#ofmd 1x07

[sailorsruin92]

omg this is happening 😮

[wistfulcynic]

just finished a full rewatch of OFMD season one, which i'd not done for a while, and am now deep in the shrimp emotions. Why is this show so good.

specifically i'm thinking about the beginning of 1x07 when Ed says he's thinking about leaving. On to the next adventure, etc. He says it so casually, like it's no thing at all, and it makes me wonder how that scenario might have played out.

There was a meta i read shortly after the season aired (sorry, can't remember who wrote it) which said basically the plan to leave is Ed's way of protecting himself. By that point Ed knows he's falling for Stede, they've had their almost-kiss in the moonlight, their tender bathtub moment. Ed knows, even if it's only subconsciously, that if he stays he'll just fall deeper and harder and that will leave him vulnerable in a way he's not quite ready for.

so i wonder what would've happened if he had left then. Not with Calico Jack in all the heat of fraught emotions but on his own terms before his feelings for Stede grew beyond his ability to control them. i wonder how he'd have coped with losing Stede then.

because at that point, he's got no real reason to think his feelings are reciprocated. Stede clearly likes him, says flat out that he's Ed's friend, but nothing he's said or done would lead Ed to believe it's anything more than that. And Ed, as we know, is convinced he's unlovable so of course in his mind Stede could never love him.

which means that if he'd left then he wouldn't actually have lost anything. Stede and the Revenge could be kept as a lovely memory of a brief good time in his life. He might pine a bit, maybe give himself the luxury now and then to think about what if, but i don't believe it would ever reach the point of painting cake toppers or even crying in a dressing gown. i think, honestly, that had he left then Ed would've been okay, or at least not significantly worse than he was before. Still bored, still wanting to get out of piracy, still feeling sad and lonely and unloved but at least he'd have the memory of his friend.

what eventually renders that scenario impossible--what makes him leaving on his own plausible while he could never truly have left with Calico Jack ("never left")--is that by the end of episode 7 Ed has started to have hope. He's started to think that maybe his feelings aren't one-sided. Maybe he can actually have Stede. Maybe he can actually be happy.

i've often thought (as ofc have others) that it wasn't the loss of Stede as such that brought on the kraken era. If OFMD had ended with a successful talent show and Ed and the crew deciding to be a sailing theatre troupe instead of pirates, even without Stede, Ed would've been okay. Broken hearts mend. What tipped Ed over the edge was the loss of his hope, and the better life he thought he'd found a way to have.

not quite sure where i'm going with this if i'm going anywhere, just... it's an interesting contrast and imo a quiet turning point that neatly underlines just how important this is happening really was.

[ratboylucius]

x

[elinordash]

OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH (2022 - ) ↳ 1x08: We Gull Way Back

[mchristelle]

[lookinglass-fic]

"The treasure map from 107. I’ve been assured multiple times it’s not real… but I’ve watched enough movies to know it’s just a matter of time before it ends up in someone’s attic and leads to an all inspiring adventure to save the town. #OurFlagMeansDeath #ofmd #ofmdbts"

I'm so so excited about this. I live in St. Augustine, so I've been very curious what the map would show. Looks like they were treasure hunting on Vilano beach, which is where I grew up! My childhood home marked here. Even if it's not based in real St. Augustine, it's still neat!

[shiplessoceans]

I was thinking about why Ed suddenly is so keen to leave the ship in Episode 7: 'This is Happening'.

After all, Izzy is gone, no more plot to kill Stede, they're getting along great so what's the issue?

I think the duel scared him. I think Ed fell for Stede under the moonlight, but maybe dismissed it as physical attraction at first.

'Damn, I almost tried to kiss him, why did I do that? I mean he looked handsome in that white billowy shirt and the moon made his hair kinda shine and he has a nice smile and yeah that's it. He just looked really good for a second there, that's all. No need to panic. No big deal. He's a good bloke is all. My friend. That I just realised is kinda hot...'

The following episode Ed is flirty as fuck. The 'stab me' scene might as well have been an attempt at seduction, complete with sword ass slap. David Jenkins even alluded to the stabbing being a 'taboo penetration' for them both. Besides, Ed tended to Stede with a stab wound when they met and couldn't stop staring at him while he recovered, maybe if Ed's the stabbing victim, Stede will care for him the same way?

He sits with Stede and the crew telling ghost stories and afterwards stages an elaborate fuckery, a bit of 'pageantry' all for Stede's benefit.

But Izzy and the boys tell him it's time to kill Stede. And he has to, right? That was the plan. If he doesn't do it he would have to admit his attraction is something deeper right?

"You said the love of a pet, makes a man weak."

Ed struggles to kill Stede and eventually breaks down when reminded of what made him violent in the first place, the love of his mother and fear of his father.

He doesn't want to kill Stede. Because he's not just attracted to him, he has feelings for him.

When Izzy duels Stede, Ed can't even bring himself to watch.

I think if Episode 5 is where Ed fell for Stede, Episode 6 is when he realised that what he felt was love. Not mere physical attraction after all.

The beginning of Episode 7 could have been Ed's 'panic moment'. Thinking this lovely man will never love him back, and that if he stays he'll get hurt. So he has to leave.

"Can't stay around here forever, just wasn't built for sitting idle."

Ed is dismissive and combative through this episode. I personally love the headcanon I read on twitter that he's just hangry and being a dick until he gets some food, because that's a mood and a half. But maybe he is also trying to distance himself a little, prepare to pull away/leave so he mocks Stede's silly little treasure hunt.

Lucius' little dressing down is what makes him cave. That look he gives Stede is so sweet and fond and as far as I'm concerned that's where Ed knows he's going to do whatever it takes to make this man happy. Even if it means traipsing through the jungle on a treasure hunt for an orange.

[ferndaphnia]

Completely missed Ed’s reply on all my previous rewatches. Thanks to this post by @ofmd-alsaurus for pointing it out!