#ofmd s2e2

I want to talk about the significance of Stede's beard in the opening dream sequence of s2e1, and how we know from Lucius in the first season that "not every beard is a beard". Of course SOME beards are just beards - most of the Revenge and QA crew sport face fuzz of some sort or another, and it's just How They Look. But, narratively speaking, when attention is called to facial hair in this show, it's all about deception and hiding one's true self.

We have Blackbeard, who has built his brand around his eponymous facial fur, but feels stifled by the way the success of said brand has left him bored out of his skull, and frustrated by the way his reputation has been co-opted and twisted into something inhuman. (And by poor Taika's accounts, the beard itself was literally stifling; unbearably hot to wear, and how he could hardly move the bottom half of his face lest the glue start peeling off). It's only when Ed shaves it off at the academy that he's able to start really approaching the question of what it means to be Just Ed. And, of course, we have the way he smeared kohl across his mouth and jaw in a frightful simulacrum of a beard as part of his Kraken transformation at the end of season 1.

We have Jim, who uses a fake beard to conceal their identity while on the run after having killed Alfeo de la Vaca. Only once that beard is discarded are they able to really think about who they are and how that doesn't fit in the narrow parameters of a gender binary. We see them go back into the beard when they re-commit themself to the vengeance quest, posing as a bearded priest in order to capture Geraldo, but, again divested of the beard, Jim is able to consider whether completing the vengeance quest and allowing their life to be consumed with a family that is dead and gone is something they want, or if they might be happier committing themself to a different path, and finding a family that will give them the love and support their own no longer can. And then, of course, the way Jim paints on a simulacrum beard when they are forced into a life of violence as part of Kraken!Ed’s crew.

We have Heartbroken Voyeur Stede’s comment about how Calico Jack had nice hair, but “his moustache is weird.” Shortly after, we learn that CJ has been a duplicitous, manipulative asshole the entire time, his only goal to lure Ed away from the Revenge before the British came to kill Stede.

So what does it say that Stede is dreaming about himself with a full beard? To have Dream!Ed specifically comment on it? Because they’re calling attention to it, so, hey, hi, how are you? You have my attention!

I think it’s not JUST that Stede is casting himself in the role of the dashing hero with all the trappings thereof, indulging in a fantasy about a joyous, romantic reunion with his beloved. Because this fantasy has some MUCH darker connotations than the sun-drenched beach would suggest. This Dashing Hero™ persona isn’t Stede’s idealized self. It’s the culmination of all his insecurities about not being the kind of person who is worthy of the attention and love of someone as impossibly cool as Blackbeard.

(Incidentally, I think it significant that Ed, in the dream, ALSO has his full beard. This more than anything is what clues me into the fact that Stede is still trying to measure up to the Legendary Pirate Blackbeard - not Just Ed with his soft, beautiful clean-shaven face, nor even a more realistic version with a beard that’s coming in quite nicely, but isn’t anywhere near the epic proportions that it once was, as we see with the scenes of real Kraken!Ed)

We learn later in the episode that Stede has been dragging his feet about setting out to reunite with Ed in spite of the all the money he and the crew have managed to scrape together working for Jackie, and the true reason behind his reticence is that he is still genuinely convinced that Ed is better off and happier without him. Even when reunited with Lucius in episode 2 and Lucius suggests that Ed’s time with Stede was “as good as it’s going to get for [Ed]”, Stede’s response is that he’s “not ready to believe that.” Stede really just is incapable of conceptualizing a reality in which Just Stede could ever be enough.

(And don’t get me started on Lucius’ beard! Lucius who was the emotional intelligence of the crew in the first season, and is now a guarded, brittle, traumatized shell of who he was. He’s 100% for sure not hiding behind a façade of butched-up toughness. Nope. Not. At. All.)

So in Stede's dreams, he’s the epitome of the kind of guy that WOULD be good enough. The kind of guy who has a beard and wears leather pants (hello queer urge to become the person that you sexually desire, how are you?). The kind of guy with neat, tidy, barely even wavy hair instead of perfectly coifed cherub curls. The kind of guy who, if he wears a fine fabric at all, it’s wrapped around his waist where it can be mostly concealed by a thick, macho belt, and trailing in front of his crotch like a fabric phallus (and, say, if Ed feels like touching it, maybe there’s something else in the vicinity that he might also be interested in touching?). The kind of guy who is tough and competent and can kill without remorse or pity.

But it’s more than that: Stede is counseling Lucius specifically to talk openly with his love about the trauma that is keeping them apart.

Stede is giving Lucius exactly the advice he himself needed in Act of Grace.

And then Lucius and Pete are the couple who marry at the end of season 2.

While Stede leans into Ed, who is making wife-me eyes at him.

I’m late to this party, and yeah. This show just broke me again.

Again.

Well that was a rollercoaster of emotions!

It's been a long time since I loved a show so much I wanted to drown in it. I kept finding myself leaning closer to the screen as if I could fall in.

My initial reactions below: not groundbreaking or insightful, I just have to share them with someone!

**spoilers ahead**

I really thought I knew the sort of direction the series would go in, how the different moments in the trailer would fit together. The show laughed in my face and opened with bearded Stede on a beach. (Side note: Stede's dreams are absolutely mental - regardless of whether or not he's just been stabbed.)

I never imagined we would get a mini-Stede calling Stede his hero and trying to follow in his footsteps and annoying him with his incompetence 😂

All of episode 1 I was reeling from the opening sequence and adjusting to the new tone of the show. Then the minute Lucius walked in I relaxed and felt I knew where we were again.

I'm so glad he yelled at Stede. It felt necessary and cathartic - maybe for all of us as well as him 😆 Also the little nods to the fanbase in his actual dialogue were wonderful and made me scream.

Frenchie is everything and I love him.

The new characters are GREAT.

Did anyone else have to keep pausing and skipping back to check if they'd really seen what just happened?

I was actually scared of Ed for the first time. And upset by him. He's still wonderful and I will absolutely forgive him in the end, don't get me wrong, but wow that's a lot of trauma for everyone to work through. (Good thing they've got the Gentleman Pirate to provide counselling and team rebuilding exercises 😉 (And to silently pull all the knives out of the cabin walls one by one 😍))

My heart is breaking for Izzy. He's done some messed up shit and he bullied Ed into being what his is, but bloody hell he doesn't deserve this level of pain. Also he is expressing emotions and I am stunned and loving the character development. Caring what happens to him is a new experience for me and I like it.

I was utterly betrayed that Ed would roleplay being an innkeeper with anyone other than Stede - and then the show wrongfooted me again and laughed at me for doubting it.

I have definitely read fanfiction where Ed has a pet pig on a desert island.

Scheduling this for midnight. This is officially where I'll be liveblogging s2, so if you're using xkit mute this post.

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