#hurt izzy hands

[sibmakesart]

[ourflagmeanssteddyhands]

today i learned that in the 1700s beauty marks (referred to as mouches) held different meanings based on where they were placed. wearers would put one near the corner of their eye when in love, and one one their cheek to indicate flirtatiousness.

so that COULD mean izzy deliberately erased his ‘taken’ X and redrew it to say ‘available’??

i hate myself.

[captain-flint]

For years, I've followed your every whim, I've managed your increasingly erratic moods, I've massaged this crew when they were worried about your judgment. I did all that because I was honoured to work for the legendary Blackbeard, the most brilliant sailor I had ever met. But now, you're just an insane unpleasant shell of a man who's merely posing as Blackbeard. || Ed, I'm sorry. I've been terrible to you. I fed your darkness, Blackbeard. For years, I egged him on, even though I knew you'd outgrown him, but the truth is... I needed him. Blackbeard, it was us. You and me. But you're good now. You're ready. Izzy, you can't go. You can't leave me. I wanna go. You're surrounded by family, Ed. Just be Ed.

[nadsdraws]

[celluloidbroomcloset]

It's interesting that Izzy is the one who sees Ed's attraction to Stede first. Yes, Izzy is the closest to Ed, and he pays a lot of attention to Ed because that's part of his job. But it's clear from his voiceover at the start of "Art of Fuckery," and what happens with his character subsequently, that he's watching Ed very carefully for signs that he's slipping out of his Blackbeard persona, and more broadly, out of the performative masculinity that Izzy believes is the mark of a real man.

A lot has been said about Izzy's internalized homophobia, but it's a very complicated kind of homophobia - he doesn't fit the trope of the closeted gay man using homophobia to cover his sexuality. Izzy has no apparent problem with homosexuality - as Calico Jack says, it's more or less expected at sea. The form of his homophobia has more to do with gender presentation and sexual roles, not the concept of gay sex or attraction.

The two men on the Revenge he has the most immediate conflicts with are Lucius and Stede. To him, neither of them perform masculinity correctly, and both of them, in their own ways, refuse to participate in the masculine hierarchy he's steeped in.

Izzy's problem clicks for Lucius immediately, because Lucius is an out gay man who has undoubtedly met men like Izzy before. He's not ashamed of his sexuality or his presentation of it, and so he defies the hierarchy by explicitly refusing to participate.

Stede is more complicated because he's not out at all. Izzy calls Stede a "ponce" and a "fop," but neither word would necessarily imply that Stede's gay; being a fop is not equivalent to sexuality (though in "Act of Grace," Izzy's emphasis makes it clear that "twat" is standing in for a much stronger word). It is Stede's presentation of masculinity, his effeminacy, that Izzy finds repellent. Stede's not a "real pirate" (read: a real man). The idea that Ed - the man's pirate and the pirate's man - would be seduced by him upends Izzy's worldview and is something he feels he must put a stop to.

At the start of the "Art of Fuckery," Izzy's realization that Stede has "seduced" Ed is immediately followed by the stabbing scene, which Izzy overhears. I'm still not clear if we're meant to think that Izzy believes they're actually having sex on the deck, but regardless, it confirms the "seduction" for him.

This is the one clear time that we see things filtered through Izzy's perspective, with the episode literally starting with his voiceover. He's horrified by what he hears on deck, and the obvious sexuality connected to it, and he immediately insists that Ed kill Stede.

This is not a subtle show. The stabbing on deck is explicitly sexualized. Not only is Ed being "stabbed" by another man, he's being stabbed by an effeminate man. In Izzy's reading of the world, there are men who penetrate and men who are penetrated, men who dominate and men who are dominated, and those roles are aligned with masculine presentation. It would be fine for Ed to be stabbed by Calico Jack, a properly masculine man who understands the masculine hierarchy, but not by Stede.

Stede defies Izzy's categorizations by quite literally not understanding the role he's supposed to play in the first place. Stede's not humiliated by his shirt being cut off in "A Damned Man"; he says that he quite enjoyed it. Izzy's threats go right over his head in "A Gentleman Pirate" - he can't even remember Izzy's name. It doesn't occur to him to be scared or humiliated. He further upends Izzy's reading by treating Ed kindly. Ed can't bring himself to fulfill his role in the masculine hierarchy by killing (stabbing) Stede, and Stede sits down and offers him gentleness.

Stede throws Izzy's concept of masculinity out of whack by being an effeminate man who penetrates, a fop who seduces a "real man," and whom Ed sees no shame in asking to stab him. He's too fluid for Izzy to get a hold of. He doesn't just not participate in the performance of masculinity that Izzy wants from him; he doesn't even know that there's a performance going on.

Later in the episode, it's Izzy who stabs Stede, pinning him to the mast and re-establishing the masculine hierarchy - Stede is the one to be penetrated by a "real pirate." Then Stede just...breaks his sword. He did it on purpose. Izzy is effectively emasculated, but Stede doesn't even know it. He just knows that he "did it right."

What has thrown Izzy off is Stede's lack of participation in the masculine hierarchy. He doesn't know the rules that Izzy has been controlled by, and so he's not "doing it right." Being penetrated isn't inherently shameful. Penetrating isn't inherently about dominating or gaining power over. Stede's face when he stabs Ed is simply one of concern, because he's hurt him. He's not getting a sexual thrill out of harming Ed, and penetration doesn't equal power for him. Stede throws everything Izzy thinks he knows about masculinity overboard simply by existing.

(I think I've got more to say about how this all shifts in Season 2, and why that's so important to Izzy's arc, but I done wrote enough for now.)

[cbsjaneeyre]

love shouldn't hurt like this.

[samuelroukin]

hey don’t think about the fact that izzy literally dying in his arms is pretty much the only time he had ed’s full attention

[morgan-the-lonely-brick]

I have thoughts about the clip and especially about Fang and generally all of the scene so yeah, an analysis-like tangent full of spoilers below cut

Out of the entire crew, I think Fang and Frenchie (especially Fang) are literally the best people to recieve comfort from. It's double true for Izzy.

Not only do they have like. The least invasive and violent trauma out of the crew, but they're both very empathetic and want to help others in distress. Even when that person isn't a particular ray of sunshine... like Izzy.

It also makes sense for Fang to be the main comforter. He knows Izzy. He's known him for a long while. And he's known Blackbeard for a long while too.

Watching him from the beginning of the clip, he seems to be the first one to notice Izzy's not feeling great. Far before the others do!

This is the first we directly see Fang in the clip and yeah he looks surprised that they're throwing loot overboard - as you should be but... even more than that he looks ALARMED. He knows something's up.

After listening to Izzy for a few seconds he is completely sure something's up. He checks in with Frenchie to know if he's seeing it too. We don't know where Frenchie is looking, but I'd assume he reciprocates the look.

Izzy stops mid-sentence. That's not like him. The others will have noticed it too now. Sure enough, here's Jim, thoroughly confused and/or taken aback at least.

Fang protection mode ACTIVATE! His first thought is to ask how Izzy's doing (i am so soft for them oh my god-) and to touch him - reassure him. Ground him.

we then get a "I'm fine, unhand me" which Fang does, to give Izzy some space and checks in again with a "you really don't seem fine". He waits for Izzy's response. He wants to make SURE Izzy's okay, or rather, is patiently waiting for him to admit that he's not.

The others join in saying that they've noticed. They've noticed how destructive his relationship with Ed is. I can't even imagine what's running through Izzy's mind at this moment. Probably like a waterfall of emotion - shame and anger and sadness and everything is too much - he's soon to break. He's trying so hard to hold it back, but he can't. He can't, when the truth is being thrown directly at his face by his own crewmates.

Frenchie comments "he's cut off at least two more of your toes hasn't he?" and Izzy almost flinches at that sentence. He quivers. That's his breaking point. And I. have to stop a bit to look at the implications of this. Form this scene at least, I understood taht when Izzy fails to make the crew follow orders, he gets physically punished. As we heard earlier: "It is your job to f-" *he stops, he shakes slightly* he's thinking about the consequences of them not following his orders - more of his toes cut off. That's horrifying. I'd start crying too, jesus...

Fang knows it's his breaking point and goes back to comfort him - even forcing it a bit on him, because he knows Izzy will struggle, but needs it. God, does he need it. He's always pushing people away, but Fang won't let him this time. He won't let himself be pushed away, because he cares. And he wants to show Izzy that he cares. So he persists.

And after only a few seconds of a very feeble struggle, Izzy accepts it. He's been strong for so long. He's been brave and hurting and isolated and repressed for so. So long. And he needs to let go. And he does. He whimpers. He sounds like a puppy who's been kicked. And he is. He is a puppy. A puppy that's been severely hurt and doesn't WANT to be hurt anymore. (god, i am weak at the knees, someone call the ambulace, i think i'm dying)

Frenchie steps in as secondary comfort to show that Izzy's really not alone in this and that none of them actually hate him. Even if he thinks he deserves it. Not even Stede's former crew hate him. That's what Frenchie represents here - to me. Fang and frenchie together show him that love isn't meant to hurt so much. It's not meant to be like this. And they also ground him in that moment. Izzy looks at Frenchie several times as he whimpers, perhaps checking in - seeing if Frenchie leaves after seeing him weak. But he doesn't. He stayes and he waits for Izzy to be okay and I think that means the world to Izzy. It means the world to me too. Izzy deserves all the comfort by this point.

Also I want to throw Edward overboard.

11/10 i need Izzy to have more hugs

[lyoneve]

Happy valentines day!! Hope yours isn’t as angsty as theirs

Print available!

[bookshelfdreams]

do it. gimme the Izzy straight-coded meta 👀

I feel like I need to preface this by saying that Actually, Izzy Is Straightcoded would be the inflammatory clickbait title I'd give this if it were written to draw traffic & ad revenue to my shitty website. So don't take that term too seriously.

There has been a lot of ink spilled about Izzy thinking he's in a story where one can only be subtextually queer. Some even by yours truly, but the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. What would be the purpose of queercoding Izzy?

In general, villains* aren't queercoded to show that men being attracted to other men is bad. It's often the outcome; but it's not why the trope exists. It exists because cishet people tend to be (and are encouraged to be) profoundly uncomfortable with gender nonconformity, and so, making a character gnc becomes a quick and easy way to make him appear twisted and untrustworthy. If he** can't even obey the fundamental rules of his own gender (rules that are inherent and unchangeable!) what other rules does he disobey?

Or: If a man is insufficiently masculine, he can't be trusted to have morals. The villain isn't gnc because that's an evil trait to have; rather, the gender nonconformity is a symptom of his evilness. Being evil is what enables him to embrace his feminine side, and embracing his feminine side is what others him and marks him as a villain.

This only really works when he's contrasted with a hero (or heroine) who is Doing Gender Correctly. The villain is foul to highlight how good the hero is. The Hero will be honest and straightforward, brave, physically powerful; the Queercoded Villain treacherous, cowardly, and physically weak. The hero is a Proper Man, a Good Person. The villain an Improper Man, and therefore, a Bad Person.

Of course ofmd fundamentally rejects this. The shorthand wouldn't work, because ofmd simply doesn't think effeminacy is creepy. It's uninterested in moralizing self-expression; it just lets people be how they are. There's a wide range of expressions of masculinity on this show, and none of it is inherently bad. People are allowed to be hypermasculine, flamboyant, and anything inbetween, can express their gender in whatever manner they want, and it's all fine - as long as they are authentic about it. Be however you are, but be yourself, and this is what Izzy fails at. The repression marks him as a villain. The strict adherence to what he thinks a Real Man Pirate ought to be like. He's very preoccupied with enforcing a traditional (and toxic) masculinity on himself and others. It's no coincidence the characters he antagonizes the most - Stede and Lucius - are also the most effeminate ones. And I know, I know anglophones have a much more casual relationship to twat and cunt, those don't nearly feel as uncomfortable for y'all as they do for me, so I don't want to assign too much significance here, but he is the only character who constantly uses this kind of language, and also the one who uses the most gender&sexuality based slurs (as far as I remember).

All of this while being clearly, obviously queer himself! I do not feel like I need to explain this; his flustered reaction when Lucius asks him if he's ever been sketched speaks for itself. The fact that he meets Stede and immediately slices his shirt off of him, speaks for itself. And so on.

Izzy isn't straightcoded in the sense that the story wants us to believe he's exclusively attracted to women. Much like a queercoded villain doesn't need to be shown to be attracted to men (and can even be shown to be attracted exclusively to women!) to still be queercoded. He's straightcoded in the sense that he's a stand-in for restrictive and toxic gender roles that society enforces on people. He buys into the idea that there's a way of Doing Gender Wrong, and this is presented as a tragic character flaw. Something he has to overcome to be able to do the thing that actually marks a hero in this show: express himself authentically.

Part of why I found his death so moving is because it enables him to set right the toxicity he spread. His rehabilitation arc was about himself; about finally allowing himself to be, accepting love, accepting community. His death was about taking responsibility. About fully recognizing the hurt he caused. Looking death in the face enables him to finally abandon the last shreds of that toxicity, to apologize and be granted forgiveness. In the end, he was not beyond saving, and the harm he has done will be healed.

*Izzy is introduced as an antagonist to both Stede and the central romance of this romcom. I'm not gonna debate this; if you disagree, fine, but you clearly have such a fundamentally wrong different view of the show that it's pointless for us to try and convince each other.

**of course Queercoded Female Villains exist s well, but they are a whole different can of worms and less relevant to this discussion

[sunnibits]

no bc the fact that we went from THIS ^^^^

to this,,, I feel so fucking nauseous I’m gonna be sick

[sibmakesart]

Loyalty to his captain above all else

[carrymelikeimcute]

If we take the actor's actual ages as canonical there's a 9 year gap between Izzy (57) and Ed (48). Mateo Gallegos, who plays 'young ed' is 17, but was 16 in 2022 when s1 came out.

Which means if Ed went to sea immediately after killing his Dad, and met Izzy right away, that Ed and Izzy met when Ed was 16 and Izzy was 25.

Which would mean Izzy has known Ed for more than half of his life. And Ed has known Izzy his entire adult life.

Imagine you spend 32 YEARS with someone, probably protecting them to start with, then being equals, looking up to them. You watch them turn from a boy into a man into a pirate into a captain - your captain - you kill for him and nearly die with him and you spend every. single. day. together for decades - and then one day he turns to you and says he don't want the life you share anymore. He's bored. He's done. He'd actually rather be DEAD than carry on as you are??

And then bang. He hears about some guy and pursues him and less than like a week later they're living together and you're barely able to get five minutes to talk to him. He doesn't even look at you or listen to you properly. You're losing your boss, your only friend, your family, your home, the person you love and the axis of your existence - all at once. And you never told them what they were to you, so you're to blame but now it's too late. Much too late.

Fuck me, I'd be shattered. Furious.

To add perspective, Stede ran out on his wife and kids. The actress who plays his daughter was 13 in 2022. Meaning, if he and Mary conceived her fairly soon after the wedding (which, as per convention/obligation, they probably did) he's been married to Mary for LESS THAN HALF the time Ed and Izzy have been together.

Stede left a 14-ish year marriage and she only got a letter, but christ she had friends and a house.

Ed side-lined his 'wife' of THREE DECADES and just...sent him off in a rowboat like he was nothing because he challenged Stede to a duel and couldn't just accept how things were now.

When Izzy calls Stede Ed's 'boyfriend' at the end of S1, it feels so aggressive but that's what Stede is - he's an infatuation, a romance, a whim. He's a boyfriend of a few weeks compared to DECADES of complicated, deep dynamics. Ed's pining, but Izzy's so far beyond that for him and watching him mourn the loss of Stede, but not the loss of them must be agonising.

[buukkin]

Aid - 7 pages

The show is allowed to do it any way they want but I just think that Izzy should be supported and prioritized by people that love him that’s all.

[blue-b-bro]

I try to read those calm smart posts about how it was bound to happen. I can't it makes me physically hurt. Maybe it's me. Maybe other people just weren't so attached to all of this and it's me who's freaking out too much about just some show... No seriously I thought I'm fine, but then I tried to read one longer post about how it was always about to happen and was foreshadowed and narratively cohesive and... Am I the crazy one here? For reading the message of this show wrong apparently? Is it really just a me problem that Izzy's arc gave me hope just as Ed's or Stede's? Like... Yeah maybe it was good writing choice to kill him, in many shows it would be, but I don't know many shows that were so focused on healing trauma and growing as a person... Like, it hurts because it was that kind of show I guess

[raggedy-spaceman]

Can we talk about the scars on his back though. Did Hornigold do this? Maybe he was captured by the navy and whipped?

Or maybe it was Ed...