#hell or high water
Westward the Women(1951)
No Country for Old Men(2007)
The Harder They Fall(2021)
Meek’s Cutoff (2010)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs(2018)
Hell or High Water (2016)
Desperado(1995)
The Wind(2018)
I’ve read at this point a non-zero number of OFMD reunion fics that are absolutely dripping with angst and drama and recrimination and Ed being half out of his mind with grief and rage over Stede abandoning him and Ed even committing some atrocities in the process of grieving and it’s so funny to me because the tone is so so heavy and then Stede shows up…
… and the tone just shifts. And it feels like it’s not even on purpose on the writer’s part! But Stede shows up and just instantly the mood lightens. The comedy returns often in spite of the tone of the fic. Ed might rage a bit or they’ll have an argument but it’s like the bottom just falls out of the angst because even the most angst-committed writer can’t sustain Ed being a miserable wreck in the face of Stede’s unrelenting Stede-ness.
The guy is an absolute menace to any tragic arc. He just shows up, being ridiculous and fancy and an absolute bulldozer of unconditional love for Ed and it’s like you can feel the writer lose control of the story at the same time Ed does.
Like, how do you stay mad at this guy?? Sure you can add plot twists or action beats or just have Ed be really stubborn or maybe knock Stede unconscious for a bit, but the minute Stede starts talking uninterrupted for 5 minutes you know it’s all over for Ed being able to maintain any kind of outrage. Stede is just too bizarre and crazy and full of love for the most terrifying pirate on the sea and absolutely nothing will dissuade him and it’s like, how do you even deal with that if you’re Ed and still feel something for him and think he abandoned you because he doesn’t care about you when it’s clear he really reallydoes??
Stede as a character just morphs the narrative around him in the most fascinating way, even in fic that’s not trying to be faithful to the tone of the show. It’s absolutely bizarre to watch happen and I keep seeing it happen again and again but it’s also kind of delightful?
I’ve said before that I struggled to keep Stede and Ed mad at each other in any fic of their reunion that I write and then I see writers across the fandom also struggle with the same thing even when the momentum of the story is heading towards drawn out angst or darkness or misunderstanding and you see it all just crumble under the weight of Stede being Stede when he’s around Ed, over and over, and this phenomenon is at once vindicating and absolutely delightful to watch.
Hahahahaha yes! I’ve noticed this too! No one can stay mad at the muppet man! His feelings are too plain on him. He is terrible at hiding what he is feeling. Whatever mood he’s projecting is exactly what he is feeling in the moment. Any time he wants something, even something relatively mundane like that petrified orange, his desire is plain and palpable. He’s gonna tell Ed he’s sorry and that he never wants to be away from him ever again, and Ed won’t have any choice but to believe him.
Also, I can’t imagine Ed not burning out on the Kraken bs after any longer than a week or two. My guy is mercurial and gets bored easily. He’s gonna wake up one day and not feel like putting the face paint on and be like “well, guess that’s over….oof, that was weird, wasn’t it? Kinda embarrassing, actually. Maybe if I just act caszh everyone will forget about it,” then find a new heartbreak activity. He did the “wear all my ex’s clothes things while crying and stress-eating” thing, the “I’m gonna completely reinvent myself” thing, the “destroy all my ex’s stuff” thing, the “the world is cruel and hard so I will be crueler and harder” thing, plus a break-up makeover…
Oh no, the only thing left is a rebound relationship. He’s gonna go around kidnapping guys who look like Stede (but in a funny way, probably not a Hell or High Water way (which if anyone isn’t reading that, you’re missing out)) while insisting that “it’s for ransom! You’re crazy, I don’t see it, what are you talking about, he’s nothing like Stede. Oh shit did this one escape too? Ah well, whatever, guys like Stede are a dime a dozen. Nothing special about Stede, was there? I’m sure I’ll find another one.” The real Stede gets back to the Revenge and even Izzy is like “oh thank god.” And Ed tries to be all “why did you come back? I’m totally over you. What? No that’s not a new tattoo. What does it say? None of your business! That’s not what it says, but…oh you’re sorry? Good, you should be. Not that I care. At all. You’ve got freckles now. Huh? Who said that?” and won’t shut up because he knows that as soon as Stede starts talking in earnest, the gig will be up.
Me, tied to a chair and gagged: Hhrmrpgdff, Steemb - sngnmfrb -
Stede Bonnet, feeding my plot notes into a shredder: What was that? I’m afraid I can’t quite hear you.
Me: Mhrbbspf - fn grmf mffgrdnrsrs -
Stede: Oh no, I don’t think so. You’ve had your fun.
Me: Mmhf?
Stede: Now it’s time to talk about our feelings in an environment of emotional honesty, respect and open-mindedness.
Me, struggling: STEEMB. NNHHH.
Stede: STEDE YES.
Hell or High Water, 2016
Drama
Directed by David Mackenzie
Director of Photography: Giles Nuttgens
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The 2017 Oscar nominations have been revealed! In breaking with live-format tradition, the announcement was made this morning via a pre-taped video featuring Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs and past winners Demian Bichir, Dustin Lance Black, Glenn Close, Guillermo del Toro, Marcia Gay Harden, Terrence Howard, Jennifer Hudson, Brie Larson, Jason Reitman, Gabourey Sidibe, and Ken Watanabe, each segment filmed in six cities around the globe.
Damien Chazelle’s musical La La Land leads the pack, as expected, with a record-setting 14 nominations, tying it with Titanic (1997) and All About Eve (1950) for the most in the show’s 89-year history. The awards season favorite also earned acting nods for Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. MoonlightandArrivalfollowed with eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Manchester by the Sea,Hacksaw Ridge, and Lion scored six a piece.
Meryl Streep continues her reign with an unprecedented 20th nomination for Florence Foster Jenkins, beating her own record for the most in Oscar history. Despite being left out of the Best Picture race at the Golden Globes, Hidden Figures secured a spot at the Oscars as did Octavia Spencer for Best Supporting Actress. Snubbed were Taraji P. Henson, Amy Adams, Tom Hanks and Martin Scorsese’s passion project Silence. Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals was also mostly overlooked except for its single nomination for Michael Shannon.
See the full list below and find out who takes home the gold when the 89th Annual Academy Awards — hosted by Jimmy Kimmel for the first time — air live on ABC, February 26th.
BEST PICTURE
“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“Hidden Figures”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight”
BEST ACTOR
Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
Andrew Garfield, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Ryan Gosling, “La La Land,”
Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”
BEST ACTRESS
Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”
Ruth Negga, “Loving”
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”
Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”
Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water”
Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea”
Dev Patel, “Lion”
Michael Shannon, “Nocturnal Animals”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Viola Davis, “Fences”
Naomie Harris, “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman, “Lion”
Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures”
Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”
BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”
Mel Gibson, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”
Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”
Denis Villeneuve, “Arrival”
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Moana”
“My Life as a Zucchini”
“The Red Turtle”
“Zootopia”
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
“Blind Vaysha”
“Borrowed Time”
“Pear Cider and Cigarettes”
“Pearl”
“Piper”
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hidden Figures”
“Lion”
“Moonlight”
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“20th Century Women”
“Hell or High Water”
“La La Land”
“The Lobster”
“Manchester by the Sea”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Arrival”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Moonlight”
“Silence”
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“13th”
“Fire at Sea”
“I Am Not Your Negro”
“Life, Animated”
“O.J.: Made in America”
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“4.1 Miles”
“Extremist”
“Joe’s Violin”
“Watani: My Homeland”
“The White Helmets”
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
“Ennemis Interieurs”
“La Femme et le TGV”
“Silent Nights”
“Sing”
“Timecode”
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“A Man Called Ove”
“Land of Mine”
“Tanna”
“The Salesman”
“Toni Erdmann”
BEST FILM EDITING
“Arrival”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“La La Land”
“Moonlight”
BEST SOUND EDITING
“Arrival”
“Deep Water Horizon”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“La La Land”
“Sully”
BEST SOUND MIXING
“Arrival”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“La La Land”
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi”
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Arrival”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
“Hail, Caesar!”
“La La Land”
“Passengers”
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“Jackie”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Moonlight”
“Passengers”
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” “La La Land”
“Can’t Stop the Feeling!,” “Trolls”
“City of Stars,” “La La Land”
“The Empty Chair,” “Jim: The James Foley Story”
“How Far I’ll Go,” “Moana”
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
“A Man Called Ove”
“Star Trek Beyond”
“Suicide Squad”
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“Allied”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
“Florence Foster Jenkins”
“Jackie”
“La La Land”
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
“Deepwater Horizon”
“Doctor Strange”
“Jungle Book”
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
