rotating them in my mind as we speak

i still think y'all are making a lot of weird assumptions about how the 2x06 makeover plotline was going to go

i'm confident the plot was never going to be that the makeover in and of itself was all it took to seduce ed, for several reasons but the most important one is that on a basic structural level that would make the plot of the episode incoherent. like, the ned low stuff was still going to happen; it's not like it was originally going to be an entire episode about a makeover and they suddenly decided to replace that with a whole weird thing about bronson pinchot as a torturer after the late rewrites. (not only would there not have been time for that, ned low was being foreshadowed way back in 1x01.) so it doesn't make sense to think the ned low stuff originally had nothing to do with ed and stede having sex, that makes no sense.

what was going to happen was you had this whole plotline about escalating sexual tension that was annoying everyone on the ship, and then you had the makeover and dancing and stuff which drove the sexual tension situation even higher, and THEN the ned low situation happens and ed and stede sleeping together is still a reaction to that trauma, it's just a bit more clearly set up because you had this whole plotline about mounting sexual tension and the whole taking-it-slow thing being really difficult for both of them even before the big trauma occurred.

(and the implication was not ever going to be that ed...wasn't attracted to stede before the makeover, or that stede NEEDED a makeover for ed to want to sleep with him, or even that the makeover was particularly an improvement. i'm not sure why anyone thinks there is any chance at all of that. for one thing, we know explicitly that the whole REASON for the makeover was that there was already a lot of sexual tension, the tension was there because they both already desperately wanted to have sex! and of course the whole point of this would have been that stede never actually needed to change and become the manly pirate from his dream to win ed over, he just believed he did, that's the cut-down arc that's already there.)

#have people never seen a romcom where someone gets a makeover from well meaning people#and then the object of their affection is like ''you don't have to do this! I like you as you are!''#is that not. the WHOLE point of the makeover trope?#to reaffirm that your true love likes you as you are#OR the crew is a bunch of queer people. they might be GOOD at helping stede find a new look that makes him feel confident.#and is still authentic to his own lovely self#also it's just objectively funny to consider the crew desperate to resolve the sexual tension between ed and stede#and would have been a great opportunity to show that all was forgiven post kraken era (via @chaotic-neutral-knitter)

Maybe I’m misremembering this but I could have sworn Samba shared this same tidbit in one of his previous classes, AND he said the end conclusion of that arc was they see each other at the party at the end of the episode and decide to continue taking it slow, but they do dance together to At Last? Like I think this was clearly meant to be everything mentioned above re: the makeover trope, but also an instance of the well-meaning crew meddling to try to push these two together faster, only for the two of them to decide to follow their own hearts in terms of what their relationship needs.

Samba didn’t say this, but I’m also convinced this storyline was a relic from when they still thought they were going to get 10 episodes. Episode 6 ends with them dancing—possibly interrupted by Ned Low at the very end as a cliffhanger, and then Episode 7 is the Ned Low episode and that’s when they sleep together. I feel like maybe they still thought they could make the makeover plot line work even with fewer episodes, but as it got closer to shooting it became clear they didn’t have enough space for it—possibly because they had a better sense of the strict time constraints per episode at that point. But this is pure speculation!

Sometimes I do get annoyed by fanon reactions to Ed, and then I remember that the OFMD writers were very careful to ward off the already-silly "Ed is abusive!!" takes by having other characters say to Stede "do you think Ed is going to murder/hurt you" and then having Stede respond every time with "wtf what is wrong with you, no??" And then, of course, Stede (who textually knows and understands Ed best) is right about that, and once he's feeling safe and supported again Ed is literally just hanging out being a little kitty. So I guess RIP to everyone who thinks Ed sucks but I actually paid attention to the show and I'm different <3

LITERALLY like

Ed in his mind: extremely quick to anger and responds with violence at the drop of a hat

Ed irl: will let someone tackle him to the ground and will literally just cower about it and not lift a finger to defend himself, won't even yell back that this guy's a dick until he's rowed his little boat out of retaliation range

psst you ever think about how ed doing violence against hornigold even inside his own imagination isn't triggered by hornigold being aggro at ed himself, it's only when hornigold brings up stede?

and actually that's the pattern for EVERY time we see ed lose his temper to the point of becoming directly personally violent outside the context of a raid, every single time the last straw is when they bring up or threaten somebody else ed loves? his mom, "pining for his boyfriend," "your feelings for stede bonnet," the soldiers reading the letter, etc?

and in that context probably part of the point of the pop-pop scene is to establish that there's actually NO level of threat to ed himself and his own physical safety that drives him to violence, not even a situation any normal person would view as pure self-defense, as long as pop-pop doesn't threaten someone else he's perfectly safe?

i just think that's interesting. in light of, you know, everything.

Just a collection of Ed and Stede holding hands. That’s it. That’s the post.

Thank you gif makers I love you.

Ink with reed pen and brush on mixed media paper

There is nothing funnier than Ed making grossed out faces at Anne and Mary with the stabbing thing. We saw you do it too!!! We saw you giggling with a man’s sword rearranging your guts!!!! Honks on my horn. We saw you whore!!!!!!!!!!!!!

‘how’d I look?’ ‘✨fantastic✨’

in one ear and out the other…

@devoursjohnlock

(based on this)

us in this storm

I think about the songs at the end of S1E4 and S2E1 all the time.

At the end of S1E4, Ed turns away from Izzy after laying out his "plan" to kill Stede and steal his identity. We get Caetano Veloso's "The Empty Boat," and the lyrics from this song that hit me are:

From the stern to the bow Oh, my boat is empty Yes, my heart is empty From the hole to the how

Ed's smile drops. He looks tired, uncertain, unhappy.

At the end of S2E1, Ed gives his impossible bird speech while turned away from Frenchie. Our song this time is Francis Bebey's "Pygmy Love Song."

My heart, my heart is full of love I have nothing else My heart, my heart is full of love And all is for you

This time, Ed's near tears. He's miserable, but so much more emotive than he was in season one.

I mean! In both scenes, Ed turns his back on his first mate and we see emotions on his face that he doesn't want anyone to see.

His heart is empty.

His heart is full of love.

I just think about these two scenes and songs and where Ed is in S1E4 versus S2E1 a lot, that's all.

Cartoonish BBs ☀️

the impossible bird

the absolute titanic balls (gn) of this show to look its queer, neurodivergent audience in the eye and say, “I know you think you’re unlovable. I know you think if you show your true self to someone, they’ll reject you. but it’s not true. none of it’s true. there is someone waiting for you, desperately, loving you more than you have ever believed, more than you could know.”

s1ep3

Izzy: You can go suck eggs in hell was what he said, I believe

Ed:

Catboy x dogboy cringe is allowed here