#every time i find a fic where stede washes ed's hair it's a 50/50 shot on if it'll be cute or racist

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

Because apparently this needs to be said again:

Jokes that rely entirely on depicting a man of color as dirty, unhygeinic, and unable to care for himself or look after his own personal hygeine are racist as hell. I don't care if you think it's funny that Ed made a comment one time that soap smelled "yummy," that's not a weird thing to say and implying that he doesn't know how to use soap is, again, racist as hell. I'm okay with plotlines where Ed gets to learn about hygeine products he's never had the opportunity to use before (maybe like bath salts or the like), but if you genuinely think he needs someone to help him figure out how to take a bath, there's a problem.

Ed, canonically, hates mess and cares about his personal hygeine. You don't get to have that much beautiful hair and the fluffiest, softest beard in the Caribbean if you don't like hair care at least a bit. In s1e8 Stede specifically knows that Ed getting sand in his beard will upset him. Ed points out that the crew looked "grubby," doesn't allow pets on his ship because they cause mess, is always excited about personal hygeine products (including soap), and whenever his space is messy, that's meant to tell us he's not in a good mental state. Ed is neat, tidy, and always well-groomed - these are not opinions, these are character traits that we are told in the show.

In conclusion: everyone making jokes that center around Ed being dirty and ignorant of personal hygeine owes me and every other fan of color $500.