Ed Putting His Hand On Stede's Chest Gets Me Every Time. He's Reassuring And Grounding Himself While

Ed putting his hand on Stede's chest gets me every time. He's reassuring and grounding himself while offering comfort to Stede. He used physical touch with Stede from the beginning, sitting on the bed next to him and placing his hand on Stede's. There was always a different level of comfort there between them.

And there's something special about the hand on the chest. He not only does it while kissing Stede, but also during moments where he's protecting him or where he's looking for words, being emotionally vulnerable.

Gif source

☝️😐🪑💥🥀

haven’t seen this on tumblr yet, and tis the season

There are so many little physicalities in the reunion scene that overwhelms my soul.

It’s not just the kisses. I mean, it’s mostly the kisses let’s be real, but it’s the glances, the soul seeking, the hand placements, etc etc…

I’ve been replaying this scene over and over, probably an innumerable amount and each time, I’m filled with those little butterflies in the pit of my stomach. 🥹 it’s akin to kicking my feet and giggling.

I wanted to show zoomed in clips of each of their perspective because Rhys and Taika have incredible ways of storytelling through their physicality.

Rhys is a fantastic actor. Unbelievably emotive. Outrageously funny. But he’s also wonderfully honest during moments of tenderness. There’s so much that can be said of his perspective looking at Taika. It’s the way he allows Stede to keep his eyes open right before locking lips with Ed. It’s the way he grants permission to Stede to study Ed’s face in admiration while he’s talking. Rhys hits the mark on every beat of that scene.

The generated heavy breathing having just run on the beach. The gentle swaying in Ed’s arms after riding that high. The nuzzling into Ed’s hand pressed against Stede’s face. It’s all there. And it’s intuitive and beautiful.

For Taika, he shows us what Ed could be like without the presence of any piracy and general swashbuckling. His character development in this season was astoundingly emotional for me and I think it’s because Taika allowed himself to “live truthfully under imaginary circumstances.”

Click the link to read about Meisner technique and how it informs authentic acting.

Taika is also intuitive with his roles. He brings a certain level of familiarity and that’s evident in Ed. Not the whole ‘feared pirate legend’ bit, but the bit where Ed is a man that fell in love.

Now I don’t know about you all, whether some of you that read this have had acting experience, but for someone who does, it is quite an undertaking to act a scene like this. The vulnerability can only be achieved if your partner meets you halfway. Meisner believed acting is doing, right? There’s no talking when it comes to acting. Acting is action.

These scenes are incredibly difficult for not only the logistics/planning of the kiss, but the before and after said kiss. That one kiss needs to be built into a storyline, and if you aren’t able to bounce off that stimuli to your acting partner, it falls flat and appears clunky and irregularly timed.

But Taika and Rhys went above and beyond to present something that’s honest, tender, and not at all uncomfortable, out of place or inauthentic. It was as real a kiss as could be in a gay pirate show lol!

Taika inhabits the reality of Ed’s world by resting his right hand against Stede’s neck. His physicality is compelling. The furrowed brows. The hands grasping Stede’s face. The hand resting against Stede’s chest, almost as a way to fully feel present. Or maybe it’s a way to hold onto Stede after the delirium inducing kiss.

But my favorite part of this entire scene?

“I love you. I love you.”

Ed pulls away mid kiss to let Stede know he loves him. As if Stede didn’t already know, though I’m sure grateful for the spoken affirmation nevertheless. It’s the fact that Taika made a choice to say ‘I love you’ in an abrupt way. To the audience, it could be interpreted as his inner monologue springing forth to be heard. As if he’d been saying ‘iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou’ while his lips were desperately clinging to his lover’s.

He says it twice. The first time it’s quick and in an attempt to make Stede understand. The second time he’s willed it into existence. Taika also makes a choice to say the second ‘I love you’ while maintaining eye contact.

It’s the kiss we all wish we truly could experience.

It’s a kiss of acceptance.

Unconditional love.

It’s a kiss that says everything they’re unable to say.

It’s everything. This reunion was everything.

rhys darby's emmy-worthy performance in ofmd s2

looking back, i'm still really happy with izzy's death. a lot of different opinions have been floating around and, hey, this is mine. hell, his death is one of the main reasons i love this season so much

because season 2 is about ed reclaiming his own identity. he has to become the worst version of blackbeard in order to eventually become the best version of ed. ever since the very beginning he's been yearning for blackbeard's death. yet "blackbeard" isn't just ed's dark side-- it's a two-man-team with ed as the face and izzy holding the reins

in his final moments, izzy admits that he saw the façade of "blackbeard" as a shelter for his relationship with ed. a place where he was guaranteed to have control, where someone would always need him. he did everything in his power to protect "blackbeard" so that nothing could get in between what he had with ed

but "blackbeard" was always a ticking time bomb. not only did izzy not listen to ed, he didn't let ed listen to his own self. he used ed's weaknesses to serve his own interests. it was just a loop of izzy hurting ed and ed hurting him back, but izzy desperately needed to maintain this. it was all he had

and here's my favorite detail in this scene: right after he says this line is when stede comes back on deck. the weird fancy man who came out of nowhere and freed ed from the shackles of "blackbeard", who inadvertently destroyed izzy's world, silently walks in the background as izzy says:

he sees it now. as he told stede at jackie'z, he sees that stede is good for ed and that they balance each other out. he sees that loving stede is the best thing that's happened to ed. the darkness in ed that created "blackbeard" died during the storm and ed slowly started finding himself thanks to stede. sure, their relationship is awkward, but it's looking promising. izzy doesn't have a "blackbeard" to guard or to guide anymore. as he lets death drag him away, he's happy to take the last bit of "blackbeard" with him so ed can be completely free. having received so much love from his new family aboard the revenge, izzy is able to give ed and stede his blessing. it's a beautiful declaration of acceptance, repentance and encouragement

izzy, as a character, serves ed, who himself isn't even the main protagonist. for a supporting character to have an entire season build up to his death, all while allowing him to grow into the most comfortable and confident man he's ever been... getting to have closure and make amends... in my opinion, that's the greatest honor