okay i love the emotionally stupid gay men as much as the next guy (clearly) but man it was actually so refreshing to hear, explicitly in repeatable words!, that a character loves the other romantically and undeniably.

like, i get whats happening when characters dont say it in words, right? its been the way of doing things for years for reasons, but nowadays its mainly 'the character hasnt realized how they feel yet' or 'theyre in denial of how they feel' or 'they cant find it in them to say it out loud yet' and hey, those are all fine! theyre so super fun and add to the drama and story

but holy shit to actually hear stede be like 'the man i love is ed' (paraphrasing) like got damn and in the first season too??

just. what an absolute treat. didnt realize i wanted that until i got it. thank you.