretty good start. Maybe Eddie could give him a few pointers. Take him under his wing. Maybe Steve would---

No. No! He was not going to go down that rabbit hole. That was dangerous. What he needed to do was stay far away from Steve Harrington. That pretty boy was nothing but trouble, and Eddie had more than enough of that in his life as it was.

He dragged his pillow up and pressed it over his face before screaming into it. This was ridiculous. He couldn’t actually be this weak. One nice smile sent his way, and he was ready to drop all his carefully crafted walls. It was pathetic.

Eddie rolled off his bed and climbed to his feet. This was fine. It wasn’t like Steve was ever going to talk to him again. Today had been a total fluke. From now on he could go back to sneaking glances across crowded rooms. So really, there was no need to dwell on this. He repeated that sentiment as he made his way out of his room and to the kitchen, where he proceeded to make the worlds loudest bowl of cereal. And the thing was, he didn’t even realize how hard he was slamming the cabinets until Wayne looked up from the tv.

“Eds, what on Gods green earth has gotten you so worked up?”

He huffed. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

Wayne gave him a look. “Now I know that ain’t true. The only time you slam shit is when you’ve gotten yourself all worked up about something. So, spill.”

Eddie growled and shoved the milk roughly back into the fridge. “It’s just… Gah!” He scooped up a too big bite of cereal and shoveled into his mouth. “Stupid boys! And their stupid smiles!”

Wayne, of course, knew about Eddie. Had know for years. But they didn’t talk about it. Not beyond the initial talk they’d had, when Wayne had assured him that he would love and support Eddie no matter what. And then, after that, the very awkward and horrible discussion about safe sex. Which wasn’t an issue for Eddie, considering he was a virgin.

“Well,” Wayne said slowly. “I can’t say I relate. But, yeah. I understand the sentiment.”

Eddie shook his head and glared into his bowl. “He thinks he can just smile at me, and I’ll forget about what a douche bag he was.”

Wayne hummed. “No, you don’t want to be getting mixed up with that sort.”

“Exactly!” Eddie cried, pointing his spoon at his uncle. “Exactly.”

Without another word, he turned and scampered back into his room. Once he was safely tucked into his cocoon of blankets, he let himself ruminate on the problem of Steve. Because really, what sort of name was that. Steve. Just a boring old name. The kind of name Eddie imagined a mailman to have.

Steve could be a mailman, if he wanted to. He’d look good, in those khaki shorts. Eddie could picture him, biceps bulging as he hefted a large package to Eddie’s door. Maybe he’d be hot and would need to come inside to cool down. And once inside, maybe he’d feel the need to deliver a different sort of package… No! Shit, no no no.

Eddie clamped his teeth down on his spoon hard enough to hurt. This was ridiculous. Harrington didn’t deserve a starring role in his fantasies. It wasn’t like he’d done anything great. So what, he’d picked up a few papers. Big deal. No, it was imperative that Eddie put Steve out of his mind completely.

That became an issue the very next day. Eddie was situated at the head of the lunch table, just like always. His pack of merry freaks lined the table, already talking over each other about one thing or another. Gareth and Jeff had their head bowed together, discussing something to do with D&D. Josie and Mic were arguing over something that had happened in history class, while Grant and Todd discussed a movie they’d gone to see over the past weekend. Eddie grinned as he observed his friends. This was his domain, and there was peace.

At least there was, until out of the corner of his eyes, Eddie spotted an approaching enemy. And okay, maybe it was a bit much to call Steve an enemy. Before yesterday, sure. But now… Steve was an anomaly. An anomaly that was rapidly approaching their table with a tray in hand. Eddie sat frozen, his eyes wide, all the way up until Steve stopped beside him. The rest of the table seemed to have noticed him as well, as they’d fallen silent. Steve smiled down at Eddie as if he weren’t doing the strangest thing that had ever happened at Hawkins High.

“Hey Eddie, what’s up?”

He could physically feel his brain reeling, searching in his files for what the appropriate response to this situation was. All he could come up with was a garbled “Wha?”

Steve didn’t seem phased. “I said, what’s up? How’re you doing?”’

Eddie blinked rapidly. “Uh, yeah man. I’m fine. Did you… need something?”

“Oh, actually.” Steve reached around into his back pocket and pulled out a folded black square of cloth. A very familiar one, at that. He’d honestly thought he’d lost it. But to see it now, held out in Steve Harrington’s hand, was almost too much. Eddie choked.

“You dropped this yesterday, and I wanted to give it back. Wasn’t sure if it had any significant meaning to you.”

Yeah, you could say that. Eddie reached out slowly, almost afraid Steve was about to rip his hand away and call him out. Tell the whole school what a black hanky meant, and what that made Eddie. But that didn’t happen. Steve allowed the cloth to slip through his fingers, all the while wearing that same casual grin.

“Oh, um. Thanks dude.”

“It’s no problem,” Steve said with a shrug.

Eddie expected him to leave, now that he’d done his daily good deed or whatever. But he didn’t. Steve continued to stand beside him, looking infuriatingly normal. As if this wasn’t so, so weird. Then, to make matters even more bizarre, he turned his smile on the rest of the table.

“Hey guys.”

It took monumental effort, but Eddie finally managed to drag his eyes away from Steve and back to his friends. It was actually pretty funny, the way they all wore matching expression of astoundment and confusion. Their faces looked the way Eddie felt on the inside. Nobody gave a response. When Steve still didn’t leave, Eddie cleared his throat.

“Uh, was there something else you needed?”

Steve’s expression shifted then, turning almost bashful. Eddie despised how cute he found it. “Actually, yeah. I was sort of wondering if I could sit with you?”

The silence that rang, following that statement, was loud. Out of the corner of his eye, Eddie could see his friends begin to shift with distrust. Because yeah, this was really bizarre. At least Eddie had some context, given their encounter yesterday. But had Steve really fallen so low, so desperate for friends, that he was willing to slum it with the freaks?

The awkwardness seemed to finally catch up with Steve, as he began to ramble. “It’s just, I was late to the cafeteria, so my usual table is taken. And, I mean, I guess I could go eat outside or in the library, but that seems like a level of lame I’d rather not fall to. So I saw you, and remembered I had to return your bandana. And then I saw you had extra chairs and figured I’d ask. But if not it’s fine, I can go—”

“No!”

Eddie wanted to clamp a hand over his own stupid mouth. Did he have to sound so loud and eager? Fuck, he really was pathetic. But at least Steve wasn’t much better, with the way he was staring down at Eddie with those big, brown eyes.

“I just mean, no, it’s fine. You can sit with us.” Eddie explained. His shin received a hard kick from under the table, but he ignored it. “If his highness wishes to dine with the peasants, who am I to deny him?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “I already told you, I’m not a king anymore.”

“Ah!” Eddie cried, leaping to his feet. “A fallen heir. How tragic. Well, I always have room in my court for a weary traveler.”

What the fuck was he doing? He should be telling Steve to go away, to leave them alone. There was no way this was going to be a good thing for his newfound straight boy crush. And yet his mouth seemed to have a mind of its own, that filthy traitor. And it was worse, when Steve lit up like Eddie had just told him today was second Christmas. Because oh no. Now Eddie wanted to see that again. He wanted to please Steve Harrington.

“Oh, cool. Thanks. I can sit down at the end, if you want.”

Yeah, that would be good. Put some distance between them. Of course, his stupid fucking mouth had other ideas. “No, it’s fine. Just pull a chair up next to me.”

Fuck! That wasn’t what he’d meant to say! God dammit. But it was too late, because Steve was already beaming like a kid at Disneyland. Eddie watched as he set his tray down, then walked to a nearby table and stole a chair to drag over. He shot a panicked glance at his friends, and found that they were all looking at him like he’s lost his mind. Gareth’s face very clearly said “What the hell are you doing?” Eddie sent him a desperate shrug.

Steve plopped down right beside Eddie. Which was so stupid, because there definitely wasn’t enough room at the head of the table for two people. It forced them to sit practically pressed against each other, with Steve’s warm thigh lining up perfectly with Eddie’s leg. Steve didn’t even seem to notice. He just cast a guileless smile around to the rest of the gang.

“So, what’s up?”

Based on all the blank faces, that seemed to be what everyone else was thinking. Jeff was the first that seemed to recover, as he cast a look between Steve and Eddie. “Uh, yeah, we’re kind of wondering the same thing.”

Steve ripped open a bag of chips and threw a few into his mouth. “Oh, shit, sorry. Did Eddie not tell you? We sort of started talking yesterday when I accidentally ran into him. We shared some minor bonding over my slight knowledge of Dungeons and Dragons, so we’re pretty much friends now.”

They were? What the fuck? This was news to him!  The rest of the group was looking at Eddie now though, and he was really not prepared to unpack all this with an audience. He waved his hands.

“All of you, as you were. Stop gawking like heathens, just because we have a bit of fresh meat at the table.”

There were several shouts of indignation, but Eddie silenced them with a look. They would discuss this later, but not here. It wasn’t like Eddie was opposed to making a scene. Oh no, he engaged in a good bit of table theater at least once per week. But in this instance, he had no idea what to make of this new development. It was unnerving, and Eddie needed time to poke at it before he made any moves. Surely Steve had some ulterior motives. Whatever they were, Eddie would find them.

Reluctantly, the rest of the group went back to their conversations. Which left Eddie with Steve, who was looking at him with an amused curl to his mouth.

“What?”

“That was pretty impressive.”

“What was?”

Steve rolled his eyes. What a bitch. “How you got them all to listen to you. I could use a few pointers. Maybe then I could get the middle schoolers I look after to actually do what I say for once.”

Eddie grinned wide, showing off all his teeth. “It’s all in the presentation, Stevie boy. If you hold yourself like you’re the one in charge, everyone else will listen.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Steve said, chewing slowly. “That’s kind of what I used to do. It works better on people our age, though. Middle schoolers can see through an act like nobody’s business.”

“Well then, Stevie boy, make sure it’s not an act.”

Steve huffed. “That’s easier said than done. Especially when I have no clue what I’m doing most of the time. Fake it till you make it only works when you have at least a tiny bit of a plan. I’m just out here wandering through the dark.”

Well shit, that sounded awfully close to vulnerability. “Careful, Steve, you don’t want to go around admitting that sort of thing where predators might hear you.”

Steve quirked an eyebrow up. “What, like you?”

Huh. Nobody, ever, in their right mind had referred to Eddie as a predator. No, he figured he belonged somewhere in the small mammal category. Like a gopher, or maybe a mink. You could probably make a real nice fur coat out of him.

“Buddy boy, out of the two of us, I think you fall more in line with the predators.”

Steve hummed and popped a grape into his mouth. Eddie watched, transfixed, as Steve rolled the fruit around in his mouth. First to one cheek, then the other, before letting it pop back to the front of his teeth. What the fuck? Just eat the damn thing!

“I feel like I’m more of a golden retriever,” he eventually said. “Does that count as a predator?”

Eddie snorted. “No, it doesn’t. But I’m not so sure about a golden retriever. You’re too bitchy for that. Maybe a different breed.”

“And which breed would that be?” Steve asked, tilting his head.

“Don’t know. Can’t say I know you all that well.”

Steve narrowed his eyes, as though considering. “That’s fair. Tell you what, once we hang out a little more, you let me know which breed of dog you think I am. Okay?”

Eddie knew he should object, tell him to go find someone else to bother. But he was, in fact, a weak, weak man. And here Steve Harrington was, saying he wanted to hang out. And he was supposed to, what? Tell him no? Have restraint? Self-respect? It was overrated. Especially when compared with the opportunity to sit in the presence of a very pretty boy. So, Eddie found himself nodding his head, meeting Steve’s eye.

“Alright Harrington. You’ve got a deal.”

Read and follow along on AO3

#steddie #steddie fic #steve harrington #steve x eddie #eddie munson #these boys don't know what they've gotten themselves into

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

One of the things about Stede that absolutely kills me is that I don't think we ever see him defend himself.

Stede has such a negative view of himself, and it's clearly gotten to the point where he thinks everyone else is justified in assuming the worst, too. He acts so confident that it's almost something you can miss, so I can't even blame Ed for not noticing just how bad Stede's self-image is.

Stede never tries to explain his behavior. He just nods along when other people tell him how they interpreted his actions.

S1E3: Stede, about to be hanged, says "I deserve that" when Jim calls him "the worst pirate captain in history." Now, yes, he's been just the worst pirate ever up until this point, but he's literally about to die and he doesn't even try to get sympathy or reassurance.

S1E9 - Stede never even bothers trying to explain that Nigel's death was an accident, he says he stole Nigel's sword and jammed it through his head. Part is obviously to make sure he takes the blame instead of Ed, who already confessed, but he could have given the true account of events.

S1E10 - Stede seems bummed but definitely not surprised to see Mary and the kids are doing so well without him. Never explains himself or tells Mary that he'd been feeling so trapped and terrible. When Mary tried to skewer him, his biggest cricitism was about how maybe she should have tried smothering him or using a pillow instead.

S2E1-E3 - Stede can only assume Ed's behavior at the beginning of the season is his fault alone, but he never, ever tries to pass blame. He never even thinks about blaming Ed or any crew members' actions. As far as he's concerned, the responsibility is his alone.

S2E4 - I think it's very natural that Stede's explanation to Ed wouldn't include the fact that Chauncy dragged him out of bed and shot himself in front of him. It might make Ed feel better to know Stede wasn't just panicking about their relationship moving too fast, he'd also just been through a very traumatic event, but Stede doesn't think of it like that. As far as he's concerned, he has no excuses and Ed is right to blame him entirely.

Always, every time, Stede assumes everyone is always working with the understanding that Stede fucked up big time and he deserves complete blame for everything that happens as a result. He never tries to contextualize his actions. He assumes the worst of himself and thinks everyone else is right to do so too.

I'm glad Ed's started to pick up on how much Stede is desperate for approval. I hope he realizes how much Stede needs reassurance and how much good saying "you're not the worst person alive and you're not irredeemable" will do for him.

#ofmd #our flag means death

[bougiebutchbitch]

This is definitely hand me down info, and I can't be bother to check cause I'm not on Twitter. But apparently there was some discussion of a scene being cut that, according to Con, was removed because it made Ed 'irredeemable'. Season 2 already went some really dark places, so I'm wondering what your thoughts on it are?

I'm also asking you because the comments were full of people who would have loved to see it. Because to them, Ed is totally fine no matter how reprehensible and abusive his behaviour gets. And I just. You're one of the few non-brainrotted people here sometimes I like to get in touch with reality

I am...... so very intrigued and would love to see it. But I'm also very glad they did decide to cut it.

As much as I love Ed as he is in canon (i.e., dark, flawed, genuinely trying (sometimes), but selfish and occasionally cruel, with untreated severe childhood trauma and related mental health problems, and 0 healthy coping mechanisms to his name) I loathe with a vengeance every person who uses him as a platform to parrot their age-old victim-blaming bullshit of 'um, if you had a Sad Backstory you can abuse and torture people as much as you like! And you 'deserve' abuse if you are in any way an imperfect person. Yes, I believe this is a totally normal and correct stance to have about real life as well as fiction'

So as much as I would love Ed no matter what he did, because I think he's a multifaceted and fascinating character, the mere thought of the bullshit his die-hard stans would be spouting already makes me nauseous lmao

I am once again reminding people that it is totally okay to like characters who do bad 'irredeemable' things. No, you don't have to write essays justifying your love of that character. In fact, you don't need to justify shit to anyone.

Just....... maybe....... don't die on the hill of pretending abuse is okay if you don't like the victim/the victim said a mean thing once. It's that simple.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #our flag means death s2 #renew as a crew #not tagging characters because :)

[electric-friend]

wait hang on 😭😭 are people seriously debating “he’s a complicated man” right now??

i agree that izzy’s an unreliable narrator, and i think that some of the things he’s said about ed aren’t necessarily true, much as many other things he’s said are also not necessarily true. he’s not really aware of the full picture the whole time, poor duck, as much as i adore him.

but like… besides the fact it really doesn’t have anything to do with wether or not you think izzy’s doing complex evil shit to ed on purpose, and people seem to be making it about that…

ed is VERY MUCH a complicated man. as someone who relates to ed probably more than stede or izzy… he’s absolutely a complicated man. ed can be violent, and suicidal, and he clearly experiences some form of emotional dysregulation, and he’s done things to people that weren’t justified. the crew was traumatised by ed’s behaviour and how much violence he placed them in a position to commit.

the way ed responds to rejection is so violent and out of proportion, his consecutive raids, his suicidal antagonism towards the crew… and for me and my personal issues, that’s extremely relatable… but it is NOT mentally well behaviour.

ed also exhibits patterns of disordered alcohol use, and his anger often causes him to lash out (yes, often at izzy who pushes his buttons, and yes, izzy’s behaviour is a factor in this. but it’s also worth noting ed has agency as a character and his violence is still violence, provoked or not) and one of his most integral traumas is how an act of violence saved him from the violent alcoholic who was his father.

there’s nothing about ed that’s not a complicated man. he’s done bad things that weren’t justified. that doesn’t make him a bad man. it makes him a complicated one. it’s very clear he knows how to be a better person. and that he can be. that the show left out a lot of that journey is really disappointing, but ed feels like he’s a monster and he does bad things to become the villain he thinks he deserves to be treated as, you know?

he is SUCH a complicated man. that doesn’t mean he’s irredeemable or bad, it doesn’t mean there’s a moral obligation to dislike him either. none of that’s the case. but izzy got it right when he called ed complicated. i think in some ways izzy had finally realised that he wasn’t always going to understand ed because ed wasn’t always going to think the way he did, but he was coming to accept that he didn’t need ed to be someone he could understand as long as ed was happy? does that make sense? i know that’s a sappy outlook on a canonically toxic relationship but i just cannot believe that there’s a genuinely widely accepted take going around which boils down to people thinking it’s wrong to call ed a complicated man. like, huh???? girl….

#izzy hands #ofmd critical #i mean the thing is that often when people point out how ed has moral complexities he’s done bad stuff #that he wasn’t necessarily justified for but he’s ultimately a sympathetic character #who can be a much better man than his father made him feel like he could #they’re often criticised for that #and particularly for the use of the word “violent” given ed is a man of colour #even though ed does do violent things onscreen #but the people who believe racism is holding ed accountable for his own actions #and suggesting he has agency outside of responding to izzy or being infatuated with stede #start to say it’s wrong to call ed a complicated man… dude. #WRONG TO CALL HIM C O M P L I C A T E D #i’m just saying 💀💀 #how are more people not deciding that THAT is racism actually #why are we dehumanising ed by insisting he doesn’t have complexity and hasn’t done bad things ever #like guys. why the fuck are we doing that???

[darkfire359]

What could have been: sympathizing with Ed in season 2

I've talked before about how much I love Ed and all his complexity. I've written more fanfic about him and Izzy than any other characters, in my entire history of fandom. And unlike many people, I wasn't unprepared for the dark direction his arc took in season 2; I wanted him to commit MORE atrocities, and I happily made comparisons between him and another one of my favorite characters, Hannibal Lector.

But one of the key things I wanted after he committed atrocities was for him to feel bad about it. And I thought we'd see that! After all, S1 Ed was so tormented about killing his dad (who was abusive and violent towards) him that he never killed (directly) again! He was so broken up about trying to kill Stede in s1e6 that he ended up crying in a bathtub. Just like he cried in the window sill after committing all the kraken horrors in s1e10. It seemed like this was a guy scared of his own inner darkness, convinced he was a monster, who would go around saying things like "I'm not a good person" and "You were always going to realize who I am."

And so even when s2 went darker than anyone expected—when he cut off more of Izzy's toes, and shot him in the leg, and made crewmen fight to the death for experiencing love, and sailed the entire ship into a storm to murder-suicide his crew—I was still ready to accept all that moral ambiguity and give him a hug afterwards. Because of course, I figured that after Ed was brought out of that dark place and those suicidal urges, he would feel horrible remorse. How could he not?

I was looking forward to seeing him break down crying, convinced he was an irredeemable, unforgivable monster. (Which of course, would make it all the more touching when people inevitably did forgive him, and when he did redeem himself). Maybe Ed would even go too far with trying to atone, like in Mercy, one of my favorite post-s1 fics. Probably, I figured, Ed's quest for redemption would be one of the main themes in the second half of season 2.

So it was strange to watch e4, when Ed looked nothing but annoyed at everyone for chaining him up and banishing him, and then he went to hang out with his old friends like he'd done nothing wrong. When after the crew unanimously voted him out, Stede brought him back to the ship literally that same evening, and Ed saw no problem with that. Okay... maybe he's still processing?

Then e5 came, and that episode was about Ed's redemption. Yay! Except... Ed didn't seem to care? Other people made him wear the bag and the bell. He asked how long it'd take people to get over it, guessing "like a day." He gave an influencer-esque non-apology to the crew. He said "I took a man's leg" rather than calling Izzy by name. He literally doesn't remember the circumstances of pushing Lucius off the boat. He does ultimately give a real apology to Fang—for tormenting him years ago, rather than anything from his actual kraken era. I love e5 for the Izzy+Stede dynamic, but watching Ed be an unrepentant asshole here is painful. There is nothing about this that convinces me Ed wouldn't slide right back to being evil if Stede were to leave again.

And the thing is, it didn't have to be like this! We could have gotten Ed breaking down crying with guilt like in s1e6, and it would have made him much more sympathetic—not to mention the fact that Ed really is just an adorable cryer. Alternatively, we could have had some real deep diving about why Ed never apologizes (is he afraid of seeming weak?) or why he's so uncaring about others' pain (has he seen too many friends die over the years, to the point of going numb?)

By episode 6, it seems like most characters have moved on. Stede says something about Ed turning poison into positivity, which feels completely unearned. He pays for the party—but he'd previously tried to make the crew throw their cut of the loot into the ocean. He makes some attempts to best Ned and protect Stede, but Stede ends up saving the crew instead—from a pirate who only showed up in the first place because Ed was intentionally trying to piss him off. Ed is sad that Stede kills someone, and this would be a great time to again make Ed sympathetic! To have him talk about how he doesn't want that for Stede, because his own violence has weighed on him so deeply. But nope.

E6 does see Ed actually apologize to Izzy—and he's terrible at it. He's just like, "Sorry about your leg," makes no eye contact, and flees immediately afterwards. We do see some hints that this shitty apology isn't really indicative of Ed's true feelings, given how he has those flashbacks to the scenes of hurting Izzy seemingly haunting him; but it's very brief. It would be a great time to address Ed's horrific tendency towards conflict-aversion and avoiding awkward conversations in relationships—the same tendency that made s1 Ed never inform Izzy that the plan to kill Stede and the Revenge crew had changed. This would be another great opportunity to help us sympathize with Ed again—to have us see how it's not that he doesn't want to communicate these things, it's that these conversations are terribly stressful and anxiety-inducing for him. But nah, why would OFMD need to include those things for Ed?

E7 happens, and still nothing. If anything, there was a great opportunity for Ed to at least show himself to be a kind person to Stede—maybe nobly stepping in to save the day, even though he's annoyed that Stede's getting all this attention now. You know, like Stede did for him back in s1e5, when the situation was reversed. But nope, Ed runs off to be a fisherman, not having learned any of the earlier season's lessons about whims. He only stops being a fisherman because he's bad at it.

I was still hoping for something big in e8–some huge selfless, gesture that Ed would do to cover for all of his inability to do the little gestures. Ed is good at grand gestures! Swimming back to the ship after he left, then taking the Act of Grace in s1 was HUGE. Very selfless, very sweet! He could have done something like that for Izzy, Lucius, and the traumatized crew. Some kind of heroic gesture to help others more than himself. But nope. In some sense, Izzy dying is one of the greatest indications of Ed's wasted potential, because we narratively had a great opportunity for Ed to be able to save someone... but he didn't.

(Admittedly, Ed is not a complete dick here—he helps Izzy when he's limping, he says some genuinely apologetic stuff when Izzy's dying, and he finally gives Izzy his attention and care. But then after the funeral, he's still like "Well, that's that.")

It's so frustrating. It's not that I don't want to like Ed, or that I don't want to sympathize with him. I really, REALLY do! I don't even need Ed to successfully do anything to earn forgiveness! I'd take Ed trying and failing. I'd take him wanting to try, but being so convinced of his monstrousness that he never makes the attempt. But give me something. Anything other than the unexamined apathy that he has so much of the time.

The thing is, s2 lost the ability for Ed's mistreatment of people to be just another "of course he's violent, he's a pirate" quirk. They were pretty explicit about how abusive Ed was (Jim's comment in e1, the joke in e4 people assumed Ed had hit Stede) and how much he traumatized people (Lucius and the whole crew very clearly have PTSD in episodes 4 and 5). This is serious stuff, which he did to other main characters, which is going to make a lot of viewers look at him pretty harshly.

And that's manageable—Hannibal Lector managed to be most textbook-abusive asshole in the world, committing atrocities and generally being unrepentant left and right, and viewers STILL found him lovable and sympathetic. You can do that! But you need to:

a. make it clear that anyone with the relevant information calls them out for being awful, even multiple episodes later

b. make it clear that they care deeply and genuinely about their wronged loved ones

c. make them willing to actually make REAL sacrifices

I watched so many people start to dislike or outright hate Ed in season 2. It made me really sad. But I couldn't blame them for feeling that way. For all that Ed is supposedly one of the two protagonists in OFMD—a character whose mistakes should be the most understandable, whose mental state should be the most resonant—the show seemed to entirely drop the ball on writing him as such.

#edward teach #ofmd critical #ofmd season 2 #ofmd season 2 spoilers #ofmd #our flag means death #izzy hands #arguably the writers' mistake with Izzy is easier to fix in fanfiction #just undo the last 10 minutes #but now I feel like Ed fics after s2 have to fix huge chunks of his characterization #I also think it'd be more reasonable to make Ed not give a shit about the crew if the show just like... admitted that directly? #but we've got Stede making comments about Ed turning poison into positivity #we've got Izzy saying the crew loves Ed and is his family #and while it's not OOC for either of them to just be delusional and overprojecting their own love for Ed #it's weirdly unexamined #same thing with Ed's “I don't kill people thing” after he murders British officers left and right in s2e8 #was Ed's whole talk with Stede in s1e6 just a lie? #obviously Ed was stretching definitions / using it as a coping mechanism but I thought he was at least telling the truth as he saw it

[celluloidbroomcloset]

They might be just a loud minority, but I've seen quite a few people call Ed an 'irredeemable monster', so while I agree that he's imperfect and that he has hurt others, I can't help but double down on all the clues given by the show that could explain the extent of his trauma and why he believed he was so unloveable. I have sympathy for him, but many didn't, and I guess that makes me sad a bit.

Yes and to be clear: I am not at all saying “let’s talk about how terrible Ed is!” He’s not terrible; he’s been hurt and abused and he’s had to survive in a very violent society where the softer parts of him are not only not valued, but are derided and in fact quite dangerous to show. He finds a place and a person with whom he feels safe and then loses it, for no clear reason, and gets shoved harder into the trap of Blackbeard by someone who claims to love him. Ed is very much a sympathetic character and he’s meant to be sympathetic, regardless of what the bad faith and racist interpretations attempt to argue.

It does a disservice to him to not let him fuck up and still not be a monster. That’s the point - he’s done bad things and he’s not a bad person. He IS lovable and he’s worthy of love. What I think sometimes gets lost, especially in commentary about Season 1, is that Ed has done bad shit and he still causes pain to people that love him (especially Stede). And he’s still not monstrous! Good people can hurt others! Both of our leads cause pain and they’re still good men and they try to make it right. One of the things that Ed learns over the course of two seasons is how to apologize; that saying something or doing something hurtful doesn’t mean “you’re irredeemable” and it doesn’t mean “you did nothing wrong.” He fucked up and he’s still loved!

#ofmd meta #ofmd #our flag means death #reply #edward teach

[elapsed-spiral]

Thinking about Ed and trauma and the whole pink robe sad lyrics talent show of it all.

I agree that Ed is really trying out new ways of living when he returns to the Revenge but I think there is a strangeness and a falseness to it. That's trauma baby. I think Ed has just started getting comfortable with the idea that maybe he isn't an inherently monstrous, evil person, thanks to Stede and their moment at the beach, but that growing belief has been jeopardised, thanks to Stede and Ed's other moment at the dock. I know Stede, you're also traumatised as all hell, I know buddy. And if Stede is the guy who helped Ed start to think maybe he could be "someone else", then who is he without him?

When I watch the sad song scene, it feels a bit off to me. I think partly it's because the show is still a comedy, but also because Ed is clutching at straws. He wants to keep feeling better, he wants to keep believing that he's not an irredeemable monster, but the guy who helped him start to question that belief is gone. Why is he gone? Did he change his mind? Was he wrong about Ed?

I think the scene feels off, like play acting, because Ed doesn't really believe that he is pink robe wearing, talent show loving Ed or that that's who he can be. It just feels like another part he's playing. Because who is Ed Teach, really? He's had a lot of people tell him who he is, but he's not had a lot of opportunity to figure it out for himself.

So he's in a pretty delicate place when Izzy comes along and threatens him like a little shitbag. Worse still, on some level, I think there's a warped comfort to what Izzy tells him (don't get me wrong, what Izzy says is awful): Ed is a bad person. He is just Blackbeard, and that's all he'll ever be. At least Ed knows where he stands with that, even if it confirms that he's an evil, unlovable person.

But the problem is, once you've started to realise that maybe you aren't to blame for everything and maybe some terrible things happened to you, not you to them, it's hard to put that all back in the box. And that's how you end up crying while you look at your ex's wife's weirdly prophetic art.

#sorry this got long #ed teach ofmd #ed ofmd #ofmd meta

[suffersinfandom]

gifset by seraph-novak

So there’s a critique of this scene (and Ed in season two as a whole) that I haven’t been able to shake. The post went into how the whole mermaid sequence was ruined by the rest of the season -- about how this beautiful scene was, put in the context of Ed’s behavior in the rest of season two, an ominous rebirth of a villain. The writer couldn’t see Ed as a protagonist finding the will to live; they saw a monster getting another chance to terrorize his victims.

I really hate that. I’ve already typed way too much about how I don’t think that Ed is abusive or that the Kraken Era was all that bad, so of course I disagree with any take that characterizes Ed as a monster. But do you know why this post stuck with me?

It made me unreasonably sad.

There’s a danger in over-identifying with characters (and I do think that a lot of the tension in OFMD fandom comes from over-identification), but it’s so easy for me to understand what Ed’s going through in the first three episodes of season two. I’ve been there. Judging by this post, many of us have been where Ed is. 

We’ve struggled to live while we’re drowning. We’ve been trapped and hopeless and desperate for a reason to keep going -- for someone to give us hope that things can be better. 

And we’ve also hurt people in our despair. 

When I was in my Kraken Era, I was a sick college student who’d been fighting depression since middle school. I’d just escaped a “friendship” with someone who (I can admit in retrospect) abused me mentally and emotionally, and I had no other friends because that person had effectively isolated me. I was alone and I was convinced that I was a fundamentally unlovable person who had no right to exist. 

I pushed the few people I had around me away. I isolated myself from my mother as much as I could while living in her house. I cut off communication with my online acquaintances (who would later become good friends) and didn’t speak to anyone at school. For a while, I was so focused on my pain and self hatred that I barely thought about other people. It was an intensely selfish and self-centered existence, and I hurt my mom and everyone who could’ve been a friend. When you're in that desperately hopeless, depressed mindset, you don't care about hurting people because your own pain is so all-consuming. If anything, you want to hurt others so they'll give up on you in the same way you've given up on yourself.

It’s different from what Ed did, of course, because he’s not me and I wasn’t a pirate captain with the lives of a crew in my hands. The harm I could cause was severely limited by my lack of power, but I still caused it. I was still trying to isolate and cut ties and push away anyone who could’ve helped me even when I desperately wanted help. I wasn’t a good person.

Watching Ed go through a self-destructive arc that’s immediately identifiable, deeply personal, and so well done was incredible, and seeing the show support him instead of demonizing his behavior? I have no words for the way I felt during season two’s run. 

OFMD makes Ed a sympathetic character who’s worth loving even when he’s at his lowest. It gives us a lead who fucks up when he’s in the depths of his despair and it doesn’t pity him or wave away his problems or make a monster out of him. It doesn’t even have his romantic interest save him! Instead, it lets Ed save himself when he realizes that there’s still hope and love out there. 

This show reminded me that we’re not monsters even if we’ve hurt people. It told me that recovery is possible, and so is forgiveness. It asked me to keep loving Ed through his entire arc, and in doing that, it forced me to love the parts of me that I’m still working on as well.

So I know that I shouldn’t be bothered by people who see season two Ed as an irredeemable monster who gets an undeserved second shot at life, y’know? But even though I’m a decade and a half out of my own Kraken Era, I’m still in a perpetual state of recovery. There’s always a persistent doubt -- a suspicion that there’s a fundamental flaw in me that no amount of therapy will fix -- and that doubt latched onto some random person’s conviction that Ed is a monster. It says, If Ed will always be a monster, what about you?

And I know that voice is wrong because it’s always been a liar. I know that it doesn’t matter that some portion of the fanbase turned on Ed in season two because that man isn’t real and he’s not me. I know that, for people who haven’t experienced something that was reflected in Ed’s arc, it might be difficult to sympathize with him (and with real life people who blow their lives up in their despair). 

There will always be people who don’t understand or can’t empathize with that kind of desperate hopelessness, but there are also many, many people who get it… and some of those people were clearly in season two's writer’s room. Some of those people are in this fandom.

I guess what I’m getting at is this: I hope that, if you saw yourself in Ed’s early season two story, you know that you’re not a monster and you’re not a villain in someone else’s story, no matter what anyone else says. I hope you know that you’re worthy of love. 

I hope you know you’re not alone.

#ofmd #me typing things #edward teach #cw suicide #tw suicide #look i just have some feelings okay #i love ed teach #i love being forced to like myself more because of ed #our flag means death #mental health

[scarrletmoon]

this is going to keep bothering me unless i finally put it down but let’s really quickly talk about ed, gender and trans femme headcanons

just right off the bat, i’m not saying that you can never HC ed as trans femme, and if you say that’s what i’m demanding, please point to the exact paragraph where i said that

moving on

my reticence to jump into the babygirlification of ed teach in the first few months of the fandom comes from the fact that i’ve felt this undercurrent of discomfort around masculinity in fandom and online queer community.

i mean, i say undercurrent but any trans masc can tell you how much (online) queer spaces hate trans men, especially bc they think of them as gender traitors. people will proclaim how progressive they are, how they’re fighting for queer liberation and bodily autonomy, and then turn around and say the most vile shit about men that you’ve ever heard. people will often excuse it in a myriad of ways — “obviously I don’t mean all men, but you asking me to qualify that means you’re a misogynist” or “i’m allowed to say this bc men have hurt me” or “if trans men are men then why are they trying to escape their compliance in patriarchy. i’m actually affirming their gender by assuming they’re dangerous as soon as they come out”

all of these reasons are fucked in different ways but this ain’t about them. this is about ed

i bring up the adversity towards masculinity bc i thought it might be a possible explanation for what i was seeing; some people seemed to be treating ed like a closeted trans woman, especially based on his actions in s1 ep10. he’s acting more soft and “feminine” so maybe he’s a trans woman and just doesn’t get it! and this bothered me for a bunch of reasons

first, ofmd goes out of its way to depict many different kinds of masculinity, across race, gender identity, sexuality and even hobbies and interests. all of the men on the revenge aren’t the idealized version of what masculinity is supposed to be. and yet they’re all still men.

second, there’s nothing inherently wrong with being a man. the real problem is patriarchy, which even women (and which especially white women) uphold too. this demonization of masculinity makes it so much harder to talk about how patriarchy actually functions. women are not inherently pure, non-violent angels. men are not inherently evil and irredeemable

third, ed is not white. we should know by now that gender and gender presentation are not exact matches across all cultures

so i think part of the reason why people HC a brown indigenous man as trans femme is bc they see some feminine traits — long hair, emotional vulnerability, a penchant for finery, etc — and bc they’re uncomfortable thinking of ed as still a man, they can incorporate him into womanhood in a way that matches their worldview (namely, that women are harmless and victims to protect, and worthy of that protection in a way that men are not)

(btw the first time i tried to explain this on twitter i had to delete the whole thread bc people started calling me transphobic and let me tell you, white trans people telling me, a black trans person this? not a good time)

anyway, i don’t think trans femme headcanons of ed are bad. i think they’re pretty cool actually. but being a woman is more than your hobbies and the way you dress and your actions. the single requirement for being a woman is choosing to exist as one, in any capacity, whether you come out or not

another thing is that ed doesn’t have the same gender shift that jim does, at least not from my perspective. i think ed is pretty comfortable with being a man. he’s just a queer man who also likes soft things, and gets to be softer and more traditionally “feminine” around stede. so it feels very uncomfortable when white people in particular assign ed as female when he’s shown no indication of being so

it also bothers me bc i love seeing a man of colour get to explore that part of himself. it means a lot to me to see depictions of masculinity that aren’t white, that are about being emotional and loving and feminine as well as protective and masculine and strong. and when people say “ed’s a closet trans woman” it feels like “there is one way to be a man, and that’s not ed”. and as a person who spent their whole life feeling like their gender was decided for them by others, it hits home (in a bad way)

it took me a long time to be comfortable with calling ed babygirl and all that stuff; i know it’s mostly tongue in cheek but it sometimes wasn’t. i eventually decided that i wasn’t going to let others ruin my fun, even if it means that when i talk about babygirl ed, it’s different to what everyone else is doing

so i guess TL;DR: ed is a man, but he’s also an indigenous man, and trying to contort him to fit a white supremacist version of gender isn’t going to work

#scarrlet rambles #i think about ed’s gender all the time it means so much to me #but i need white people to like. stop and think more often

[dizzy-izzy-in-a-tizzy]

[Note: I drafted this up before Thursday. Didn't edit my thoughts but they have CHANGED since 2x7. Left the opinions untouched.]

Day before episodes 2x6 and 2x7! My thoughts on the main trio ships.

These are all my personal (and rather unhinged) opinions. Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong! 😁

Crackpot ship theory after the cut:

Ed x Stede: They're very cute but they kinda make each other worse in an unfun way. Ed's kinda getting enabled by Stede; I'm thinking of that early 2x5 scene involving Ed's awful speech. Stede is kinda ignoring the crew's safety needs for Ed's sake, although simply exiling Ed isn't really the answer either. They both need to grow up if their endgame is going to be satisfying.

Ed x Izzy: Oh god, they make each other so much worse, but in a way that you can't tear your eyes from. Something about this ship makes some dark, angry thing in my psyche absolutely feral. However, it would be a hugely unsatisfying regression for Izzy, not to mention—what the hell would have had to happen to break up Ed and Stede? Thankfully, this will never become canon—although I adore it in fic.

Stede x Izzy: Are you a person of culture? Do you want to see your enemies to lovers slow burn come to life? Are you unsatisfied with Edward's growth? The cult of stizzy welcomes you with open arms. After 2x2, I already wanted Izzy and Stede to get as far away from Edward as possible. After 2x5, I want Izzy to have someone who looks at him the way Stede looks at him—and not just the happy moments! I want Izzy to get as good as he gives.

this has approximately 0% chance of becoming canon.

Stede x Izzy x Edward: Now, I know what you're saying. "Steddyhands??? After all your Edward trash talk???" Yes. Did logic get you to Buttons becoming a bird?? Now hush.

For better or for worse, OFMD is a show about change—painful, difficult, necessary change. It's also a show about love, and how every person is worthy of love. It would send a cruel message for Edward to be truly irredeemable. They have to square the circle of him doing some truly heinous shit, and coming back from it.

Izzy is at the core of that. Edward cannot succeed on his journey without making amends to Izzy. Likewise, Izzy has to find a way to accept what happened to him. Not to forgive Edward, but to accept his new life after what was done to him.

I also think Edward and Izzy's love for each other was possessive and unhealthy, but it probably wasn't always that way—and it doesn't have to stay that way. But they were missing a piece of the puzzle, because they were both trapped in survival mode for so long.

Stede has shown them that there's a different way, and both of them are changing for it. In some ways, each of them has something the other two need. Edward is their spontaneity, Izzy is their pragmatism and Stede is their kindness.

Notes: I considered these ships as an endgame to the exclusion of the rest of the ships. Color and shape coded green-bold, orange-italics and red-subscript for how much I wanna see them, green-bold being high and red-subscript being low.

These are all personal opinions and I respect everyone's right to choose the ships they want to see canon.

#ofmd #ofmd spoilers #izzy hands #stede bonnet #edward teach

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

I've seen some people be worried that season 2 is going to make Ed "irredeemable," and I just want to say - if you're worried about that, I really don't think you need to be.

Yeah, it looks like Ed is going to be leaning into doing more piratical violence, especially at the start of the season, and may even be killing people directly. But remember what show we're watching - OFMD takes emotional pain far more seriously than physical, and most people we've seen die on screen actively deserved it. This is a wise choice; this is a show about pirates and if it moralized violence then we wouldn't have anyone to root for.

I am positive that the thing the show will want you to take away from these scenes is that Ed is in a terrible place mentally, not that he's a bad person. If Ed starts directly killing people this season, there's no change in a realistic sense - he ordered people killed in season 1, too.

The difference will be that Ed directly killing people in the new season should be seen as a kind of self-harm. It's obvious that Ed needs to put barriers between himself and that sort of violence ("the fire killed those people, not me"). If he's killing people, it's because he's leaning into a persona he hates, that dehumanizes him, and he's calling himself by the name he gives to what he sees as the bad, unforgivable parts of himself.

This show isn't exactly subtle with what it wants you to take away from it. I'm beyond positive it'll be super clear it's Ed we should feel bad for, not anyone he and the rest of the crew are being pirates at.

#ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #the worst thing ed will have to apologize for is trying to push away the crew no one is going to be mad at him for being a pirate #except himself of course

[fish-bowl-2]

okay lmao you don't have to answer them all but im interested in your hot takes when you have time

7, 8, 9, 13, 16, 19, 21, 22, 24

😁 we need something to talk about in this micro fandom

Oh boy oh boy...

7. What character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because of how the fandom acts about them? Honestly, a bit of a hard one for me to answer because I don't really have one. I mean, there are always going to be fandom interpretations I am not into, but even so I don't really let that influence how I feel about the actual characters. A lot of those fandom interpretations don't seem to be the overwhelming majority anymore either. I feel that if I was invested in the EEnE fandom back in 2013-2014 I would absolutely be tired of Kevin, but that isn't really the case anymore. As far as I can see lol.

8. Common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about? That all the Kanker sisters (excluding May) are irredeemable and will never break out of whatever cycle they are present to at home. I mean, I'm not asking for any neatly packaged happy ending when I say that, but idk, despite my issues with their lack of development and presentation on the show, I think they are really interesting. If you want to get deep, they are just kids after all, with a lot of room for change in their life going forward. I like to think that they ALL go onto better things. Better can be open to interpretation. I do not mean any kind of stereotypical college degree manicured lawn and job type stuff. Satisfaction can look like a multitude of things. A lot of people apply this to May, which is great! But does that have to mean pushing aside Marie and Lee in the process? I personally don't think that is very fair.

9. Worst part of canon? Harassment when it is girls towards boys = funny : / Also, this is more of a fandom thing, but there are so many youtube videos where ppl are titling them stuff like "Kanker sisters RAPE Eds" like wow so edgy and funny guys how about we keep this in 2009?

13. Worst blorbofication? Absolutely Edd. No argument. I don't think that this is an unpopular sentiment nowadays either. It has been discussed to earth and back at this point.

16. You can't understand why so many people like this thing: - That in high school/college Edd will make a complete 360 change in personality and become a complete bad-boy shadow the hedgehog recolor. Granted, I do think that Edd will grow to tone down his anxiety over following rules, BUT to completely change is out of the question. This is still Edd we're talking about. Rebelling for him would be something like jaywalking or wearing shoes inside someone's house he doesn't like. It nags me a bit when people completely ignore the defined quirks and personality of a character in favor of creating a whole new oc. You can of course be inspired by a character you like to create your own, but how about present them as that? - That Edd will start to drift away from Eddy and Ed as he grows older, or the other way around and Eddy and/or Ed drift away from Edd. I don't get how this head-canon keeps popping up. The WHOLE point of the show is their friendship and that they are blood brothers and meant for each other!!! This goes beyond their diverging interests and personalities!! The actual show proved this with the movie!! "But lots of people don't stay friends with the people they knew from childhood" umm and lots of people do? I am still closest with my middle school friends then any other people I've met in adulthood. My dad doesn't talk to anyone from university but still meets up with his childhood friends. And even so, I just don't understand the appeal. Their friendship kind of IS the whole show, and doing away with that ultimately defeats the purpose for me. I find it a lot more interesting to delve into aspects like how they would uphold these connections and friendships into adulthood, when work and responsibilities makes it a lot harder to get together regularly.

19. You're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like... Ngl I can't help feeling kind of shy about being super invested in a slapstick cartoon that came out nearly three decades ago. Even when I am talking to other cartoon/animation fans, I feel a bit silly about wanting to analyze their dynamics and traits when most people casually just remember the show as fun slapstick (of course it is but I also wanna get insane about it without being seen as MysteriousMrEnter or smth lmao).

21. Part of canon you think is overhyped? "What is under Double Dee's hat, guys?" "Why have they never confirmed what is under there?" "Any one else disappointed that they never showed Edd without his hat?" Umm idc lol

22. Your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores? - Probably the connection between Ed and Double Dee. I think it is really cute. I love how so many episodes kind of have them hanging out together. I don't think people acknowledge enough how their dynamic works. It is very Autism 2 Autism, like Edd gets to kind of info-dump about whatever to Ed, and even if Ed has no clue what he is talking about, he still enjoys the company and has fun in listening and partaking in whatever Edd is invested in. - I always really dig how Nazz is depicted kind of "cool" and "sporty". Idk it could have been very easy to make her just any kind of popular girl trope, but she kind of holds her own (even if she is super underdeveloped compared to the other characters). I think it makes her friendship with Kevin interesting. - On that note, I also really like Kevin and Rolf's dynamics in their friendship. I do actually see people discuss this a bunch, but I felt like I had to mention it. I really like how the typical American Apple Pie jock is besties with the foreigner with odd customs and both are kind of at an equal footing to each other. - Sarah is insanely strong, like almost on the same level as Ed. What is in that family's genes??

24. Topic that brings up the most rancid discourse? Shipping, probably. (When is it not shipping).

#thank youuu so much thank you for the patience #I might have forgotten some things for the longer questions #I know I definitely have more favorite canon elements that ppl don't discuss much but I couldn't remember atm #this can go for others too but no doubt I'll make a post about it sometime lol #I don't think I have crazy fandom opinions tbh #like as long as you are respectful and stuff even if I am not into a particular headcanon I can vibe with you idc it is just fiction : ) #asks

[electric-friend]

saying ed was wrong for some of his actions of violence genuinely bares no reflection on izzy’s innocence or lack thereof. firstly, more people than izzy were involved in these incidents, and secondly, the writing clearly implies that ed was doing things for which he was not justified. he feels, understandably, guilt. i don’t even think izzy is innocent but i don’t beleive he deserved what he got. additionally it’s also unnecessary to tie ed’s accountability for the hurt he’s caused to any moral judgement on his person as a whole, like the idea of calling him definitively good or bad, or irredeemable, because neither he nor izzy are meant to be read as irredeemable, as the narrative suggests.

but because i’m frustrated and sick of seeing it happen, let me just repeat myself.

ed having been wrong for some of his actions genuinely bares no inherent implication of izzy’s innocence or lack thereof.

people often seem to read meta about ed’s accountability for the hurt he’s caused others as being about izzy, and it can be, but because people hate izzy and hate the idea of izzy being liked, they often equate the idea of ed’s guilt with the idea of izzy’s innocence, and the two are actually unrelated. someone can have done bad things and still not deserve bad things in return, and that applies to both ed and izzy in different ways.

#izzy hands #ofmd critical #the edcourse #apparently breaking the cycle of violence is stupid and silly now or something #according to tumblr lol