Simon And Garfunkel Fans When Its April

another OFMD post and she’s super long

there have already been a lot of takes about the really great way OFMD handles masculinity, but there is something i wanted to add. i think the thing that underscores stede’s personality and his struggles both in marriage AND as a pirate captain is the fact that he’s uncomfortable in masculine positions of authority. one of the first times we see this is in ep 1, with the flashback to stede’s home life. it shows him at the head of the table, with his wife seated all the way at the other end and the children seated right next to her. there is a literal and metaphorical gulf between them. mary and the kids are having a conversation, and stede looks both unhappy and uncomfortable when listening and trying to participate in the discussion. at first when i saw this scene i was bracing myself for another dismissal and butchering of women characters, but later in the episode, another scene changes this dynamic. it shows stede again seated at the table with his family, but he has moved down to sit by mary and the kids, and everyone is now smiling, laughing, and comfortable. by moving, stede literally and symbolically closed the gap between him and his family and removed himself from the head of the table, that place representing the authority of the man of the family. stede feels much more comfortable existing on a plane equal to mary and his family, yet his status and cultural norms prevent him from doing this. stede doesn’t feel completely uncomfortable around his family -- even though he is queer and him & mary were not a love match -- he is uncomfortable being in this traditional, patriarchal place of authority over them. this a more masculine space to occupy, and as the previous flashbacks about the dead animal and the flower picking show, stede is not very comfortable on a traditionally masculine plane. i think the fact that stede left without his family after mary rejected his idea to live out at sea shows this as well. he was the head of the household, the one with financial power, and could have easily made his family go with him whether they liked it or not, but he didn’t. he didn’t think the problem was his family, he thought it was where he was, the space he was supposed to occupy. to him, the sea represented a life of freedom and a realm outside of traditional society, where you lived by your own rules. he wanted his family to join him because he thought he would be able to be happy with them once they were freed from the confines of their restrictive aristocratic life. even though his marriage and family life was less than ideal for him, he still misses his family at the end of ep 1. and this leads into my next point. stede is pretty awful at being a pirate captain because, well, it’s another position of masculine authority! stede never felt comfortable being a mean and demanding captain – he always paid the crew, read them stories, encouraged them to talk about their feelings. he was able to be more authentically himself at sea – aka less masculine – but this made him a terrible captain in the eyes of the crew. the crew’s frustration with stede in ep 1 comes from the fact that they’re not doing traditional murderous pirate things, and buttons tells stede that they think he is weak. even though stede left for the sea to escape his masculine role at home, that masculine authority is still demanded of him but in a different way as captain. here, the masculinity he fails to perform is killing, maiming, robbing, etc. he constantly expresses discomfort at the thought of himself and others doing these things, which masculine men should have no problem with. stede equates his queasiness with killing as a pirate to his queasiness with the killing of an animal as a kid, demonstrating an overarching fear of killing that makes people perceive him as less of a man. stede has the most fun with the crew when interacting with them and being among them, just as he enjoyed sitting near his family. and one of the redeeming qualities that stede has, according to the crew, is that he reads them stories and does voices. the crew likes him best when he is closing that masculine power gap between them, just as his family looked more happy to be around him when he sat near them. stede being a more traditionally authoritative and ruthless pirate captain may have made the crew respect him more, but it wouldn’t make them like him. stede, overall, is uncomfortable being in a traditionally masculine state of power, and is also REALLY BAD at being in this position. and then enter ed. ed is really soft-hearted and less macho deep down, but his problem is that he is very good at PERFORMING masculinity, even though he doesn’t like it very much. it’s easy for him to threaten and yell and inspire fear in people, but really it is all a performance. we see this through the various exaggerated illustrations of blackbeard and black pete’s ridiculous story about him. however, we learn that ed is very vulnerable deep down, deals with trauma, and cries multiple times. he doesn’t like being this fearsome pirate all the time. although they come to see and appreciate each other more fully as their relationship grows, stede is initially so enamored by ed because as “blackbeard” he’s able to PERFORM masculinity so well, which stede finds himself just unable to do. and ed is initially so enamored with stede because he’s incapable of performing masculinity and just kind of lets all his quirks and less masculine qualities be expressed. ok this was super long hbo pls renew the show so i can STOP

legendary

as much as i love ofmd, i feel like some people online just genuinely don’t know what they're talking about with regards to hbo. ofmd was never gonna get the critical acclaim of shows like barry or succession because at its heart it *is* a comedy. it was a new show that wasn’t incredibly serious and dramatic, so it makes sense it got little promotion. and as much as i love david jenkins, he’s only made like 1 not that successful show before, so hbo was likely trying to play it safe. and the show’s success, largely due to lgbtq+ people was a shock to everyone, but i’m sure the audience was not only gay people when it was being tested, meaning that a decent chunk of them weren’t nearly as enthusiastic as we all are. i think people don’t understand that the main thing hbo cares about is making *money* off of these shows. the idea that there is some big conspiracy at hbo to thwart the gay pirate show is absolutely ridiculous. they don’t want it to fail, they want it to make them money!! i completely agree that they waited too long to renew it for a second season, but it’s likely because it did way better than they ever thought it would, and they were unsure if the momentum could be kept up/ whether it was financially smart to go against what they previously thought about the show. anyway rant over people just say really dumb shit on the internet

“The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.”

-Malcolm X (1962)

though she but but little she is #fierce

The only decent way to use white privilege

Edit: this is the first time anything I have posted has reached over 10k notes and I cannot be happier that this is the post that is getting attention.

Edit 2: now over 20,000!!!!! Keep it going - being a Karen could literally save someone's life one day

Edit 3: OVER 50,000 - keep sharing this!!!!

Disclaimer: I am not the person who did this, I'm simply sharing the screenshots to spread awareness. I am a white person and I do want to be an ally in as many ways as possible so please share as many ways as possible that both I and other white people can do this

So me (24M) and my girl (22F) who I'll call "Cecelia" were making love up in my bedroom this afternoon and I got up for ONE SECOND to wash my face and when I got back there's some other guy in my bed with her. I told her she was breaking my heart and shaking my confidence and I even got down on my knees and begged her but she just rolled her eyes. Now she's back and says she loves me again and at first I felt jubilation but now I'm not so sure I believe her. She thinks I'm being dramatic. AITA?

we coulda had a good life together fuckin real good life but you didn't want it GARFUNKEL! so all we got now is bridge over troubled water. fuckin all!

#does the scarf art is holding not look a lot like one frequently worn by paul……

Paul Simon cape (and tie) & Art Garfunkel sweater appreciation post- London, c. October 1966.

Absolutely one million percent holding hands in the last one, it’s not even up for discussion.