never love an anchor - the crane wives | our flag means death

"you're a monster. a plague.
you defile beautiful things."

been thinking a lot about stede and having conversations with my gf about his character flaws and greater issues so this is kinda borne of that

this took me a fucking hour to render bc my silly little editing program decided to glitch everytime i rendered so please..........appreciate it....sobs

also fun fact i made this in 3 days

EDIT: if you want to hear my silly little thoughts and opinions about OFMD and some info about how I made this animatic you can go and listen to my guest spot on "Be Gay Do Piracy!" I got interviewed for episode four!

thanks for watching!

[Chibibehemoth]

I do think we need talk more about Stede's self-preservation and self-esteem issues man.

[blob]

I have had the phrase "guilty not remorseful" regarding Stede stuck in my thoughts for weeks now. It's just his character conflict in a nutshell, he doesn't regret for leaving his family or killing Nigel, but he does feel guilt. And the only time I expect he's going to actually regret doing something in the show it'll be leaving Ed (tempered by the fact he finally burned the bridges with his guilt regarding his family)

[kazastrophy]

You know what I love the most, the fact that yes you have Stede's bits and Ed's bits, but you also have MARY, our beloved Mary who's story and narrative is also super valid and interesting I love that

[blueskythinking]

A lot of limited-colour animatics look like the artist didn't have time, resources, or patience to colour them. They often seem unfinished. This one doesn't. The use of tone, black instead of white background, and the very pointed and limited use of colour all work wonderfully - there was absolutely nothing lacking.
Besides that, I love this song and this is a really interesting take on Stede that I find myself agreeing with more and more every rewatch.

[nath]

this is so beautiful.
it shows so perfectly how stede felt about all that. he couldn’t allow himself to love ed because he thought he would ruin him (like he ruined everything else: his family, the twins, etc). and that whole conversation with chauncey just brought all that he had bottled up and ignored to the surface again, so he ran, not because he was being selfish, but much the contrary — he was, in a way, being selfless, putting Ed’s own integrity and happiness above his own, thinking that by leaving he would be making Ed’s life better and not tainting it with his poison.
he couldn’t allow himself to love and I believe he refused to believe it was love until that talk he had with Mary — not only bc he had never felt it and didn’t actually know how it felt like, but also bc he didn’t want to love someone bc he’s so afraid to hurt people. he would rather sabotage his own happiness than harm Ed. he loved him so much that he’s willing to let him go bc he thinks that’s better.
but of course he’s got it all wrong. i’m so curious to see what will happen in s2 (istg if HBO doesn’t renew ofmd I’ll riot) when they meet again. stede finally accepting himself and his right to be happy and to love, finally allowing himself fully out of the barriers he built around himself; ed completely changed into kraken, believing that he’s unworthy of love and affection and that being soft only makes him to misery, believing that stede lied to him and left him. god the angst that awaits.

sorry I rambled a lot omg, but this is truly so beautiful!! couldn’t keep it to myself lol

[bunnycat]

THIS SONG. why is it so good for this theme of Stede's inner issues??? Also can i say i like how everything is black and white and there's Ed's greys? both the color choice and the also the red cloth

[dndlee]

OH MY GOD EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS IS PERFECT!! the art, the song choice (i freaking love the crane wives and they are such a good fit for ofmd), this whole thing is so beautiful <3 <3

[Tigerheart]

So realistically I know that this isn’t an official song for OFMD, but this animatic has hit me so hard that it is to me. I legit keep forgetting that this song isn’t part of the official soundtrack and that this is a fan work because of how influential it is! You did so good with this that I keep coming back to it. I wish they’d add this song into the show because of how well it suits these two. You nailed the matchups so well!!

[averyeml]

This, along with a couple of fics and posts I’ve seen lately, have really cemented in the heartbreaking reality that no matter what, Stede was going to leave Ed alone on that dock. He seemed off from the second they got to the privateer place, but as soon as Badminton got to him he was definitely going home. It wasn’t a fear thing, not purely, instead it was him genuinely feeling like an anchor to everything he touched and that the only thing he could do was let Ed go.

Even if he’d made it to that dock, I think we would’ve seen a direct breakup. I’m just very excited to see how they build them back together in season 2.

[geekelly]

* Sobs hysterically while still on the toilet because I thought it would be a good idea to watch this while using the restroom*

[m.h.]

Pretty sure every single viewer was sobbing by the time "tie your shoes" hit. This is absolutely brilliant.

[elisa]

Gorgeous! So perfect for how Stede perceives himself--always failing, always letting down the people that he cares about

[lordchickooon]

OH MY GOD THE CRANE WIVES WITH OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH!! I LOVE THIS SM

[dystopyxrose]

WHEN I SAW THIS I FLIPPED
our flag means death and the crane wives; my two favorite thingssss
it really is too perfect tho
stede fucks all the things up all the time but he truly just doesnt know what the fuck he's doing because NO ONE EVER PROPERLY RAISED OR HELPED HIM the poor bby

[jasa]

you are singlehandedly feeding this entire fandom, this is perfect

[fmknecc]

This is an old video which i was always loved, by my god does this hit even more after s2 ep7 ❤😭

[tragicalgirl]

this animatic got me to watch our flag means death, actually! when i first watched it, i was like "wow the art style is so cool, and the show looks super interesting!" and now that i've seen it and have context for all the frames, i am in perpetual pain thinking about this song LOL

its so good !! please keep up the great work

[elliart]

I think its safe to say this has become a staple in the fandom and it deserves to be

[thekraken]

I'v been listening to that damn song on repeat the last few days because it suits Stede so well. So this right here is literally like a dream come true?? I absolutely love it! Thank you for blessing us with this🖤

[devin_s]

OH MY GOD OFMD AND THE CRANE WIVES AUAUAUAUAUAU THIS IS AMAZING