there's a lot of things i love about gentlebeard. but i think what i love the most is how they're completely and unapologetically themselves, right from the get go. one of the first things stede does, after knowing ed all of five minutes, is invite him into a space that he's very proud of and excited about. and what does ed do? he immediately takes interest in it, validating the joy stede was feeling. similarly, ed never has to put up any walls when he's around stede. he's vulnerable with him; he tells him about his father, which i doubt he's told many people, he opens up about trauma and he cries. he's not worried about his reputation as 'blackbeard' around stede, because he knows he doesn't have to be. and this, THIS is what makes them so special in my eyes. they fell in love with each other, flaws, odd habits and all. they fell in love with the true versions of the other. ed fell in love with ALL of stede and stede fell in love with ALL of ed. it's a whole, beautiful, captivating kind of love, which is why it hurt ed all the more when he was abandoned.
