I’m gonna borrow this lovely gif by @stedebonny (you’ll find the complete gifset here) to scream over how well ed picks up on a tiny social cue some viewers haven’t even noticed
I love this so so much and can’t shut up about it!
people often say ed didn’t have the courage to kiss stede when in reality he decidedto back off for stede’s sake
the gif is a bit slower than the original show so here you can clearly see how ed immediately reacts to stede:
they’re standing there in the bright moonlight, staring into each other’s eyes. ed is gathering all his courage, straightening his back, and then takes a step towards stede, clearly intending to kiss that wonderful man who had just given him the most beautiful compliment ed’s ever received, completing this incredibly romantic moment
how does stede react though? he has absolutely NO idea what’s going on and you can clearly see it on his profile: eyebrows raised, mouth open. stede’s clearly confused. he doesn’t realize what situation he is in. after all, no one’s ever shown interest in him like this before
and ed immediately ‘aborts mission‘ the moment he understands that they’re not on the same page, not in the same mood. stede doesn’t step towards ed, doesn’t lean in, nothing. he’s not thereyet. so ed breaks the tension with his little “okay” but still fulfills his own desire to touch stede with a friendly pat on the shoulder - physical touch being his love language as we all know
this scene is basically ed’s italic ‘oh’ moment but while he’s falling hard enough to get a concussion, stede’s falling slowly and softly like a feather, not even realising that what he’s feeling is romantic love for his ‘new best friend Ed‘
just ed being mindful of stede’s feelings in this scene is so fucking beautiful
