Everything Is New And Everything Is You

Probably my favourite murder display, tbh. He should have taken Kade Prurnell down, too.

Updated this because I wanna road trip to South Dakota and make it a reality honestly.

You just know he went home that day and threw himself on his fainting couch and wept; astonished that his imprisoned bestie didn't accept the other half of his Best Friends necklace

common fanfic tropes and plot lines our flag means death has already done for stede and ed

hurt/comfort

sexy stabbing

fever dream

clothes swapping

role swapping

lame ass boyfriend hyping

repressed/violent/victim of trauma man viewing himself as a monster

jealousy over past friend/ex

people thinking they’re already together/‘noises mistaken as sex’ trope

mutual pining

homoerotic sword fighting in general

sharing clothes (the robe, your honor)

dress-up for formal event

mutually-beneficial arrangement trope

helping each other dress/fixing someone’s outfit

moonlit emotional scenes

cleaning food off someone’s face (beard)

leaning into someone’s touch

leaving/coming back trope

everyone Knowing™ before they do

waiting for hurt party party to wake up/watching over unconscious party

shows + movies that let their characters break down in a visible and ugly and realistic way are the best thing in the world… nothing sucks more than a piece of media that’s so dedicated to having its characters remain Cool that it won’t allow them to show real devastation and emotion outside of Badass Anger and Manly Single Tear

does anyone here know how to consume a peice of media without it consuming your entire existence? asking for a friend.

there needs to be more fic that plays with how ed is a stone cold genius and good at everything and that's part of why he's so fucking bored.

his response to stede saying he could open a restaurant says it all.

"probably could. maybe i will. i can do anything."

and he can!!!

when stede's like OH COME ON at ed demurring and then suddenly playing the piano! bcs oh ofc he can also play piano! (he has a harpsichord AND a lute AND an accordion in his room on the queen anne! consider: ed lowkey a musical prodigy)

when izzy gets frustrated in the art of fuckery and exclaims that ed just knows everything about everything in the whole fucking world! he thinks ed's a know-it-all because ed's so damn effortlessly good at everything! (his smug look at izzy when he's about to explain the fog and whatnot in 1x04!)

he asks stede how to "win this interaction" at the french party because that's what ed does. all he does is WIN WIN WIN. and that in turn is part of why it's so devastating to him when he's mocked. not just the trauma he's carrying around about class and self-worth, but also because it's probably the first time ed has failed at anything in a very long time!

a lot of au fic especially focuses in hard on the fact that ed admires and longs for stede's ability to express himself through things like fashion and to luxuriate and pamper himself and has felt barred from this by class distinctions and performing a particular kind of masculinity. but in the course of it, they entirely lose that ed is legendarily famous, wildly successful, and extremely rich!

while stede obviously holds various structural privileges over ed, in the immediate world that they inhabit ed is the one with the power and the clout and his interest in stede is what's considered a weird foible, ed taking a pet, etc.

stede has own way of doing things and money. ed has notoriety, skill, respect AND his own way of doing things and money.

he's bored and depressed BECAUSE he has it all and has done it all. if you strip that away then the entire point of his character flies right by.

Rubs grease paint all over your fine linens.

Portraits Commissioned from The Widow Bonnet