I’m feeling strong feelings and I’m going to try to put them into words.
You know this
This is real. It’s not just “we are not ready to say the word love”. They are friends! They are friends in a way they probably never experienced before. Are they also falling in love? Yes. But friend is not just a placeholder word. There is love in friendship just like there is love in a parent child relationship, and it can be strong and deep and life shattering (in a good way) just the same as romantic love can.
Also this
We see from the reaction of Calico Jack that it’s not a neutral phrase. I don’t think he would have been more confused and upset if Ed just shouted “I love him!”. Friendship is revolutionary in this environment because it’s not normal. Friendship is revolutionary because it implies vulnerability and openness and in this framework it is something you just don’t do. So, you know, i have as much fun as the next person reading all the “Wait, but if Stede didn’t know he was in love until ep 10 how did he justify to himself [blank]” but I also find it mildly infuriating, because YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE IN LOVE TO FEEL LOVE FOR ANOTHER PERSON!
Are you telling me that you NEVER felt that overwhelming feeling of warmth and care and happiness for your friends? You never experienced moments when you think “my life would not be the same if you weren’t in it”? Telling friends the scary stuff about yourself and having them embrace it and not leaving? Basking in the way they perceive you, feeling healed by their love?
Because I am not IN LOVE with my friends, but I do LOVE them a lot.
And I love the way the show actually takes friendship seriously.
LOVE character regression. love when characters get hurt and revert to their old ways as a way to deflect, cope, and recuperate. love when they get scared to make a difficult decision. love when it takes time and effort. it’s going to be worth so much more when they get better.
So i did this OFMD quick fan art after the first time i watched it. Im in LOVE with this show, i honnestly think it was the perfect show for me! Pirates, gays, lots of queers, cool bad ass enby, colonial guys being killed, all of that in a romantic comedy!
Also dont burn me XD i forgot black beards tattoo at the time…
But what do you do Thomas, thats lefd you so wanting for a thrill that you need to spy thru a thiket of chiken scradch on the spelling atrossittys of strangers? Is Royal James a royal bore?
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In which Stede and Ed are stuck ashore, and accidentally become pen pals. You’ve Got Ye Olde Maile!
