Icon by @ThatSpookyAgent. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. The X-Files. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
as much as I love ofmd fics that lock a character up in the brig on the Revenge, I find it infinitely funny that we think Stede would have put a brig in his custom-built family-friendly pirate ship
like if anything, it’s probably a nice small room for time-out, with a little bunk and some pillows and an embroidery hanging on the wall encouraging the occupant to think on their actions and how to better apply their negative feelings to more positive behaviours moving forward or something tacky like that
Jim was raised by a pit stop nun to be gods greatest mechanic and avenge the street racing crash that killed their family. Stede keeps track of everyone’s birthdays on a bike sticker. The secret library in his engine has somehow not caught on fire.
There’s a theme in Our Flag Means Death that I absolutely love. It’s basically that you must return to the life you know in order to bury it. While anyone could easily tell you what you left behind is barren, you can only move on to new life once you see the past empty for yourself.
We see Stede do this by returning to Mary, only to realize there is nothing left for him there. His family still doesn’t really get him, and Mary has found someone who makes her happy. He probably knew this all along, but Stede still needed to return to see for real that there wasn’t room for him in that place anymore. And that’s what brings him to the conclusion it’s time to bury that part of his life and walk away.
We see this theme with Jim too, when they return to St. Augustine and decide to stay behind to finally get closure with the Siete Gallos. The end of that episode leaves them standing in the empty ruins of their childhood home with their orange tree that no longer bears fruit. It’s a visually and metaphorically barren landscape. This is driven home once Jim finds our more about the Siete Gallos from Spanish Jackie and concludes that revenge isn’t going to fulfill them. It’s certainly closure, but it’s not fulfilling a mission, it’s finding fulfillment aboard the Revenge with Olu.
And finally, we see the same theme with Ed. When Ed returns to the ship after Stede abandons him in the finale, he makes the decision to become Blackbeard again and go back to the well-tread path he found so boring before. Maybe this time it’ll be enough. But in the final moments, when he’s sobbing alone, we know it’s not. He knows it’s not. And Ed is in the moment of realization that the life he had before has nothing more to offer him; hopefully season 2 brings him his closure in the form of fine clothes, seven sugar tea, and Stede’s tenuous smile.
