emily’s 1k followers celebration
➥ @engli-i-ish asked: 💌 the rowboat & horse scene (+ lucius’ reaction)Okay, kudos to the gifmaker for highlighting Swede’s and Lucius’s reactions.
And I’m really glad we got the reactions from those two of the abuse & bullying Stede got. Why?
Because Swede, Lucius, and Stede are all from different class backgrounds, but there is shared horror and revulsion at what was done.
Let me pull back a little.
Stede as we all know is from a wealthy family. How wealthy? We don’t know, but wealthy enough to build a custom boat, pay his crew a SALARY, and have a FUCKTON of silk & clothes. He can even afford to put some of those clothes to arts and crafts. Sure, some of it is solely for the joke, its a romcom, but given the writers use a SCRAP of silk to show incomprehensible wealth, that Stede has a bunch? No joke.
Lucius is PROBABLY not from a nearly as wealthy family. That said, he has no issues figuring out some of the finer outfits, and most importantly? He can write. Back in 1700s-ish Europe, writing was mainly for merchants and upper class. (Jews as well due to cultural stuff but that hasn’t really been dived into. Yet. Who knows what future seasons bring!)
Not only can Lucius write, but the show actually makes a point that he’s the only one in the crew who CAN. The next closest is Frenchie who TRIES for Stede, but is still learning so mainly sticks to pictures.
I’d argue Lucius is probably from a merchant family due to his ability to write on the fly, his ease at carrying a huge book while inspecting things, and how easily he can talk to folks of MULTIPLE backgrounds (important for sales).
And Swede? Well sadly we don’t know much about him but given his lack of writing knowledge, his confusion regarding upper class things, and gangly appearance, he’s likely from a lower class background. (Not gonna fault him for not knowing oranges prevent scurvy. He’s from Sweden! Oranges don’t grow up there! Closest fruit in vitamin c content he’d know of are lingonberries!)
Now back to the giffed scene which is not long after the mutiny discussion. Swede and Lucius may not GET Stede’s fascination with fine silks, or what fork to use or some of his other rich background quirks. He may not be a great pirate captain and still doesn’t understand some of the harsh realities of having no money.
But they are HORRIFIED by this bullying. It disgusts them. Maybe it mimics their own experiences. And despite class differences, despite the difficulties in communication that happen, they can all agree: that level is cruelty is NOT okay.
