#frenchie ofmd

[fallenrocket]

Chapter 3 is up!

Time is running out, and Frenchie and Jim need to find a solution--fast.

[fallenrocket]

I want to revisit the fantastic “impossible birds” scene between Ed and Frenchie in 2x01.

The whole setup of the scene has me feeling incredibly not-normal. Both these characters are good at presenting the face they want other people to see, but the scene is blocked so they go through this entire conversation without once looking each other in the eye. So they keep their voices as steady as they can while a completely different story plays out on their faces. :flails: God, I love it!

I still find it really interesting that Frenchie seeks Ed out in the first place, given that he clearly doesn’t want to be first mate. Aside from the larger narrative purpose of giving Ed a screen partner, is this Frenchie playing the part he needs to, wanting to do a good job so he stays on Ed’s good side? Is it his discreet way of checking in on Ed? Either way, it intrigues me.

Ed is depressed and in pain, and he’s been isolating himself from the crew while he plans his own destruction, but when Frenchie comes along, what does Ed do? He opens up!!! In a roundabout way, through metaphor, like Ed often does, but this isn’t the businesslike Ed post-shooting of, “Throw this shit overboard and get suited up.” Frenchie asks what the plan is, and Ed doesn’t give him an order. No, Ed tells him a story that’s an expression of this pain. (Coming right on the heels of Jim telling Fang the wooden boy story to ease his sadness and fear??? THIS SHOW!!!)

This moment isn’t enough to make him express any hope for the future—they’re “never going back to land,” after all—but some tiny flicker of Ed wants to reach out, wants to tell someone what it feels like in his head and his heart. Is this the same part of Ed that will wrestle to untie the rope when Hornigold says he’s already made up his mind?

After Ed tells him about the impossible bird, I adore Frenchie’s response so much: "Sounds like something that maybe actually can't exist, captain." It’s the smallest, most cautious nudge imaginable, gently intimating to Ed that a bird couldn’t live like that. He just saw Ed shoot his previous first mate for speaking out of turn (and doesn’t have the full context of everything that had been loaded into that moment,) but Frenchie still makes this slight overture. As with Ed’s story, it’s not enough to change things, not enough to right the ship. But it’s there, and that matters to me.

Just a feast of a scene, wow! While 1x05’s superb “what’d they do to you, man?”/“they’re such dicks about spoons!” will always be my favorite Ed-Frenchie interaction (my thoughts on this are well documented, lol,) this one is incredible too. They’re so different from one another—in 1x05, they’re both being quite open, while in 2x01, everything they’re saying is much more veiled—but both scenes do such a wonderful job of showing how they understand and relate to each other.

(Note: the non-labeled GIFs are all from @blackbonnette, from this post. I knew this was an instance where other people had definitely made much nicer-looking GIFs than I could, but the GIF search function was fighting me!)

[deskgirl]

Frenchie is the guy at work who always reminds you to put in 60% at work, not 100%, because then the boss will always expect 100% or more and you need some of that for yourself. He’d also be the guy who uses all the plastic forks and paper plates and replaces them by taking them from somewhere else.

[fallenrocket]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapter 2 is up!

Jim has been keeping an eye on Frenchie's sword training with Izzy, but they're forced to admit that Frenchie might need more help than someone just watching from the shadows.

[incorrect-favourites]

frenchie: We’re having a moment, aren’t we?

izzy: If by 'a moment' you mean me not wanting to strangle you for the first time since we met, then I guess we are.

[fallenrocket]

Chapters: 1/4 Fandom: Our Flag Means Death (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Frenchie & Jim Jimenez Characters: Frenchie (Our Flag Means Death), Jim Jimenez, Israel Hands, Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Ivan (Our Flag Means Death) (Minor), Fang (Our Flag Means Death) (Minor) Additional Tags: Aromantic Asexual Frenchie (Our Flag Means Death), Canon Era, Blackbeard | Edward Teach's Kraken Era, Weapons Training Series: Part 1 of Between Seasons & Season 2 OFMD fics Summary:

It's the early days of the Kraken era, and Blackbeard wants the oh-so-slightly clumsy Frenchie trained up properly on weapons. Not the most appealing prospect to start with, made even less appealing by his short-tempered, short-statured teacher: Izzy.

As Frenchie attempts to train, Jim keeps an eye on things. The two of them aren't close, but Jim feels a need to look out for their last remaining connection to Oluwande.

Updates every Tuesday!

Note: although Jim's presence is minimal in chapter 1, this *is* very much a Frenchie & Jim story. A lot more of these two to come!

[fallenrocket]

GIF from @baggnshield, from this post

This week, it'll have been a year I posted my first OFMD fic on AO3, the first of 20 and counting! Over the last year of writing mostly Frenchie-centric stories--in which I always write him as aroace--the Prime Directive that's emerged for me is, "This shit is gonna be soooooooo platonic."

That forehead kiss? Platonic ("(Room)Mates")

That taking care of you when you're sick? Platonic ("Sympathy Sniffles," among others)

That angsty cuddling? Platonic (multiple options, but "Cuddles and Comfort" is the one that's most specifically about that)

That rubbing your body with oil and then blindfolding you? Platonic--seriously! ("Food as Medicine")

That comforting you amid your feverish crying? Platonic ("Someone to Watch Over You: Frenchie")

That shoulder/back massage while you're sharing the same bed? Platonic ("Someone to Watch Over You: Roach")

That quietly reassuring you that your friends still love you despite all that's happened? Platonic ("The Calm After the Storm")

That feeling safe enough to open up, despite struggling to talk about your feelings? Platonic ("Not the Seducible Type")

That hand-holding while you fall asleep together? Platonic ("The Captain's Quarters")

That carefully tying pretty bows in your beard for you so you can look your best at the party? Platonic ("Delicate")

That sitting in your lap while gently washing off your tear-streaked makeup? Platonic ("It Comes Back Out")

That nonjudgmental listening when you're explaining why something is really hard for you? Platonic ("Reading Aids")

That reassuring you that the shitty thing that happened to you was fucked-up and unwarranted? Platonic ("A Captain by Any Other Name")

That pure delight at giving you a gift that will make you happy? Platonic ("The Supply Run")

That "love you too" while you're getting crushed in an affectionate group hug? Platonic ("Q & A")

And while I write Wee John as Frenchie's best mate/room person, he's just one of many characters I pair Frenchie with platonically. So far, I've also written stories centered around his friendships with Jim, Fang, Roach, Oluwande, Lucius, Ed, and Stede, plus more incidentally with other characters.

Friendship has always been an important part of my writing, but there's been something both significant and freeing about really leaning into centering it in my OFMD fics, including showcasing that friendship in ways that would often be interpreted as romantic and/or sexual. (Side note: bless AO3's distinctions with "/" and "&"!) This is an energy I find myself wanting to bring more and more into my non-fic writing.

So as Pride Month draws to a close, this aroace writer is setting an intention to depict/celebrate friendship in all its forms. We're gonna make this shit sooooooo platonic!

[incorrect-favourites]

jim: We need to distract these guys.

frenchie: Leave it to me. frenchie: Centaurs have six limbs and are therefore insects. Discuss.

english navy: *immediately begin arguing*