Tumblr decided two Pirates of the Caribbean characters are divorced 

“I cannot BELIEVE how soon you people forgot that jack sparrow is literally canonically gay divorced,” reads the end of a Tumblr post by user everythingispirates. It argues that Pirates of the Caribbean deserve a seat at the table. Our Flag Means Death Black SailsAs an example of pirate media that includes queer representation, see. This post additionally argued that the trio could potentially be a competitor to Superwholock the notorious hybrid. Supernatural-Doctor Who-SherlockTumblr’s early 2010s were ruled over by fandom.

Jack Sparrow was not married to Hector Barbossa, as is the norm. It did seem like there was a romance between Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp and Hector Barbossa, played by Geoffrey Rush. CouldTrue. Even if the reader is not familiar with the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise. While the original post was made on March 31, it wasn’t exactly an April Fool’s joke. It was meant as an inside joke for Pirates of the Caribbean fans on Tumblr.

Image: Disney

However, the internet does not allow for isolation. The joke spread from the initial community and further removed from its original context. This original post accumulated tens of thousands of comments, and before long Pirates of the Caribbean was the most popular topic on Tumblr. Like a sleepy kraken emerging from the depths last week. Pirates of the Caribbean breached the most buzzed about movie list on Tumblr’s official Fandometrics blog. It was number one this week.

“We saw a 1,207% increase in engagements around Pirates of the Caribbean for the week ending on April 4th compared to the week of March 28,” says Tumblr head of editorial Cates Holderness. “Actually, it’s a bigger number than I anticipated.”

It’s not as if Pirates of the Caribbean’s recent surge in popularity was uncalled for. Holderness claims that the film is a frequent guest on her radar. People continue to make animated gifs, draw fan artwork, and create posts about the characters and the history of the movie franchise, even though it was released in 2003.

“A lot of it is Keira Knightley,” Holderness admits. Holderness acknowledges there’s a lot of affection for Jack Sparrow the Scoundrel, but Knightley still holds great influence over Tumblr users. He cites period movies such as Pride and Prejudice. “We’ve seen so many posts from people being like It was watching that I had a queer awakening. Elizabeth Swann is in Pirates of the CaribbeanThis is both hilarious and very nice. I’ve seen so many posts talking about how Pirates of the Caribbean is bisexual eye candy.”

Image: Walt Disney Pictures

Even without explicit LGBTQ representation, the Pirates of the Caribbean series holds a warm, strange place in the hearts of their queer fans. It’s no wonder this nautical series inspired them to do some shipbuilding of their own. What is particularly funny, though, is the choice to make Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa “gay divorced,” which is its own inside joke when it comes to ship dynamics across Tumblr.

Tumblr’s large shipping culture unites many people, especially in the context of shows like Our Flag Means DeathThe site boasts many canonically lesbian characters and relationships. Since the time of Johnlock breadcrumbs and Destiel breadcrumbs representation has advanced a lot. Franchises that feature queer characters are often very popular on Tumblr. Our Flag Means DeathObviously, it is one of them. But series like the vampire comedy How we work in the Shadows and Amazon’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachett’s Good Omens have also commandeered the top of Tumblr’s lists and garnered large fandoms. However, can they really come together to take over Superwholock?

“I don’t know that anything could be the new Superwholock,” Holderness says. “That was a moment in time — and on Tumblr — that was incredibly unique.”