#yeah i did just rewatch ofmd what of it

[werewolf-transgenderism]

men’s tummies. you agree. reblog

#men wear more crop tops challenge #yeah i did just rewatch ofmd what of it

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

The more I think about season 2, the more grateful I am.

In a lot of ways, OFMD's writers, cast, and crew were given an almost impossible task. S1 was brilliant and took everyone by surprise by how successful it became. I am still shocked every time I rewatch by how smart and efficient the writing is, how intelligent the social commentary. S1 is a masterclass in good television.

And for s2, expectations were incredibly high. OFMD found massive word-of-mouth success in a way I've never seen with any other show, and they suddenly had a big, incredibly passionate audience - the renewal was because of massive fan support, and that must have translated to an incredible amount of pressure in the writer's room. Plus, as if that wasn't enough on its own, they're having to deal with budget cuts and Max slashing them down to only 8 episodes to tell a 10-episode story. This is an incredibly daunting task.

And yeah, I've been critical. OFMD is my favorite show, no contest, and it's easy to be critical of the things we love. We can all see that the pacing was off this season, especially in those last two episodes. Some arcs felt rushed; some side characters didn't get enough screen time to set up what they're doing this season. Jim and Olu especially suffer for that. It's inexcusable that this show's budget was slashed the way it was and I'm sad for what we could have had.

But, on the whole? Holy shit, this season was incredibly successful! Despite an incredible amount of fan pressure, the writers told the story they wanted to tell. They never lost sight of Ed and Stede's story, and were smart about allocating screen time so our leads' arcs never suffered too much for it. There's so much creative problem solving - when they realized they'd need to be smart about which side characters to keep on screen, they turned Buttons into a bird in a way that underscored season themes of transformation and change. 10/10, no notes. They even remembered their audience and left us on a satisfying note for all our characters - we get to end with Ed and Stede, happy and together, starting their new life.

They had an impossible task and they did a fucking commendable job. Character beats and humor are balanced amazingly well. Ed and Stede feel so much more fleshed out this season. Just like in s1, OFMD will never be a show where you can catch everything with one watch - there's so many little jokes, hidden gags, small details to discover with every rewatch. And every single actor is giving it their all in every scene! You can tell how much this show was a labor of love for everyone involved.

I'm proper fucking impressed. Here's hoping they get a renewal and a better budget for season 3!

#ofmd #ofmd s2 spoilers #our flag means death

[xoxoemynn]

Okay, coming back to this post initiated from @jellybeanium124 now that I've had some time to wake up and rewatch the scene in question of Stede walking in on the crew devouring the seagull raw.

Like I said in my original "something something" response, there is some folklore that seagulls possess the souls of deceased sailors, and the screeches they make are the sailor's mournful wails. Therefore, it was considered bad luck to harm seagulls in any way, because it would be doing injury to the soul of a sailor.

Related, there is of course The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, where the mariner kills the albatross, bringing about great calamity to the crew. The mariner is then forced by the crew to wear the albatross around his neck as a sign of his guilt while they go through hell on the high seas.

I do believe the world of OFMD follows these superstitions. We see it with Karl and Olivia being able to speak with Buttons, and we see what happens to Calico Jack when he kills Karl. Yes, that was with some hexly influence from Buttons, but point stands: killing birds is Bad.

Something I keep stirring in my "is this intentional or is this DJenks handwaving to move the story along" pot is that the crew apparently didn't check if Ed was breathing. They dealt the blow, then laid his body out and did their best to forget about him.

Until Stede shows up.

I believe this scene is meant to show that the crew is literally chewing on their guilt. They just killed the greatest sailor they knew. He was their friend. This isn't what they wanted to happen, but they felt they had no choice.

And perhaps that's why they didn't check to see if he was breathing. Because they didn't want to look too closely. They didn't want to confront the horror of what happened that night. They just made sure they were out of danger, then closed the door and attempted to move on without dwelling on it. As Frenchie would say, they took the terrible things they saw, put them in a box in their minds, lock the box, and don't open it again.

But then Stede arrives, and they know they're going to have to open the box.

They don't say anything. They just keep chewing on their guilt, as if saying "yeah, we did what we had to do. Who are you to judge?"

But eventually it's all going to come out.

#emynn.op #OFMD #OFMD Spoilers #OFMD S2 Spoilers #ofmd meta #this was already getting long so I stopped here BUT #I'm also thinking about that review about how Jim suffers some trauma from Ed forcing them to do something #which I'm assuming is the fight to the death thing #but I wouldn't be surprised if this tied into it as well

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

OFMD S2 EP 4-5: Izzy Hands (from a S1 Izzy fan)

I'll admit. I teared up at the Izzy shit in ep 1-3. Not a full-blown cry. But close. I was stressed, and tired, and hurt more than anything. I only cried in my car driving home. It hit, but it was more prolonged.

Do you know what got me crying? Izzy opened that letter, revealing 'For The New Unicorn'. He looks up and smiles. I went from 0-100 dry eyes to crying in seconds. I had to rewatch it because HELL.

The entire episode, hell, debatably from (S1ep4) we see Izzy go through it. Socially isolated and losing his identity. Leading up to S2ep4. Drunk and sad and heartbroken. He tries his best to stay afloat without a lifejacket as his self crumbles around him. He doesn't care anymore. He thinks his life is over. He lashes out because there's no one there to help him.

BUT THEN THE LEG. He cried and I cried during both scenes.

BECAUSE HE IS CARED ABOUT AND HE CAN HEAL!

GOD, and the way that leads into EPISODE 5. Izzy slicked his hair back and regaining some of his own personal identity. Izzy genuinely bantering with Stede, and gently helping him to be a better Captain. The way he desperately asks Stede if Ed said anything else nice about him? Showing that. Yeah, he's not all the way there yet, but he's working on it. The training scene where Izzy just looks on in fascinated horror at Stede's skills? THE LITTE OKAY HANDSIGNAL AT THE END WHEN STEDE USED HIS GRUFF VOICE? He smiles, and jokes, and TRIES. Izzy is pissed, obviously, but he's getting there.

He is kind and caring, all WHILE STILL BEING A PRICK? Him being a total nerd during the curse monologue? Izzy mutters 'rude' and pointedly crosses his legs as Stede ruins the vibe. I laughed harder at Izzy sitting at that desk than I did at most of the jokes in the show. THAT'S MY FUCKING BASTARD!! I'm so happy I saw a character and have been rewarded by showing, yes. He is kind, and trying, but he needs to learn to let himself become new.

I fucking love him. I can tell from the teaser that Izzy is just going to grow closer with the crew (and with himself) and I can't wait. (Even if it means his imminent capture, whoops).

I do think they'll do something with Izzy/Lucius, at least a single happy (Izzy no longer holding himself back from wanting) consensual kiss or genuine discussion about life(post-wedding) to show their growth as characters because I had to pause with the cig and shark interaction. Jesus Christ. I didn't really ship it before, but they are so snarky and it's great.

I'm a bit sad as Izzy's current arc likely means he might not get the big 'fuck you' moment of anger to Ed that Lucius got. Mainly because Con would make me cry, but If Izzy is genuinely just shoving this shit down, ignoring the years that Ed ignored his existence, then...idk.

They purposefully gave Izzy and Ed no scenes and thank god we get a TINY break. Because Ed will try to patch things up, and I don't think it works like that with Izzy. He needs proof that Ed is trying. Add to that Ed ACTUALLY saying sorry to him, and not expecting Izzy to immediately accept it(my theory as to why Lucius pointed it out: Ed will ACTUALLY say sorry to Izzy and mean it. This will heal something for Izzy, and hell). I can't wait for Ed to come back and see him. See him for who he is, a silly prick who is loyal to a fault, who is loved.

This is likely the happiest two episodes we'll get, and fuck, I loved them both SO MUCH. After a rewatch I'll write about the crew. Ed/Stede is actually working for me as we watch them both learn, and Fuck, Lucius/Pete...my darlings.

NOW FOR THE TEASER:

THE IDEA OF SEEING CON IN DRAG AGAIN MAKES ME SO HAPPY! Especially what it means for Izzy. Izzy lets his hair down and has fun with Wee John as he explores what actually makes him happy. Hell, him opening up to being a bit of a masochist as a joke while tied up is...actually my favorite thing (while obvious, given his propensity to put Ed before him in all matters, Izzy casually mentioning 'I like to be roughed a bit up' in front of the crew is the type of openness about himself that I crave). Izzy "cocksuckers" Hands letting himself joke about SEX-GAY SEX(probably)- Kill me now.

(To clarify: I don't think he or Ed ever got off to the abuse, hell, we see Ed flinch away when Anne/Mary do it. That's not the face of someone who knows what that's like as the Sadist).

I just love the way Izzy has so obviously relaxed into a person that he'd never let exist. Hell. I hope Izzy gets to rub this happier version of himself RIGHT in Edward's sad face. I need a 'he was never like this with me' moment of Ed watching Izzy SMILE to parallel Izzy's jealousy in S1.

Con obviously loves this character, you can see it in the performance. He fills the role perfectly, from his ups to his downs. Con smiles and hell, that's not Con, that's Izzy fucking Hands. Striding along proudly pretending his world isn't changing, because it is, and he is healing and I LOVE IT.

I am so proud of our growing Izzy loving community. For some, we've been through a lot of shit. Probably in life, and hell, maybe even in this fandom. Even if you haven't been harassed, you loved Izzy, you saw yourself in him, and I hope you felt the show giving us a big fucking hug.

We grow, we recover, and hell. We get a happy fucking ending (with a few yet-to-be-seen bumps in the road).

#izzy hands #if someone can do a meta breaking down how Izzy's drunk words to the Unicorn equate to his journey I'll be thankful #ofmd s2 #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 ep 4 #ofmd s2 ep 5 #con o'neill #ofmd s2 spoilers #Our Rare Unicorn

[louisinart]

Okay let's talk about Jim's gender.

Jims gender in s1 is something else about their character that didn't quite make sense to me until I was rewatching more recently, having already seen season two.

I remember feeling a bit disoriented back in 2022 because on one hand I had queer friends glowing at the upfront representation of being nonbinary and then, on the other hand, my parents genuinely did not understand Jim was queer at all. Of course, some of that can be chalked up to my parents as people, but it did itch at some deep feeling for me. While I understand that ofmd is technically historical fiction (silly jenkinisms aside), and therefore can't have a character break into an educational monologue about what it means to be nonbinary (a modern day word to describe a modern day understanding of gender), jims transness felt almost discreet to me. There was a fuzziness to it that didn't sit comfortably in me, even if I didn't hold it against the writers or the character.

Then came season 2 and with it a much more actualized Jim. And, for that matter, a Jim whose gender feels (at least to me) quite different. There's less fuzziness, and more play. Some of this is that they've been styled to be more aligned with modern modes of queerness, for sure, but I think it has meaning beyond that. Where their clothes were once loose and beige, Jim has incorporated color and different fits. They have that delightful party outfit that just sings of gender euphoria to me.

So, after all that, I went back to watch episode 4 of season 1 and I hear this:

"So this whole time you were a woman?"

"Yeah, I guess... I dunno"

And honestly? It all falls into place. Of course Jim's gender seemed fuzzy to me in season one, they were in ACTIVE GENDER CRISIS.

Like, if we look at jims gender timeline here's where we're at: Jim is living, unquestioned, as a woman. As they have for their whole life. Then, one day, they do a bit of murder and to help them go on the run they wear a disguise and start living as a man. That works pretty well, actually! Great! Everyone is treating them well, and they're pretty damn respected too. Until it comes out that they're not a man, actually. And then everyone is talking to them like a woman and it feels bad now in a way it didn't before -- or at least they think it didn't? Maybe it was always bad and they just didn't realize? But also they definitely aren't a man, they know that for sure. So fuck it, they're just Jim. Everyone can deal with that, and it feels right enough, and it's fine.

And that's how they end season 1, more or less, because they're too fucking busy getting shit done to worry about their gender right now thank you very much.

#This feels kind of unfinished but also I don't have anything else to say #Ofmd #Ofmd s2 #Jim Jimenez #Once I'm on my laptop I'll hyperlink my other Jim post so they can be a family #I accidentally saved this as a draft instead of posting 🫣

[inevitably-ineffable-husbands]

I'm sorry, people didn't like this season of GO??! Are they okay?? I don't have twitter anymore and i only saw good stuff here in tumblr.. sure, there is angst and we can say that the season ends with a cliffhanger, but NOT liking it??! I adored this season!! We already know that there will be something else from Neil (on amazon or written down somewhere), season 2 is always have been a bridge to what Neil and Terry talked about together.. i don't understand people, i'm kinda glad to not being on Twitter.. i hope Neil will receive only praise here on Tumblr..

Hey Nonny!

Ahhhh yeah... I've seen people say it was queerbaiting, and that Azzie is "the worst now for being an asshole and rejecting Crowley" (was one tweet I stumbled upon), not realizing that Aziraphale's unfailing ability to only see the good in people is what got him in this predicament.

I think, though, the fears are ABSOLUTELY founded, especially if you've been part of either the Supernatural OR the Sherlock Fandoms and what ended up happening in those endgames.

Here's something I was really blind to when I was deep in the Sherlock fandom before S4 came out: Mofftiss TOLD US countless times, looking back on it, that Johnlock wasn't going to happen, and we thought they were lying, which, TO BE FAIR (and I still believe they doubled down on lying during S3), is something that was hard to believe given the content and subtext of S3 and TAB. Turns out that it was true. But Gaiman has presented scenarios for A/C for their end numerous times, enough scenarios that it COULD be probable doubt in the truth of his statements that Crowley and Aziraphale end up together by the end, but he's also a liar? It's weird to me.

I dunno, I'm not going to get THAT deep into a show ever again, but for me the difference is that I believe him wholeheartedly that he and Pratchett had planned out the entire AziraCrow arc. He clearly loves and respects his old friend, and genuinely seems to want to do right by him.

AND S2 ended in a way that it REALLY feels like there is more but if it doesn't get renewed, while not a satisfying conclusion, it's still a conclusion, and one that we know Neil ISN'T happy if it ends where it did.

That's the difference for me, honestly. Sherlock S4 left us with no cliffhanger and no sense to be made after a 4 season buildup to something that felt empty. This one absolutely has the promise of more. The track record he has with his shows is hopeful to me.

I might be biased because I have loved Neil Gaiman's writing since I was 15. That, and Gaiman isn't shy about putting queer rep in his shows and stories, so... yeah. Anyway.

I think as more and more people rewatch the season and the metas start coming out, I think we will see just how monumental this season was for their relationship, and it was NEEDED because they were sort of STUCK in a limbo.

This, to me, is very similar to OFMD S1's ending. We're gonna be satisfied in GO S3, I have faith in that. But I will NEVER condemn anyone for not having that faith either, BECAUSE of the experience I had in the Sherlock fandom. "Need to see it to believe it" is fine too. :)

#steph replies #my thoughts #neil gaiman #good omens s2 #aziraphale and crowley's relationship arc

[tvshowspoilers]

OFMD episode 7 thoughts

Already know I want that robe Ed has! Dude it’s beautiful and I love the blue

Ed getting the breakfast ready is the cutest thing ever

I’m forever going to be crying that we didn’t see them cuddle! DAVID WHY

Also Ed’s little hum as he’s going down the stairs is precious

Aww Stede being so sweet about the twine on the tray when Ed is so nervous about it (you can hear it in his shudder breath when he says he panicked) (Taika why are you so good at making me feel emotions lol)

“you know that night that I died?” ED. BABY YES HE KNOWS

Still dying about Izzy coming in while they are in dead and his fucking smirk and AGH And Ed is just like, yep saw that coming

AND I AM NEVER GOING TO FORGET THIS LINE “ it’s good to see that it’s not just a ship that’s been good and truly….docked”

Oh yes on second viewing that clock is fucking sus….Zheng Noooo

I actually love Auntie

Also ED IS A CONFIRMED OPEN MOUTH CHEWER lol

Ed’s reaction the the letters “I love that you did that” awww…I hope he finds them! And Stede’s little self deprecating laugh, aw he needed Ed to say that

Dude you can totally tell Ed has never been skipped over…look at the little scoff he does and disbelief

I love love goofy Ed and Stede so much

Also this (Ed’s little speech about drinks tattoos and paps) is something I could totally see Taika saying to a newly famous person??

The revenge boys!!! I love it and Jackie’s little “the Swede will be happy to see ya!” Hehe

Ed’s so nervous for Stede like Stede was for Ed

So Ed’s soft look (outside) was him looking at the fish basket and thinking of a simpler life…so at this point he was already thinking about leaving and Stede and stuff? Expecially after the convo with Izzy? Cause his eyes get really sad.

I still don’t know how to process the fight with Zheng…just that I agree that he was double upset about loosing his found family

I know the little moment of Stede saying “you don’t sound that happy” hurt me cause Ed’s face is like nope and flashbacks to “what makes Ed happy is you” OOF

But, I don’t think it was a full breakup…but it was a discussion that was bound to happen at some point and I’m proud of Ed for explaining he and Stede went over the boundaries he tried to set, for realizing he wasn’t ready for this relationship yet and that he doesn’t know what he is……And that Stede was open to their relationship being “whatever” until Ed is ready

But god I’m still upset about his word choice and it’s been almost 24 hours since this episode dropped “last night was a mistake” still hurts very bad cause like I said…pipeline in Stede’s head to “I was a mistake”

I think it was an alright conversation until Ed said he was leaving (leaving Stede first so he doesn’t get hurt which is what I expected in s1 but figured would happen this season…tho not like this and this close to the season finale…yikes)

And Stede’s reaction about the fish, damn Ed was so proud of that fish…but my two cents, he wasn’t being malicious I think he was just saying one fish does not make one a fisherman

Oh but the “fishermen and pirates are nothing alike like” damn

Steak Knife is lovely

I think laughing at the guy was part drunk Stede and also him covering up the pain of his other kill…idk how to explain

Also we can still hear the ROP screams and stuff during the first part of the credits

Once again, love freaking fang and that roach made mud baths a thing

So yeah, rewatching this episode…it was alright and then got painful toward the middle and definitely second hand embarrassment worthy at the end but I thought it was a decent episode. Of course it had pacing issues but that’s MAX’s fault, not David’s

#ofmd s2 spoilers #our flag means death #spoilers #ofmd #stede bonnet #blackbeard #edward teach #blackbonnet #gentlebeard

[starofhisheart]

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR OFMD S2 EP6-7 under the cut

Ok, that was A LOT. I have so many feelings but no coherence so i'm gonna do this bullet point form but def not in order, just in order of me remembering wtf happened lol

-IZZY AND WEE JOHN IN DRAG!!!!! Wee John looked STUNNING with that Divine-esque appearance and Izzy had that transmasc drag king kind of thing going on (iykyk) that made me love him even more

-Izzy singing LA VI EN ROSE took me tf out!!! i'm glad he got to finish it after the *ahem* distractions bc Con's voice is so beautiful I could listen to it forever. We better get it in the album!!! Also someone posted the lyrics translated and i cannot get over the lyrics:

"It's him for me,/And me for him, for life/He told me, he swore to me, for life"

-But not only was he singing the second half had fucking gentlebeard doing the dirty in the next room asdfghjkl which.....was hot, ngl. The passion was electrifying. I'm sorta glad we didnt rlly see it with everything that happened after bc it all kinda left a bad taste in my mouth.

Also Stede Bonnet canonically gets turned on by violence confirmed

Or trauma. Whatever.

-What else happened in ep 6 cause all i can think of is drag and singing and sex-

-oh yeah there was that shortlived sexually-charged torturer who i distinctly recall him being in another scene in the promo so unless that got the cut perhaps he's not dead...?

-Lupete missing all the action cause they were doing the nasty all night lmao so real

-Jim best wingman (gender neutral)

-Stede...Stedey boy, can I call u that? Now i'm gonna say this nicely, but WHAT THE FUCK DUDE? Stede in his white guy w undue confidence era fr. Zheng Yi Sao was so right for what she did truly

-But in all seriousness i feel like this whole thing in ep 7 was such a parallel to s1 but also a very necessary bit of conflict in their journey together that was bound to happen. THey want different things and neither is wrong or right for that. Stede did react poorly tho but like he just had sex w the love of his life, his first man, and Ed the very next day is like "aight i'm out". I'd be pissed too. After killing someone which we know is a big trigger for him historically.

But Ed also had a valid reaction. He's wanted to retire for a while and stede knows this but it hasn't seemed to have sunk in quite yet. He fears that Stede only sees Blackbeard and...its fair of him to have that impression tbh. These are two messy, traumatized dudes who have never had a real relationship and there's gonna be bumps. I hope we get s3 so we can better explore that like Djenks wants.

-Ok back to the fun stuff:

-Izzy barging in on GB and the docking joke. love his cringefail ass.

-IZZY IS HAPPY FOR ED EVEN IF ITS NOT WITH HIM

#growth

-the edizzy apology which was so typical of them. i expected it but bc i'd been building it up in my head all week w twitter pals it felt a bit anticlimactic but thats not the shows fault. it was very much in character and if they're satisfied so am i. i always have fic for more

-stizzy commiserating over losing ed pls thats all i've ever wanted!!!!!

izzy: "when i told him i loved him he-"

stede, like he's heard this story before: "shot u yes"

and the look they gave each other after!!!!! stizzy nation how we feelin?!

-izzy being like "stede no" when he was on his macho bullshit w zheng yi sao (also motivated by trauma bc he just lost ed, he cant lose MORE family!!!). i just like how protective iz seems of stede now.

-izzy''s "you're good for him" CRYING THROWING UP ETCETERA

-ed catching 1 fish and deciding thats his life now. adhd realness fr

-the swede whew is it hot in here or is that just jackie's effect on her husbands?

-jackie and ed actin like old friends. swede highkey shading ed adfghjkl

-anyway im sure there's more but i need to rewatch. there r things i wont go into bc its possible spoilers for the finale (tho its mostly just speculation some is based on bts not everyone may have seen). i am looking forward to and terrified for the show to end next week thats all i'll say

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers

[fuckwhoeverpickedallthefunnyurls]

Noting down things on my rewatch of Season 1 of Good Omens

While watching that scene where God explained that "it was like playing poker in a pitch-dark room, with a dealer who won't tell you the rules and who smiles all the time" and so many things appeared on the screen I just imagined how long it took to edit/make that whole scene.

In the book it's mentioned that Crowley's remark "You're an angel, I don't think you can do the wrong thing" is supposed to be sarcastic but Aziraphale doesn't notice. Well then I guess I'm like Aziraphale because I also did not and continue to not notice the sarcasm there unless I really watch out for it then slightly I guess.

Rewatching I feel like Eve opening her eyes after taking a bite of the apple is given even more underlinement than when Adam does it. Especially also through the sound effect in the background

I didn't even remember that Ligur & Hastur came out of the ground. To do it on a graveyard too like they....rose from the dead. Yeah cool symbolism or something 👍

Hastur with his flaming hand to light is cigarette is also cool. Once again thinking about editing and special effects etc. etc.

LIGUR'S LITTLE ANIMAL PAL ON HIS HEAD MOVED!!!!!! IT'S PAW OR HOWEVER YOU CALL IT MOVED!!!!

Long hair Crowley

I didn't even notice but Crowley sways his hips EXTREMELY after walking back to his car after receiving the antichrist. This is the Crowley slutty walk everyone is talking about

"Ciao. Means...Food." Always cracks me up. The pause adds to the comedic effect.

The whole "Yes" simultaneously. Also very funny tbh. Especially the way they say/pronounce it.

Until recently when I searched up about the actors starring in Good Omens in detail I literally didn't notice that the actors of Nina and Maggie were literally both nuns in season 1. Call that recycling (or foreshadowing, who knows)

Yooo the soundtrack when the ambulance arrives at the nun hospital is lowkey fire

Crowley's old glasses...I feel like the new ones are better bc they have these things at the side so the eyes are covered completely from all angles. I can't believe I'm getting a pair of them on Monday!! (For my Halloween costume)

WHY are there so many people on the street in front of Aziraphale's bookshop. Is that just what it's like in Soho.

The way Crowley talks and also his expression in that telephone cell are so funny in a way

Now that I've started reading the book and know that Aziraphale was the one blew up/set on fire the block of traffic officer who tried to give Crowley a ticket for parking in the wrong spot, I think it should have been included in the Show

I don't even remember this much happening in the first episode. I'm so used to OFMD's 30 minute episodes. And Good Omens Season 2 episodes somehow don't feel that long Idk why

Nanny Astoresh!!!!!! (Idk how it's spelled tbh)

I never noticed that Nanny's lullaby was to the tune of like the Good Omens soundtrack

Crowley going down the reflection of the escalator to go to hell weeeee

Crowley's little bun ❤❤❤ (+ his coat ❤❤)

Crowley's expression when saying "They [Heaven aka The Opposition] don't suspect a thing

Beelzebub & Hastur & Ligur all have little animal pals I think Crowley should have a little snake pal

I don't know how I never realized the first time watching that Crowley only has the snake tattoo on one side. I always thought he had dual snakes. I guess that is his little snake pal.

Why the close-up shots of Gabriel 😭😭

The famous "Please do not lick the walls" sign!!!

Isn't that Erik the demon that they fed to the hellhound??? He just keeps coming back like a Nokia huh. Indestructible.

Crowley short hair all of a sudden 😢 (he still looks good but it was a jumpscare ngl after seeing him with long hair all the time)

Crowley suggesting child murder on a sunny afternoon (I just now realized, Crowley doesn't kill kids. Is that why he suggested Aziraphale do it? I thought it was just because then it would be "heavenly doing" but this is probably his deeper motivation)

Crowley's watch is really cool?? I had to go back like 3 times to see what all the different lanes for the numbers were for though

Crowley's new glasses too

Them drinking again because they f-ed up

#From the 29th of October last year lol #Still working on that fic…. #good omens #good omens s1 #fanfiction #my writing #crowley #aziraphale

[jaskierx]

Honestly, I really admire (and am thankful for) the way you manage and handle those back and forth with some Izzy stans, I don't think I have the mental strength to entertain them myself.

I wasn't part of the fandom after season 1 aired, I watched it without engaging much and then kind of waited for season 2 to come out, so I had no idea such a divide had happened between Izzy stans and the rest of the fandom (glad I was oblivious to it ngl). All I know is that I hated Izzy’s guts and wanted him to get his just desert.

So yeah, I wasn’t a fan and I struggled forgiving him when season 2 started because the show was trying so hard to make him sympathetic (which I honestly couldn’t give two shits about at first, I wanted revenge), plus you’re right, Izzy got way too much screen time (which gave Izzy stans ammunitions to say “SEE!! Main character!!!”), but I did end up warming up to him by the time he died. I can even say I genuinely liked him.

BUT the journey to that point was sooo conflicting because some Izzy stans were also doing the absolute most in the main tag, painting Izzy as this angel who never did anything wrong and was terrorized by the monster Ed, and I was like????? Did season 1 happen??? Did I dream the whole season??? Did I watch a version from an alternate universe??? I was BAFFLED. I don't know who is that Izzy they're talking about, but it's not the one on my screen, that's for sure.

Then, Izzy died and the hardcore stans lost their shit (you know what I'm talking about) and they have seriously soured me to Izzy again. I want to like the character we had on screen, and I want to like his redemption arc. He was a great antagonist even if I hated him, and we owed him so much for all the shit he pulled in season 1, but the OTT takes and behaviors from stans I’ve seen have made me give up on him, which sucks. Maybe I’ll feel better about him in a few months, but right now, I can’t stand him, and I’ve blocked his tag everywhere (ao3 included, because, truly, fuck fanon Izzy, fuck him).

Hope it’s not too draining for you though, just writing this felt like screaming into the void, so I can’t imagine dealing with this on the daily. Take care!

hi anon i'm so glad you sent this bc i felt very similarly about izzy in s2. i didn't find him sympathetic at all. i didn't give a single shit that he was suffering from ed being in his kraken era bc he's the entire reason ed ended up like that in the first place. izzy was reaping what he sowed. seeing ed feeling so miserable broke my fucking heart and i can't stand any bullshit takes about 'izzy was protecting the crew from ed's abuse' or 'edizzy invented love confirmed' or whatever other nonsense his stans chose to take away from episodes 1-3.

i truly do not see izzy as a victim. i truly do not see ed as an abuser. sometimes i will start reading a post in the ofmd tag that refers to an 'abuser' and a 'victim' and i get halfway through the post and realise that the op has a completely opposite view of who is who than i do.

and as s2 progressed i just felt worse and worse about it like he was getting so much screentime and popping up all over the place and he'd absorbed a load of traits (from other characters that i'd have rather seen more of) bc the writers had to speedrun making him semi-likeable. i still haven't done a proper rewatch since the finale aired and i'm pretty sure i'll feel different watching it knowing he dies in ep8, but when eps 6-7 dropped i fucking hated every scene he was in and felt like he ruined some otherwise really lovely ed/stede moments like their breakfast in bed. izzy being cheered on for wearing drag and singing - the exact acts that caused him to threaten ed - feels exactly like the very common queer experience of seeing the homophobic kid who bullied you for being queer getting loads of support when they come out themselves.

and the takes that were coming out of the canyon at this time were absolutely wild, especially in relation to ed. people absolutely baying for blood, wanting to see him suffer, wanting his relationship with stede to suffer, wanting him to have to crawl across broken glass to repair his relationship with the crew, all while treating izzy as a protagonist who never did anything wrong.

so ngl i was delighted when he died. but mostly i was relieved that it was going to be over. i walked out of my circus tent with my clown makeup on believing that the canyon would yell for a bit and then slowly quiet down as people who claimed they'd be leaving the fandom if izzy died made good on their promise and fucked off.

and if anything they've got louder and more unhinged and are out here reinventing tjlc and harassing the writers and churning out the most rancid racist posts and writing obituaries that caused multiple people on twt to mistakenly think Actual Human Person con o'neill had died.

and on one hand i'm kind of glad that more people know what they're like now but god i really do feel for any izzy fans who have had their enjoyment of him ruined by the canyon. i really do think it's not the character that's polarising, it's the fandom response, in that most people who come in liking izzy end up either aligning with the canyon or getting so fucking fed up of the canyon that they don't like him anymore. and both of those are a shame tbh because he is very well acted and well written, especially in s1, and i wish i could've enjoyed his scenes and felt the emotional payoff of his death

anyway. sorry for writing you 1 billion words. ily ❤️

#asks #anon #the izcourse #izzy critical #absolutely no sarcasm - i really love that my askbox has become a Place For Screaming over the past few days #it ticks all my boxes bc i love attention and i love talking about my opinions. win win

[some-anonymity-preferred]

Way behind, doing it anyway!

1. When did you discover OFMD? A little later than everyone else. I think I started watching it after all the episodes had dropped, and people were talking about the Gay Pirates.

2. What was your first impression? I didn't quite hate it, and I wasn't sure I'd watch past the first three episodes. That was a surprise to me because I like Kiwi humor. I think the problem was I'd been hearing all about how the show was Amazingly Gay and the End of Queerbaiting and a Big Gay Romcom--and that's just not evident the first time you watch the first three episodes. Amazingly Gay gets a reasonable start, to be fair, and all of it is impossible to miss on rewatch. But the first time through, the End of Queerbaiting and a Big Gay Romcom feel like ridiculous oversells. And even with all the casually depicted queerness in the first three episodes, its amount of Amazingly Gay felt like not enough somehow? It might be partly that Stede presents as such a Camp Gay, and Thor Ragnarok made me a bit suspicious of Taika's handling of that type (in retrospect, that was almost certainly the fault of the MCU). That said, I was totally here for Taika, and he doesn't fully appear in the first three eps.

3. First OFMD pic in gallery

Nah, I'm not going all the way back for that. Here's the most recent still OFMD pic I've reblogged:

4. Reasons you like OFMD I love OFMD for all the reasons I thought I wouldn't make it past episode 3. 😂

I love the pervasive, matter-of-fact presentation of queerness in all its rich variety. I love the Big Gay Romance, and all the other supporting queer romances. I love the Revenge family. I love their deep, multifarious, matter-of-fact diversity. I love that these characters exist within and sometimes rub up against a world that, like the one we know, is deeply antagonistic to them. I love that OFMD handles racism with the same gently brutal realism as it does anti-queerness. Those two elements of the show break me so hard, in such a good way. I also love the hard switch Rhys gives Stede between Bumbling Bumbler and Daddy in Charge, and I love how he adapts it as the situation calls for. (It's literally the biggest thing that convinced me to keep watching despite my misgivings. It takes 20 minutes into S1E1 to first see it, and then, damn.) I love Ed's wet cat energy. I love Stede's hair. I love Ed's hair. I love the Revenge. I love the shifting flashbacks and dream/story sequences. I love Izzy as an antagonist, and the painfully realistic toxic relationship between him and Ed that fuels the antagonism. And I love how Izzy constantly shoots himself in the foot. I love all the supporting male characters of color: Frenchie and Olu and Fang and Roach and Ivan, and how most of them are big guys and are so sexy and I just....yeah.

5. Favorite main character

Ed. I am Ed coded to the absolute max. And he's sexy AF, in all his guises.

6. Favorite supporting character(s)

I am both glad and not to see that "(s)." Could I choose just one? No. Since I am allowed to choose multiple, is it going to look like I'm naming the whole cast? Yep!

Top of the top: Frenchie.

Followed closely by Olu, Mary, Lucius, and Fang.

Honorable mentions: Roach, Nana, the Swede, Buttons, Evelyn, and Alma.

I also love the native community on shipwreck island, Hornberry, and Mister "We Could Have Made Magic." (Jim is too past-me coded for me to love, and Jackie doesn't rate for me yet; I suspect both will change with season 2.)

7. Songs that remind you of your fav characters

Halsey's The Lighthouse is my Stede abandons Ed at the dock theme. Elza Soares' Coracao do mar and Phoebe Bridgers' Motion Sickness also remind me of Ed. White Flag by Joseph for Stede. Here's my OFMD playlist:

8. Underrated character

Frenchie. Frenchie does not get his due in this fandom, and it's a damn shame.

9. Character you resonate most with

Ed, hands down.

10. Character you hated at first but grew to love

Buttons

11. Favorite duo

Frenchie and Olu

12. Scene that made you laugh

Frenchie naming the Pyramid Scheme

13. Scene that made you cry

The bathtub confession

14. Favorite episode

S1E5, The Best Revenge is Dressing Well

15. Favorite quote

"Have you ever been sketched?" --Lucius

16: Favorite line delivery

"Your face." --Roach

#30 days with ofmd #ofmd

[suffersinfandom]

I love the second season of OFMD. I honestly love it even more than the first season! The emotional highs and lows hit even harder. The first three episodes are, in my opinion, Perfect Television, and episodes four and five are currently my favorite things to rewatch. Even the weaker episodes have moments that are completely brilliant and had me yelling at my laptop at two in the morning the first time I experienced them. 

But the season did have its flaws. The secondary characters really take a backseat to Ed and Stede, and I especially felt this with Jim. Izzy’s character development between seasons one and two and then between episodes four and five felt hurried and, sometimes, unearned. Episodes six, seven, and eight all work for me emotionally, but they all have story/pacing/continuity issues that the rest of the show doesn't.

I don’t blame the team for any of this! Given the shorter season and stringent limits on episode length, I understand why the crew focused on hitting all of the beats of Ed and Stede’s story at the expense of other storylines. It also seems like there was heavy interference in the back half of the season, and yeah, that makes episodes six, seven, and eight make more sense to me. Would’ve loved to see what those episodes might have looked like if season two had been given the same amount of freedom as season one.

Anyway, I’ve been dreaming about fix-its for season two and here are my top suggestions that no one asked for.

The ultimate fix: Add five to ten minutes to each episode (and tell the higher-ups to kick rocks if they want to make changes).

My faith in the writers is so absolute that I think this would fix most things. Jenkins and company are fantastic writers with solid handles on the story they want to tell, and every cut moment that we’ve seen has been so good. Given more time and freedom to tell their story, I honestly think they would’ve given us a season two that exceeded all expectations. But barring that…

Fix 1: Alter Izzy’s storyline.

One of the big stumbling blocks for me was Izzy. I know that some people love his storyline, and that’s okay! This is a fix-it list for me, not for them! I feel like we spent a lot of time with Izzy that might’ve been better spent elsewhere and his development didn’t feel earned. I just didn’t believe that he was a different guy by episode five, you know? So here’re a few ideas:

1A. Kill Izzy offscreen between seasons (the Ivan Treatment, if you will). I know this would never happen, but gosh, it'd save us from some discourse and free up a bunch of time.

1B. Make Izzy’s development more gradual. Make him resistant to helping Stede in episode five and bitchier towards the crew. Have him scowling in the background during Calypso’s birthday party. Don’t have him stroll in on Ed and Stede the morning after. Throw in a few moments where we see him wanting to change and be better. Give him a more subtle moment to show that he's better (and give Wee John the spotlight during the party).

1C. Spread out Izzy’s rehabilitation arc and have him receive the unicorn leg in episode eight. This frees up more time for other stuff and Izzy can live until the next season when his arc concludes -- everyone wins!

Fix 2: Cut Oluwande and Zheng Yi Sao’s romantic subplot.

It hurts me to suggest this because I love these two characters, but if we want to free up more time for character development, I think cutting into their subplot (and giving that time to Jim and Olu) is the way to go. They can still be friends! Maybe friends with an inkling that they’ll be romantically involved in the next season? But I really needed Jim and Olu to have more time together, and I think it would’ve been easy enough to establish an Olu/Jim/Archie polycule with hints that Zheng might be interested in that whole situation.

Fix 3: Give Ed more time with the crew.

I really, really wanted to see Ed and the crew work themselves out. Ed’s time with Fang was fantastic and I’d give anything for similar moments with, say, Jim and Frenchie. I also wanted some kind of resolution with Lucius. The season works for me without this -- I think that we’re meant to infer from Ed’s actions in episode five that he’s putting in the work with the whole crew -- but I want it. I want to see it with my eyeballs.

Fix 4: Add some songs for me personally.

Okay, I don’t think that adding any of the following songs would make the season materially better, but I still want to see:

- Kraken era “When Doves Cry” sequence - Smooching set to “Because the Night” - ABBA! Either “SOS” or “Lay All Your Love On Me”

That’s it, really! I know that cutting down Izzy and Olu/Zheng would’ve made some folks unhappy, so it’s probably just as well that David Jenkins didn’t ask me for a beta read.

And don’t get me wrong -- I’m so happy with the season two that we have. I don’t need it to be different, I just need Samba to release everything that was cut so we can string together our own director’s cut.

#ofmd #ofmd s2 #honestly more time would've fixed most things #time and freedom #i've been waffling on posting this because #well #gestures at s2 negativity #me typing things

[iamnot-theboynextdoor]

OFMD EP1 REACTION

i already know this is a dream sequence but opening on stede and izzy having a badass swordfight is dope

stede's fantasy is all about him looking and sounding super masc... babyboy that's not you...

HE FUCKING STABBED IZZY. HE KILLED HIM

and of course izzy's last words are "you absolute twaaaaaaaaaat" i'm fucking dying

AND THERE'S THE SLOMO BAYWATCH RUN GOD I LOVE IT

"knew you'd find me babe" and of course ed's got his beautiful beard back and he looks perfect and he loves stede's beard sfjgdskjgdshj stede

aaaaaaand f in the chat for stede's dream sequence, wee john is doing chemical warfare

"can't be worse than you moaning 'ed, oh, ed' all night long" f in the chat for black pete and the rest of the crew

AHAHAHA roach going "he's single" and shoving the swede at jackie. c'mon swede be a hobosexual for us we gotta sleep somewhere

"come closer. spanish jackie don't bite. i lied, i bite" and he giggles i am immediately on board congrats jackie on your 21st husband

love olu's fancy bartender waistcoat!

"i'll buy you a drink" this guy! the guy who's practically stede's twin! in the disco outfit that stede steals! is he the guy stede does a punch on? is he hitting on stede? oh my GOD where is this going

"richard banes. are you stede bonnet?" dear lord this guy could not have a posher accent. is he the guy who ends up with a fake nose. he's an undercover cop isn't he. how else does he know who stede is

awww fuck we're cutting to ed. shit's about to go down

(stede) "hope you're thinking of me as well" close-up on ed's TRUST NO-ONE tattoo. fuuuuuuuuck

and immediately the wedding ed's gonna crash is like some extremely classist/"we must breed more upper class, worthy humans" shit, so ed can do a little murder actually i immediately don't feel bad for them

"objection" ed can board a ship without anyone fucking noticing if it looks cool actually

THERE HE IS he's made everyone put on the emo paint. i keep pausing and rewatching this part. love izzy's sarcastic little smile

jim looks so fucking sexy

so does frenchie tbh

ed's just eating the cake. cake topper my beloved...

OH NO IVAN DIED. OFF-SCREEN. F IN THE CHAT. and frenchie only cares about the cake JUST KIDDING HE IS HARDCORE DISSOCIATING. poor fang tho...

stede taking down blackbeard's wanted poster... does he have a little shrine in the pig sty he's sleeping in. does he draw hearts on the posters

"he's just blowing off some steam" stede has decided the atrocities are cool and fun actually. atrocities are okay if the man doing them has big beautiful brown eyes too. what about it

"i also killed someone and stole their kiosk. sometimes action is better than vision" can we get sue on the crew? "that's what i've been telling him" "that's 'cause you're the smart one" sue confirms that olu is the only crewmember with a brain cell

'we can't turn up with any old ship, we need to look good" STEDE. FOR THE LOVE OF FUCKING GOD.

ed putting the little cake topper in his breast pocket next to his heart i'm going feral

"did everyone get cake?" "yeah they got cake"

ed is doing drugs and izzy has never looked more miserable and soggy. he looks like someone dunked him in an inkwell

OH HERE'S THE SCENE. THE SAD WET MEOW MEOW SCENE

shit's gotta be really bad if izzy needs to be rocked and cuddled while he cries... babyboy you should have just let ed hold the talent show...

i am not at all surprised that jackie's taking all of stede and co.'s savings. this is jackie's house. jackie does not have a tip jar. you're in the republic of pirates hide it better next time

BOO CAKES!

well you didn't even get jackie and the swede a wedding present. this is her wedding present. HIDE THE JAR BETTER-

"what if we took that back?" "i think my husbands would have a problem with that. have you met all twenty of 'em?" PAUSING TO LOOK AT THE HUSBANDS.

"that's a lot of husbands" black pete misses his husband, tails. he misses him a lot

love the one wearing no shirt and a tight waistcoat/corset thing with the axe. one's got cool glasses. two of them are either super twinky or lady-husbands, excellent either way (jackie and her lady-husbands, nandor and his guy-wives... beautiful...)

EDIT: THE TWO HUSBANDS ARE TRANS GUYS HELL YEAH HELL YEAH

"i know that guy we had breakfast together" "you will be having a lot of breakfasts-es together" "oh ok" sometimes a family is a pirate businesswoman and her 20 19 18 20 husbands and we stan

maybe the sexy axe husband cooked the breakfast. i am delighting in imagining them being all cute and domestic until jackie needs them to stand around and look intimidating and then they all scramble into position. their job is to cook breakfast and look sexy and scare the shit out of anyone jackie points them at

i like to imagine that as soon as one of jackie's husbands died she's like fuck i gotta get a new one to make up the numbers. my brand is 20 husbands i can't be seen with only 19. who's new in town that is remotely attractive. ooh, swedish blondie with a metal tooth, he'll look nice next to the one in glasses

anyway stede and co. are now homeless rip

why does roach have buttons on a rope leash sfhdskjghsgk is buttons so desperate to return to his true love (the sea) that they have to treat him like a toddler trying to run into traffic

"dear ed, i think i'm afraid to see you. i'm not afraid you're gonna kill me, i'm afraid your life is better without me!" I AM GOING TO LOSE IT. SOMEONE GET THIS POOR BOY SOME SELF-ESTEEM

i paused on the wanted poster and it said "wanted for theft brigandry larceny arson tax evasion" sgkjhsfgkjsfhgk the fucking IRS is going to find ed before stede does

"could be. could be, mate" stede your ed impression sucks shit

oh god richard's there. are you a cop or just a fan.

"the gentleman pirate saved my life! quite frankly, you're my hero!" with his fancy fucking coat oh god stede has a fan. stede has a copycat fan. AND STEDE'S NOW HAPPY OH MY GOD I AM HITTING HIM WITH A HAMMER (affectionate)

he fed stede a line about jackie's roman puzzle chest... i don't fucking trust this guy i'm convinced he's either a navy plant or a husband plant...

(if he is truly just a baby stede i'm putting him in a jar and shaking him (affectionate))

I FUCKING LOVE THE SWEDE

oh god back to ed's depression den

"not good enough. and that's another toe. take your boot off." okay ed, i know you're trying to get izzy or anybody to kill you in your sleep or something but i'm still. noooo don't commit atrocities you're soo sexy aha

"who am i to you" oh god. shit's gotta be really really fucking bad if izzy's doing emotional intimacy

"i have... love for you, edward" i'm going to explode

first of all izzy is delusional if he thinks he knows ed better than anyone else - we know and love this about him

second, con's fucking acting is going to kill me. he's looking at the floor, there are tears in his eyes, he's whispering and pauses as if saying the word love is going to kill him (and it's not just the emotional repression considering how volatile ed is)

and the way the line is written - it's not "i love you" or "i'm in love with you", it's not a thing izzy does or is, it's a thing he has. an object he's carrying around, separate to him, he's trying to distance himself from it.

and of course ed interrupts him with "oh come on" because he does not trust that anyone actually loves him and he doesn't want anyone to any more, he wants izzy to hate him and kill him!

"i'm worried about you, we all are. the atmosphere on this ship is completely poisoned. but if we could all just maybe... talk it through" SHIT'S GOT TO BE REALLY REALLY UNQUESTIONABLY HORRIFICALLY FUCKING BAD IF IZZY IS ADOPTING STEDE'S CATCHPHRASE

ed, ominously "as a crew" as blackbeard's leitmotif starts up... WORST CHOICE OF WORDS EVER IZZY I'M TERRIFIED

izzy: i fucked up i fucked up i fucked up i fucked up i fucked up

POOR FANG IS WHIMPERING ED DON'T SCARE HIM!!!!!

"i know who we should ask, ol' blackbeard!" (shoves gun under his own chin) jesus christ ed

"FUCKING END!" izzy has had ENOUGH

AND AS SOON AS HE SAYS STEDE'S NAME ED SHOOTS HIM

"frenchie, you are now first mate" STEPS OVER IZZY GROANING IN PAIN

i am very worried

HARD CUT TO THE SWEDE AND JACKIE LMAO

oh god stede's adopted ricky. this can only end terribly

aaaaaand f in the chat for ricky's nose

"i can't believe you guys robbed jackie! so bad!" swede.

jackie looks gorgeous though

SUE IS OF COURSE THE BADASS PIRATE QUEEN

and jackie loves her a sexy swedish double-crosser

thank you sue for adopting the gang of idiots

OH GOD JIM AND ARCHIE MOPPING UP IZZY'S BLOOD. THAT'S A LOT OF BLOOD

poor fang is still crying

awwww and jim's telling him pinocchio to calm him down! (but they suck at telling stories)

"do the voice"

and jim does the fucking voice

ed sounds like he's holding back tears as he describes sailing and robbing and never landing

"fuck you, stede bonnet" "good night, ed teach" HHHHHHH

stede come on man pick up a fucking oar you're not the captain any more

at least we got one romantic reunion! and it was buttons and the ocean <3

sdkfjhsdkjgsdk everyone being like "are we soup merchants now? sweet" and olu with his poor overworked brain cell like "hang on... there's no soup here"

ZHENG YI SAO FUCK YEAH BAY BEE

AFTER CREDITS SEQUENCE!!! storytime with jim extended edition!!!!!

#our flag means death #ofmd

[laceratedlamiaceae]

#

Hey, I really love your posts about Izzy (and for introducing me to the idea of CJizzy, honestly hadn't occured to me before), but I'm curious how you feel about the show as a whole... You've mentioned that you don't like Ed or Gentlebeard, so what kept you watching S1 until you, how do they put it these days, fell into the Izzy Canyon? Or did you fell in love with Izzy's character from the very first watch? If so, props to you, that's honestly impressive, I think most of us only started liking Izzy from our second rewatch or even later!

Yeah! So, to start with, I feel the most draw to participate in fandoms for media that I feel just okay about--if it's something I love, then I'm not interested in transformative works or headcanons or anything like that, because the source material stands on its own to me; and of course if I just don't like something I don't really want to engage with it at all. OFMD falls perfectly in that space between good and bad for me, where there's so much to like--just the concept of gay pirates is already amazing, and then you have so many interesting, compelling characters, and the vibes of it being a romcom--and then there's stuff I don't like, which as you noted is mostly Ed.

I can appreciate that Stede and Ed are a compelling, well-written love story, and absent my personal feelings about them I think they're a great couple; it's just that there are so, so many different things about Ed that I, personally, feel very strongly about (in a bad way) that brings the show from being amazing to being just okay in my eyes. My first watch I actually did like him and the main relationship; what I think happened--and I know this sounds like a joke, but I haven't been able to come up with a better explanation--is that I was so distracted by how attractive I found him that I didn't really notice Ed's personality. Later, when I was rewatching the show, I realized that he of reminds me of a lot of different people who I've disliked for various reasons, on top of just generally having the type of personality that I don't really vibe with, and then I got caught in a sort of feedback loop where seeing him at all kind of annoyed me, which made me dislike him more, which made me even more annoyed to see him at all, and so on (aka the bitch eating crackers phenomenon; Ed is a supreme BEC to me).

Izzy is actually the other big issue I have with the show--he's too interesting and compelling for what his role in the story demands, and that's why I was so drawn to participating in the fandom; I wanted to give him the attention I felt like he deserved. I liked Izzy from the beginning, I thought he was funny and relatable, but it wasn't until a rewatch and noticing the way he and Ed interacted (which is one of the many things about Ed that hit way too close to home for me) that I started to become an ardent #izzydidnothingwrong truther. I didn't get to that point completely independently, though; the other Izzy Enjoyers back in the early days of the fandom definitely helped.

And again, I do want to stress that me feelings about Ed are just my personal feelings, based on my own bullshit, and I don't intend to make anyone who does like him feel bad about that.

#thanks for the ask! #and for not being weirdly passive-aggressive and rude about it like the last person who asked me this! #asks

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Just did a rewatch of OFMD S2 Eps 6/7 and: (Yes, it DEFINITELY got better)

*All pacing issues and some cast being in scenes when others aren't is the fault of the studios being cheap and not the writers/creators. :) Flying the cast to New Zealand + housing them for filming meant some crew just couldn't be there (Fang, Roach, Olu) or mostly written out (Buttons, Swede).

The reason this season feels *weird* is just that. It is not the fault of the actors or any of the workers in New Zealand who got jobs because they were the cheaper, nonunion, option.

I was mainly mad due to some pacing things that, after I thought about it, I don't think *I* was ready for them to make jokes about, if that makes sense. Izzy is such a personal character for me that some of the stuff they joke about just...hits.

*While the show kind of blowing off Izzy's repressed feelings for Ed did originally piss me off (the 'jealous' comment from Ed in ep 7 especially), reframing the scenes as Izzy letting himself mourn this and seeing how easily he lets Ed go does make me happy. He will love Ed. That's just a fact. But he is not his relationship with Ed he is defined by what he does with it. Yes, they can joke about it. Izzy has probably defined their relationship as something that just can't happen. Either by thinking Ed could never love him or that Ed never cared. Izzy knew Ed's attention was always fleeting and MAYBE that's some BS way we can say eps 5, 6, and 7 happened within a few days of each other. Because...if Izzy is just repressing everything again. I swear. This show will not give me the polycule I want.

*Stede and Izzy work so fucking well as friends. Like. Izzy knows how Stede will use the bar as validation and is READY to fight for him. Stede knows Izzy will stand to fight with him. The way Izzy looks so DONE when Stede starts to fight? Izzy just lost Ed god damn it. That, and the thigh grab will be in my head forever... stizzy fans also win.

*Imagine having sex with the only person you've ever loved and they ditch the next day. Add that to Stede's own insecurities and it's like the writers had a checklist on how to break Stede Bonnet.

*Ed is leaving a manic period (started maybe ep 2), and entering a depressive period in episode 6 where he remembers 'oh yeah, I fucking hate pirating'.

*Both Stede and Ed want very different things in life and this conflict was always going to happen. But at the begining of ep 6 we see Ed replaying the abuse he's caused/experienced. He's mentally framing himself as a hazard. Stede enjoys the life Ed is desperately running from. This is why Izzy is so quick to grab Stede I think. To help him understand that Ed is just...a complicated man.

*Izzy was right about Ed needing to give Stede some time to sit with the death of Ned Low. Ed barging in allowed Stede to put his negative feelings into something positive, not fully allowing him to process his actions. Ed then uses their first time as an excuse to run away.

*Izzy is hot in both episodes :) End note. But for me, the reason the Drag scene felt weird on first watch is just that I can't read half the cast's face soemtimes. Its a me thing. On this rewatch I noticed them cheering and generally being more supportive, lol.

*I wish we got to see Izzy putting the drag makeup on. Even just a line of concealer. Putting on the character he'd embody for the night. Drag is such a practice of self realizion and community. I wish we got to see Izzy staring at himself, applying the mark on his face that he clearly loves so much.

*The concept of Ned Low- A vicious torture-focused pirate, sadly was handled like a minor inconvenience, and... while I like the masochism joke from Izzy, and the implications for Stede's arc, he felt weird and out of place. Like. Instead of tying Low's bad management to something like the Navy, why not the Kraken? The stuff was there for it. Show how shitty working on a ship that prioritizes violence is, and mirror it with Ed's growth.

*I love the ship design for Ep 6 so much.

*The Ed&Izzy apology still bugs me but I have hope Izzy and Ed will talk it out a bit more after talks with some of the lovelies online

*I love the crew but acknowledge that this season has shafted a lot of stories. Clearly, the writers did what they could.

*Izzy's 'love interest' this season is clearly just the 'community/self' and finding comfort in humanity again...its so GOOD.

*Izzy casually making sex jokes is so weird. Like a coworker you've known for a few years that finally starts talking shit with you on the job. It feels weird to me now, but I also write him like this? So it's a lot of wires crossing in my mind. Like...he FUCKS!

*Same with Izzy smiling. It feels wrong in the best way. Again, I wish we had ONE MORE episode of Izzy being in the middle of healing, but this more self-realized Izzy is lovely to watch.

*They changed the gender of the song Izzy sings so he's singing about a man. I will not be normal about this.

*I'm so happy I caught Izzy's hand being that FUCKING HIGH on Stede's inner leg first watch. It's changed me. Izzy really said 'When the dogs are away the cats are out to play' and POUNCED.

*I didn't catch Izzy pointedly calling Stede captain until I saw it online and now I love it. Stede adopted the stray cat and god damn he'll stay loyal until the day he dies.

*Spoilers for the teaser: If the series Ends and Izzy is in solitary confinement/Izzy is locked away from the others I will scream

*"Hiya, Boys" I LOVE HIM. Izzy confidently grinning and being a prick is my favorite.

*izzy loving Ed enough to let him go is just....so tragic and good. Especially since we know Ed just tried to hold izzy closer in s1

#ofmd s2 #ofmd season 2 #our flag means death #ofmd s2ep6 #ofmd s2ep7 #izzy hands #stizzy #if we get any type of ship for Izzy by S3 Ill be shocked #I want him to be content and in someones arms #maybe its projecting #Ah well #Any of the ship crew. Captains. New characters I don't care.

[johannestevans]

At what point did you start watching OFMD (e.g. I didn't watch til after it had finished) and what got you to watch it? Were there any expectations you went in with that you were totally right or totally wrong about? Have you rewatched it since and have any of your thoughts/feelings/HCs etc majorly changed since?

I can't quite recall, but I think I watched Our Flag Means Death once the whole series was out - if there were episodes left to air, it would have been just the finale or perhaps the finale and the penultimate, and I definitely didn't watch them live.

Going in, I think I expected it to be less funny than it actually is?

I love Taika Waititi's visual work but a lot of his movies I'm not normally that into because I don't really gel with his sense of humour, and Rhys Darby typically does a lot of cringe-based comedy that I have a lot of affection for, but don't always find funny. I wasn't sure whether I would really gel with the comedy of OFMD, but I did a lot more than I expected!

And I also didn't expect most of the characters to be so rich and well-considered - with the exception of Nat Faxon's Swede and Black Pete, I love pretty much every character across the Revenge and the Queen Anne, and I don't hate Black Pete.

I have rewatched various episodes, I've done liveblog analyses of the first few and I do vaguely intend to do the whole first season when I'm in the mood to rewatch again - I've rewatched most of the episodes at least once or twice, but not in order.

I don't think any of my HCs have changed majorly rewatching - most of what I find on the rewatch is seeing even more details that I didn't pick up on before, and I fucking love that. Especially on the rewatch I find myself adoring Oluwande even more - I would say my favourite characters are Izzy, Roach, and Frenchie, but Oluwande and Wee John are the others in the top five.

What's beautiful to me about Our Flag and that strikes me whenever I rewatch an episode is how unique it feels to me, and it's because it's so utterly, unapologetically queer, and you can tell the writers' room is putting in the work.

I like What We Do In The Shadows, but you can tell in the latter seasons that some of the writers really fucking have an issue with writing women, especially WOC, because all that shit with Marwa is just... awful. Like what they did with her and to her, genuinely expecting the audience to laugh along like it was just another gag of the vampires? There's some serious tunnel-vision going on there, and that's even without how little respect or care they had for Nadja in the last season that came out.

But Mary? Evelyn? Jim's Nana? Spanish Jackie? Like! Fuck!

BBC Ghosts is a show that's also quite queer and I do love its variety of women, but it's a subtle queerness and one that's often quite sexless, because it's the BBC and because these guys do Horrible Histories and the show itself is not for young audiences per se, but also isn't allowed to be bawdy like other shows would be.

The fact that OFMD is so astoundingly queer, and also, all those queers fuck? The fact that people actually fuck on this show, and not just "Make love" or some other garbage to prove to the straights we're just like them, but have hot gay kinky poly sex and all have different feelings about it and argue over it and have fun with it? And unlike in WWDITS, the gay bits don't lowkey come across as kind of a punchline sometimes?

Yeah. That makes OFMD such a fucking stand-out show to me, and even though I know that's there, whenever I watch it, I'm like :o, because so few other shows are allowed to be like that, and do it so well.

#our flag means death #musings