#theyre mythologising themselves
love Ed, love the styling on the guy, it’s all about the masks, facades, finding ways to reveal and conceal features based on how vulnerable he’s willing to be in that moment in his character arc, the first time you “see” him he’s been doing this for so long nobody even remembers what his face looks like, etc. very cool. but also so funny to make a character with this insane self image problem who’s also one of the most mesmerizingly attractive men i’ve ever seen. he’s like an anime boy to me
also the way that ed and his crew are styled in comparison to stede & co where they’re all wearing like completely anachronistic goth leatherman getups for no reason bc it’s telling you, these guys are no longer of (what passes for) the time and place of the story and its real people, they’re myths, they’re styling themselves after blackbeard the concept instead of ed the guy. initially they’re immaterial threats as opposed to supporting players, they’re embodying a level of cartoon badassery that wasn’t real in history and honestly isn’t even real in fiction. and they are doing this by wearing hot topic belts in 1717
