#shout out to elio for understanding my ramblings about this akjsgsl

[cobbbvanth]

to me the really interesting thing about the way ofmd handles piracy as a metaphor for both masculinity and queerness is this. stede sees piracy in general as an escape from heteronormativity, and the way he runs his ship specifically as a way of deconstructing toxic masculinity. both of these things allow the crew to become a safe space for him to express his queerness, surrounded by other queer folks at different stages of their various queer journeys. meanwhile piracy for ed is a space for queerness (anything goes at sea) BUT to him it's also irrevocably represents toxic masculinity, not an escape from it. and this is where their opposing arcs come from in s2, because they're at different points in their journey.

piracy to stede is about the community he's built that allows him to be himself in all his camp effeminate gay glory, but for ed it reminds him of the abuse he now knows he doesn't have to endure anymore. and ed realises this because he met stede. (which makes me so !!!! the effect they've had on each other since day one!!) ed supported stede on his piracy journey, helping stede understand that his worth as a man didn't have to be tied to how effectively he played his role in society. this helps stede put his masculinity/queerness/piracy triangle in balance, seeing his life of piracy as a positive departure from the stifling expectations of masculinity and heteronormativity of his old life.

his time with stede kind of has the opposite impact on ed though, and that's where their conflict comes from. ed thought he had a functioning balance in his masculinity/queerness/piracy triangle - because being a pirate meant he could at least have his queerness, and he'd found a way to keep performing masculinity as 'blackbeard'. but stede helped him see that he didn't need to keep performing, he showed ed that there can be room for softness even in their line of work. stede giving ed the option of a different lifestyle did lead ed, the impulsive king that he is, to attempt to cut out piracy altogether. he reacts this way because he's not quite at the same point in his journey that stede is. stede was able to reach a balance after stepping away from piracy and going back to his family in s1, and we see ed doing the same thing by leaving piracy to be a fisherman in s2.

ed's (brief) time away from piracy shows him that he can't keep neglecting one part of his piracy/queerness/masculinity triangle - he needs to find a balance and acceptance of all three. in the end ed puts his leathers back on for love, and was able to lay 'blackbeard' to rest with izzy, helping him properly understand that piracy can be a positive analogy for queerness AND masculinity. stede and ed step away from piracy at the end of the season anyway, but they both do so with a much better understanding of how piracy gave them freedom to be themselves. i just think the way the show handles all of this is pretty neat

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd meta #stede bonnet #edward teach #blackbonnet #stede x edward #text #** #shout out to elio for understanding my ramblings about this akjsgsl #i just. god yeah shout out to the ofmd writers