#i think Izzy and Ed wouldn't tho

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

Not to keep harping on this but I accidentally saw a post that pissed me off a little bit so I'm gonna talk about it. Originally I was gonna put this at the end of the post but I've decided to move it to the top because I know some people are determined to take me out of context so I'll sacrifice the formatting of this post and some of the impact of this sentence in a vain hope that my point will not be misconstrued. I fully anticipate people skipping over this first paragraph anyway but at least I did my due diligence. You can like Izzy, I like Lestat (AMC IWTV), I like the Joker, It's fine to have an evil blorbo. It's the apologia that gets me tho. You're fake villain fuckers and you can't admit that your blorbo is fucked up in some deeply uncomfortable ways.

That said on to my angry meta: Either Izzy is homophobic, or he's an abuser. He could be both, but he can't be neither otherwise the literal climax of the first season doesn't make any fucking sense. Like he calls in a swat on Stede and the crew because Stede has, quote, "done something to his boss's brain" and he wants Stede dead because of it. homosexuality as a corrupting influence is textbook homophobia. He thinks Stede has made Ed soft and he thinks he's using his limp wristed wiles to do it.

If you don't want to read it as homophobia (which would be a weird reading because it fails to explain that line and misses the whole message about toxic masculinity, but I've heard it's the reading that some people go with so, let's look at it) and you think that he's doing all of this because he's in love with Ed and he's jealous, I hate to tell you but that brings us back around to the abuser reading.

Like, the reading that this subset of the fandom seems to want me to believe is Izzy is in tragic gay love with Ed. But that doesn't make a single damn thing that he did ok. In fact it kind of makes it worse. Like trying to kill the loved ones of your beloved is text book abuser behavior. You're telling me that Izzy feels so entitled to Ed that he cannot take "Fuck off you're banished from the ship" For an answer, and he has to kill the guy that he blames for turning Ed against him? And I'm supposed to sympathize with that? Get real. That's text book abuser behavior. If that's the reading, then Izzy can't handle Ed having someone in his life that isn't Izzy, he can't handle Ed making decisions that Izzy doesn't approve of, and he can't handle Ed breaking off their relationship (which was Izzy's fault by the way he agreed to duel Stede sorry you can't handle the consequences honey). Those first two things you have to be able to handle if you want to have friends or even professional relationships, and the third thing is something that you're allowed to be upset about but that you're gonna have to move on from. Instead Izzy comes up with a hair brained scheme that risks the crews lives, Calico Jack's life, and, most importantly, risks Ed's life in order to... what? Undermine Ed's own autonomous choice to pursue a relationship with Stede? Get rid of a guy that he thinks is driving him and Ed apart so that Ed will maybe take him back? That's abuser shit my guy.

If there's another explanation for Izzy calling the fucking cops I'd love to hear it but as far as I can tell the options are "He hates Stede because Stede is frilly and camp and thinks Stede is making Ed weak" aka Textbook hate crime and "He's in deeply dysfunctional love and is therefore trying to force Ed to be in a relationship with him despite the fact that Ed has made it clear he doesn't want that" aka Textbook abuser.

To be clear I wouldn't have Izzy any other way. The roll he plays in the narrative is important to the story. I don't like him, per se, but I like stories about overcoming toxic masculinity, and those stories have to have a villain, and I was deeply emotionally ruined by the consequences of his actions, (i.e. the domino effect that caused Stede to abandon Ed on the dock) so I want him around for as long as they decide to keep him around. Just, like, fucking pretending he's never done anything wrong ever? Come on now.

[jellybeanium124]

yknow the last time stede and izzy talked to each other izzy was trying to kill him. and the last time they were in the same place together izzy was trying to kill him. I wouldn't be too keen to talk to izzy if I was him either.

you think those experiences tho maybe gave stede the clues to suspect izzy was involved in the krakening? he also has two more clues: he's seen ed's response to being upset (hiding and crying), and izzy said that what happened was both their faults.

part of me does want stede to be shocked by the truth. I think that would get a lot of good emotions from him and interesting character moments. but I also think it would be extremely cool if stede figured it out and freaked izzy out by being almost ed-like in his deductions. how horrible would it be for izzy to see stede prove he knows both of them well and has similarities to ed?

[blue-b-bro]

I don't think Ed would abuse Stede

I don't know why it's so controversial to talk about Ed's tendencies towards abuse. Like, it's nothing new, that people often copy their parents behavior. It's sad, yes, but also good choice to write him like that, because it's more realistic. We also know he was surrounded by violence his whole life and so has rather skewed perception of what is "going too far". Add emotional detachment or compartmentalization as coping mechanizm and we have a really interesting, well crafted character to work with.

I'm not saying he's going to mutilate his every partner or that Izzy was so bad, that's why he had it so bad. I'd say Izzy's case was really extreme. It was a mix of Ed's mental breakdown, suicidal tendencies and Izzy's lack of resistance (I'm not blaming Izzy, they're both just messed up). Ed literally wanted Izzy to kill him, so it's no surprise he started to act like the worst monster he could imagine - his father. Not even sure he was conscious of his reasoning.

Ed has showed many times that he react to being hurt or stressed by violence or throwing stuff. Judging from Izzy's reaction to being punched in e9 it's nothing new. They're pirates, they fight from time to time, that's how it usually works. So Ed being violent isn't making him the worst human being suddenly.

I'd say Ed got his explosive emotional reactions from home and violence from his life experience, toxic masculinity etc. It's no surprise his auto destructive spiral became everyone else's problem.

So, if Ed won't spiral so bad as in s2, I wouldn't be worried about Stede's toes. Additionally Stede's outsider status encourages Ed to try to act differently. There's also that pressure in the back of his head, that he has to be soft to be with Stede, and realistically it wouldn't just disappear overnight. So there's that to unpack.

On Stede's part - he had, surprisingly, similar experiences: he was the target of violence and felt he need to kill to be respected, to participate in the violence he so desperately wants to run away from. The difference is that Stede internalizes his emotions. Stede would rather run away, hide or freeze, than fight in stressful situations. He only fights to protect.

Stede is rather fine with dealing with Ed's emotions: he knows that under the aggression is actually hurt or shame. It's Ed who has to learn about Stede now, because, as we saw, Stede still didn't say much about himself, other that he regrets a lot of things. We know, that in situation of danger Stede would protect Ed even for the cost of his mental state, but what would happen if Stede was stressed/scared/upset without Ed in danger? Would Ed notice? Would Stede let him? Ok, silly me, we know from s2e6 he wouldn't. Stede wants to give Ed everything, would gladly destroy himself for him, but won't let him inside. Scared, still scared Ed wouldn't want the real him.

So they have to unpack those insecurities and I have no idea if it would end in calm conversation or another disaster, really. But Ed probably wouldn't hurt Stede, he doesn't want to show his "evil" side to him (he may destroy some furniture from frustration tho). He would probably run away again. We saw in e7, when the conversation started to turn into a fight Ed quickly backed off. He would rather go away than to show that part of him to Stede. Just as Stede won't let Ed see him panicked and having a meltdown.

[izzyshand]

hey, uh weird question, but I saw u reblog that thing about Izzy with that whip once and you said in the tags that you had sad headcanons about it 👀please share. For the canyon

* referencing this post btw.

hey ! it's not a weird question, honestly i'm flattered that anyone wants to hear my silly little opinions. so thank you for asking ! disclaimer that these are just my own personal thoughts regarding izzy's whip that he carries on his hip during the kraken era. they're all informed by (& i think consistent with) canon, but i do pull a lot of backstory out of thin air just for funsies.

first, we should note that flogging-as-punishment was more common aboard navy vessels than pirate ships during the age of piracy, though certainly not unheard of for pirates as well. we should also bear in mind that ed doesn't have any flogging scars, whereas izzy seems to have many. it is my personal headcanon that izzy was in the navy previously, & thus he likely earned lashings while in the navy, whereas ed did not.

& we could simply end there. or if you're me, you could look at the apparent several different layers of scarring on izzy's back, implying multiple separate floggings, & decide to make it Much Worse for fun !

one of the few pirates who does seem likely within the canon to dole out floggings as punishment was the notoriously cruel hornigold, who we know ed sailed with after joining piracy. we know that calico jack sailed with them as well (we don't see his back so we don't know if he has flogging scars), & i personally think that izzy must have sailed with them as well after deserting the navy in order to make the timeline of his sailing with ed for >20 years make sense.

considering that this puts them all in an environment where flogging was likely on the table, this makes it all the more compelling that ed's back is lash-free. especially given that i really don't see ed as the kind of person to never rebel, never once get into trouble (even while under calico jack's influence), never do a thing that warranted punishment from hornigold. however, given his trauma & hallucination-hornigold's behavior in the gravy basket, i think it's very possible that ed simply suffered other, more "creative" punishments under hornigold. & to that end, given ed's clear discomfort with violence, inflicting violence, especially on someone he was close to, would be a punishment in itself for ed.

what's more is that if we allow that perhaps ed was a gifted sailor & pirate who eventually excelled enough be appointed hornigold's quartermaster/first mate, it would then become part of ed's duties to dole out the punishments — including floggings. & at this point i think that you can see where i'm going with this.

in my mind, one of the reasons for the discrepancy in their flogging scars could be because izzy "took" ed's flogging punishments under hornigold's orders. while ed was the one holding the whip, it was absolutely meant to be punishment for both of them, with the dual purpose of punishment & helping to make ed "toughen up."

but what hornigold likely didn't know is that izzy is a masochist who actually likes the pain. & izzy is also an "if i can't be useful who am i" ass bitch who sees taking a flogging from & for ed as an act of service, & the responsibility of being the one to take on pain for him as a kind of intimacy. he's a fucked up lil guy who processed it in a fucked up way, & he didn't hate it all nearly as much as ed did, even tho he was the one that ended up bleeding.

which means that once they broke off from hornigold & ed became captain & izzy became his quartermaster/first mate, the floggings would have likely stopped. because of course they did, because ed hated them. & actually, it would become izzy's job to dole out punishments to a disobedient crew member. but the thing is that if ed didn't order a flogging (which he wouldn't, because he hated them), then i just don't think izzy would willingly dole them out.

this could be a whole separate post (which i'm sure others have already made better than i could), but i don't think izzy enjoys handing out physical violence. we see him engage in physical violence only when he feels it necessary, & prefers, like ed, to hide behind the threat of violence wherever possible. in s1 we see him threatening violence, & delegating violence to fang & ivan, & even using the powers of the navy to apply violence (which he argues as being "a humane way of ending things" for stede). but aside from the duel with stede & one light smack to black pete's head which doesn't appear to hurt & is played for laughs, he does nothing to personally harm anyone in s1 — an important distinction i think for someone whose last name is literally hands. & i'm firmly in the camp of thought that izzy is not a sadist, does not particularly enjoy inflicting violence, & does not want to be the person holding the whip. he would do it, if ed ordered it of him. but ed doesn't, so he doesn't.

so then we get to the referenced post & what is, to me, the ultimate question here : why then is izzy wearing the flogger during the kraken era, given that it was nowhere to be seen in s1 & does not stay after the kraken is gone? why does it come back out during the kraken era if izzy doesn't use it?

well, this could be many things. some people have pitched that ed started using it on izzy himself, but i'm not personally feeling that. ed doesn't like to hurt izzy, he only does it when he feels trapped or pushed into it, & flogging izzy would have been a traumatic thing for him to endure while on hornigold's ship. instead, i think that making izzy carry the whip is a way of ed calling out izzy's "weakness." in 1.10, izzy essentially called ed weak ("namby pamby"). in izzy's mind this meant that ed is no longer capable of inspiring fear & obedience in the crew, & thus incapable of keeping them safe. but what ed heard was "you are being too openly emotional &, crucially, not violent enough."

but ed is one of the only people that knows that izzy has a similar aversion to violence as he does. so ed making izzy carry the whip (which, i'm compelled to repeat, it would be izzy's duty as first mate to hand out punishments, including floggings) is like a constant reminder to izzy that he could use it on the crew, it's even his duty to use it on the crew. yet he won't. it's ed saying if i'm weak, then so are you. it's ed saying you want to be this? then be it, & making him confront the fact that he won't. it's ed daring izzy to do what he did, what izzy is now telling him to do again, & izzy failing to rise to his challenge. it's ed making izzy carry around a reminder of the simple fact that if ed is weak, then izzy is weak too.

the spectre of blackbeard, which izzy says was the both of them, was essentially a blanket threat of violence they used to protect themselves. & if you accept my backstory & headcanons for them, then when framed against the floggings that ed was forced to deliver unto izzy in their youth, we can see blackbeard as a through-line not only for the floggings of the past but for violence & piracy itself — something that izzy doesn't particularly like any more than ed does, but clings to out of fear long after ed was ready to be rid of it all.

[areyoudoingthis]

I've been trying to figure out why I had such an easy time accepting izzy's rehabilitation in these past two episodes, when I was still so very upset about it after the first three. and I think it was (duh, of course) due to the lovely job ofmd did portraying the journey from where the characters were (a terrible place, most of them) to where they're going (healing, safety, community), even tho it they have only half an hour per episode and a bunch of them to follow around.

they showed us they all essentially went through similar things: the discomfort of not fitting right back in with your loved ones (the headbutt, ed's anger, the crew scrubbing at the nonexistent blood stains, izzy hobbling around), the distress of not knowing who you are or where you fit now (wearing a scratchy sack and a bell, ending up in an armed standoff with your friends, drinking and yelling at an inanimate mythical animal, not feeling like you're captain on your own ship), and then the coming together with your loved ones to engage in some deep, soul cleansing healing (making a leg for izzy, laughing with the mops, inventing new food, crying at the note and accepting the role as ship's figurehead, whittling a small shark as a gift for someone going through a hard time, proposing to your boyfriend, fishing with fang and apologizing honestly and without hesitation, sacrificing something you love for the wellbeing of your crazy, superstitious family and being embraced and respected by them.)

it didn't matter what they'd been through or the ways in which they hurt each other, because they all missed the good old days on stede's revenge, and they all wanted to get to a better, happier place as soon as possible, apologies welcome but not required (the one "required" apology was entirely ridiculous and played off as a joke for that very reason, because you can't demand apologies, you work on fixing your relationships at the pace the people involved can, you can't set timelines and deadlines for it.) and for once instead of standing out like a sore thumb, izzy got swept into the environment of kindness and healing that reigns on stede's ship, and it felt natural.

it also definitely has to do with the fact that they very smartly kept him and ed apart while all of this was happening, proving that they understand that some situations are heavier and dealing with them can't be rushed. if they'd had izzy apologize to ed straight away it wouldn't have worked, just like ed wasn't ready to hear I love you from stede and throwing him overboard didn't fix lucius, I think it wouldn't have helped and it might have made things worse. I do still think ed would benefit from hearing izzy acknowledge that he fucked up, to reinforce what he told himself via mr latch "it's not your fault you're broken. you didn't break you. just trying to do your job, weren't you?", as he's departing from the blackbeard persona and figuring out who he wants to be now that's he's allowed to have softness again. I think it would also be interesting to see how that acknowledgment impacts izzy's own growth away from his obsession with being blackbeard's right hand man, and where they land after that, if anywhere (I'm still not sure that relationship can be rebuilt, but sometimes an apology isn't about that, it's about moving on in a healthier direction.)

[three--rings]

Me, with Max open, hitting refresh: SHOW SHOW SHOW SHOW

Spoiler reaction to 2x04 below

Hi I'm back after having seen it and OMG OMG. Hi, they came for us. They came to kill us all. I'm in pieces. Somehow all of that is a good thing. Raise your hand who else is deceased.

Buttons, BUTTTONS, we're getting Buttons info? Oh, just a tease.

God god there's so much happening.

"First time I've been on this side of a walk of shame" Wee John I fucking love you.

Ed my heart, sigh. I get it, of course anger is the easy way to go with this. "You're not a fucking mermaid." Literally the funniest thing he could have said somehow.

Buttons, you really should have separated those two sentences. "Walk with me so I can explain." Cool you sound wise. "I'm hunting for a vessel so I can turn into a bird." And...you've ruined it.

For real tho the way this show manages to be so funny while still giving us the serious story is wild.

He's fucking quoting the song my god.

The bunny scene. The glove covering the spider. And I KNEW the bunny wasn't lasting long and wouldn't be a thing. I KNEW it. I hope the fandom doesn't more poor Stede Bunnet too badly.

So is that the canonical explanation for Buttons? He visited the gravy basket too many times and his grip on reality is permanently loose? Like someone who has done way too much LSD?

I should watch this show at more than 30 second intervals but there's too much to talk about.

I love them so much I love this whole scene with Anne and Mary omg. (I still hate Anne's corset with the fire of a thousand suns for looking like every mass-produced shitty steampunk corset of 2012 but)

Do whatever you want you're good at that. I love them.

Them sitting on a fucking couch together "can we not do this now?" I'm LIVING.

WTF WTF is going on with Anne and Mary.

I was WONDERING why Roach's cake looked like a wedding cake. It was for traumatic reasons.

"Artsy outsider was always your type." OH REALLY SAY MORE.

Disappointed Anne and Stede weren't caught by Ed and Mary but okay.

Izzy...izzy...izzy. I wish we could have seen him drunkenly fighting the unicorn.

We all wondered what would make Ed break that chair....yeah finding out Stede went back to Mary would do it...

I can't I can't you guys I'm dead. I'm dead and gone and we're never recovering from this,,

But how fucking honest and open ED was in this conversation. " I was all in." like I love them so much.

Why didn't we get a toxic lesbian kiss, huh? I feel robbed.

Izzy...Con fuck you very much. That's all.

Okay okay, fucking Stede being like "hey you wanna uh spendthenightwithme" and Ed "Yes".

And then Buttons is (maybe) a bird now? Good for him, good for him. You gotta change to love them right. Yeah I see you.

Then running off through the trees together giddy. I can't. Didn't think we would get this.

"The new unicorn" okay. gonna need someone to explain this to me with meta.

That ep omg like perfection? like why are they being so nice to us? I can't.

So...Ed and Stede...did they...uh...?? If they leave it ambiguous in the next ep am I maybe gonna write it? maaybe.

[jaskierx]

This is probably gonna be quite incoherent so bear with me lol. I see that your askbox has become a place to rant (and this one isn’t even gonna be about izzy!! But I need to get my thoughts out somewhere!! Sorry in advance!!)

Anyway it’s been a relief to see other people in the fandom whose least favourite episode this season was ep 6. I always felt almost?? Mean for not liking it as much as everyone else seems to?? (and it’s not even that I dislike it!! It’s just my least favourite!) cause I feel like there was just too much going on for a single episode, everything went by too fast.

Anyway this isn’t about that it’s about ep 7 which most people seem to dislike. And I understand where people are coming from when they say that, I didn’t like it very much the first time I saw it! but after rewatching it yesterday for the first time since it aired I actually gained a lot of appreciation for it! I love the start and getting to see Stede and Ed be all domestic together!! (I’m a sucker for that shit) And I actually really love their fight too, just cause it shows us how much Stede understands Ed! He immediately notices that Ed is panicking and he responds so patiently even after being told that Ed thinks their night together was a mistake. Yes they said some hurtful things to each other but somehow I think that’s the least important part of that scene, at least to me. And it annoyed me when people kept painting Stede as the one in the wrong in their fight!! (Imo neither of them were in the wrong but that’s just personal opinion)

Where was I going with this? Basically I feel kinda alone in not liking ep 6 as much as everyone else and I think ep 7 is kinda under appreciated. Ahdgags I hope that made sense I’m terrible at expressing my thoughts towards media.

Screaming in your askbox cause I don’t wanna get too involved in the fandom myself cause it scares me lol. Thanks for posting good takes tho as always :) it helps me feel a little more sane

no i agree, ep6 is definitely one of my least favourite episodes (covered this a bit in my last ask). i didn't HATE it but it seems to do really well in polls about 'which ep is your favourite' and i just. do not vibe with it in the way that a lot of people do

and i agree that ep7 is underrated and i think that's bc it's objectively not a very feelgood episode and even though djenks had confirmed they'd end up together at the end, when it aired i saw loads of people worrying that they wouldn't get a happy ending at the end of s2, which i think has coloured people's perceptions of it

it's not a bad episode. it's a great episode tbh! we get their breakfast in bed (with twine for flourish) and 'hehe we didn't pay' and stede's newfound fame and his earring and zheng being really cool and frenchie and the gang getting their grift on and everybody's new favourite dearly departed side character steak knife (fly high with the angels king)

the argument itself is also really well written and feels so real (which definitely contributes to why so many people felt some kind of way about it) and manages to cover a bunch of irl relationship issues while still feeling right in the context of them being ye olde pirates - it's a beautiful realistic depiction of poor communication between people who love each other but not themselves and it gave me brainworms so i wrote a meta about it

but yeah overall the Main Event in ep7 is stede and ed arguing and ed leaving, so i get why a lot of people dislike it (or at least like it less than the other episodes) given that from ep3 onwards every episode has a big positive edstede moment (mermaid scene in ep3, 'i love everything about you' in ep4, 'you wear fine things well' and their kiss in ep5, being protective of each other and having sex for the first time in ep6, and obvs two beach kisses and 'i love you. i love you' and moving into their inn in ep8) (i nearly cried writing that out if you were wondering whether or not i'm normal about them)

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

Jim/Olu and Lucius/Izzy for the ship asks

(I like to send one that’s cute and good and one that will fill my mutuals with rage)

jim/olu

do i ship it: fuck yes baby this is actually the first ofmd ship i wrote fic for!!! i have not uh. finished. the fic. but some day i plan to!! anyway yes love these two so so much

why i ship it: LOVE how olu says he's known jim for "over a year" (instead of like, the very ambiguous "years" we get for izzy and ed) so we know they've known each other for less than two years which is not actually a lot of time??? yet they still give this vibe of ride-or-die having each other's backs doing anything for each other besties. genuinely obsessed with the idea of olu, reliable steady and everyone's best friend, stumbling upon this weird quiet knife assassin who comes off really stoic and aloof but they actually just lack social skills, and then the assassin is like "i want to kill your boss's husband" and olu is like "i'll help you with that. i'll help you escape, too. i'll follow you anywhere i'll die for you" and then the two of them just. stick together forever. i also find it hilarious how olu is jim's voice of reason and i also find it so fucking sweet that he's the little spoon. 10/10 ship wouldn't change a thing.

canon potential: i mean they're. literally canon. can't imagine the show permanently breaking them up for any reason. the happy ending of the show is almost definitely gonna include these two being together

fanon interpretation/fandom around it: there is a depressing lack of tealoranges content. like it's to be expected of a canonical side pairing that isn't two skinny white men but there's like nothing. they're always together in the background of fics (also to be expected) but like, i want some more jim/olu centric fics (i do have like one or two in my Marked For Later list on ao3 but i dont have the time to rlly read anything longer than 10k rn fhjghfkj). there's a decent amount of fanart tho but obviously not as much as any of our Main Ships

lucius/izzy

do i ship it: ok so it's not a no. but it's not a very strong yes??? lucius/izzy is kind of the only izzy ship i can tolerate, i guess. im always wary of ships that have izzy x any person of color bc 9 times out of 10 the content is just "person of color decides to spend their time and energy rehabilitating a white man" and the focus is 100% on izzy getting treated nice and like, NO mention of how the character of color feels or why they'd even be interested in izzy in the first place. blackhands is only good when it's izzy crying alone while masturbating sadly. stizzy could be fun if you really dug into the way the two of them fucking hate each other and never actually change that dynamic but nobody does this. steddyhands same as the last one but now with the added bonus of people's racism really jumping out in every fic. and then i guess i could tolerate izzy x any other white character but i'd just be making it up bc he doesn't interact with any of them except lucius. so like by default yeah i guess i kinda ship lucius and izzy.

why i ship it or not: the tension is there the potential is there and it would be so so good for izzy if he realized sub ≠ masculine ≠ top. i think if i could ever manage to write any of the fics ideas i have i would be shoving these two together in the background all the time just so that izzy can be magically fixed by lucius's dick and i can resolve that conflict easy (i don't actually think it's in character for izzy to get topped by lucius once and turn into a like, friendly and likable person, but the idea of it is funny enough that i would write it into a fic if i ever fUCKING WROTE ANY FIC AAAAAAH-). now all that being said. at the end of the day i just don't like izzy enough to have any strong positive feelings abt this ship. i'd be happy seeing izzy become normal but i'd probably be just as happy (if not happier) seeing him get fed to some sharks so like. this one is fine i guess. lucius has established himself as being very emotionally intelligent and also down to talk some sense into other characters so i can see it.

canon potential: the potential is there but idk if they're gonna do it or just keep all of izzy's horny sub energy purely subtextual until he fucking dies the end. bc the tension is fucking real in the "have you ever been sketched?" scene but will they commit to it?? only time will tell. i think if they redeem him it'll probably happen tho.

fanon interpretation/fandom around it: fan content of this one is good actually. art is cute, the fics are cute, i've never seen anyone break lucius up with pete (or fang) to make it happen. i also haven't seen any izzy dom content for this ship which would be the biggest ooc offense of all time so i'm ok with everything i've been exposed to. i mean most of the PWPs have izzy give in really quick once lucius just directly asks him to fuck which seems a little ooc, but it's for PWP oneshots so like i get it they're not dragging this out into a 100k slowburn.

ask me about more ships im bored!

[izzy-b-hands]

Rizzy for the ask game?

Ship It!

1. What made you ship it?

A few things, but I'm just gonna choose a couple at random for this ajdnfjf.

For sure that Izzy isn't used to someone else caring or looking after him much, at least not anymore, and Roach Cares.

Yeah He's Mr. Meat's Meat while tossing around a knife, but he also worries abt the Swede during the scurvy episode (as do I. I'm so sorry Swede bby, the teeth SHOULD go back in) and, adding in that historically pirate cooks/docs usually were in that role due to their own injuries (maybe Roach having to sew his own arm back on?) and as such, for Roach, I figure that means he's probably a bit of a quiet background worrier. Abt the crew and supplies and anything else, but he's not gonna Say Anything and ultimately may let a metaphorical plate fall that he's holding up if fun presents itself (understandable and mood)

That's where they meet: Roach finally breaking and admitting yes he's worried he's Always fucking worried, Izzy! People depend on him, especially since the captain doesn't pay half any attention to food supplies, and that's heavy!

Izzy knows similar worries and pressure as the first mate, and he offers a place for Roach to vent those out instead of burying them. A safe spot to complain abt anything and anyone.

Roach gives Izzy a place too: a place to let his guard down and be looked after a little, in the way ppl do looking after each other (roach keeps coffee ready in the kitchen bc he knows izzy will pop in for more, and that he'll sit and chat and watch roach make lunch and think abt something other than work, at least until he offers to help out-tho that tends to turn into making out and ignoring the food on the counter lmao).

Like. a little den, they can meet and be safe together in, after they tunnel out from the stress of work, to put it like that.

2. Fave Things?

akdnfjgng So Many lol. Each fic I write with them is honestly just me trying to highlight another little bit of the ship that I love like.

One thing I've been trying to write and focus more on is that they can be themselves outside of their roles on the ship when they're together, but that they do have to actively work at that.

Like, yes, Roach loves making and sharing food with Izzy, but he also does want a night out at a nice restaurant. He's also absolutely itching to critique every bit of the meal tho. Izzy takes him out and holds his hand whenever he gets twitchy over the plating, and after insists on laying together and letting Roach nitpick the meal and service. He knows Roach still had fun, this is just the easiest way for him to show it at least for now.

Or for Izzy, how he's used to being Ed's intercom essentially and sending out info and orders and he'll stab whoever he needs to if Ed says jump, but occasionally a day off probably wouldn't be a bad thing. Takes ages for him to get even remotely used to the idea before Roach arranges a day for them to stop at a port and do just. Anything. For at least a few days, so Izzy doesn't get anxious abt wasting time and not 'doing enough.' Reminds him while they lay on the beach together that this is the Point of time away, to relax and not be treated like you would at work.

However, Roach knows that Izzy is like him and can only tear away so far from his work at present, so it turns into something like

Shopping, with them snagging souvenirs for the others in the form of things they actually need bc Izzy has the latest not finished crew shopping list memorized and he Wants to buy them stuff but he can't quite manage it to be something wholly fun and not otherwise useful (which Roach admits isn't the worst thing in the end, and besides that he gets to hang on Izzy's arm and enjoy the show while he argues with a vendor over the authenticity of the materials used in this knife set Jim might like. Jim will know if the knives are crap, damn it!)

3. Unpopular Opinion?

That I ship this at all is at least a little unpopular it seems like lol, but otherwise nothing comes to mindaksnkfgnjg

[but-a-humble-selfshipper]

Rambling time bc I've been watching OFMD so y'know 👍

See I have no fucking idea WHY I did this but I barely wrote anything on L.L. and their time on the ship for some fucking reason. Like I have vague memories now but nothing too clear.

I remember them being friends with Izzy tho. He had a soft spot for them. A dog's dog, if you will.

I originally wrote down that they'd have stayed in the island with the rest in the ending of season 1 but after some thinking I think that wouldn't make sense bc 1) they'd not be participating on the talent show no way. And 2) Ed would find them useful having they're some sort of fucking mystic or something and also have razor sharp teeth to kill.

I don't think they'd have stayed in the ship for long tho I think after a while they'd, fled. Because I mean I did go on to have different hobbies and there's a time skip in the show (although short) so there's that.

I don't know when they'd come back though... I'm only in episode 2 y'know.

They'd be so fucking mad about Izzy's leg tho they're one passive mf here but they'd go full protective mode esp if they find Ed did it they'd go Crazy.

Also. Yeah let's acknowledge the elephant on the room their fucking girlfriend got stolen 😬

I mean having the time that passed I guess it really was like they broke up so it wasn't really cheating. But once they reunite w their blondie it'd be so fucking Awkward.

I don't know if it'd be better if someone else let them know like "hey guys wheres the swede?" and someone being "oh he's Spanish Jackie's husband now" "...what?"

I mean it'd be so thematically fitting...

Then again I have to keep watching to be like ah yes I respect this relationship or Give Me My Gf Back. Le voy a poner polvo pica pica..

Also this is about the past not the future but Buttons actually really enjoys L.L.'s teeth bc they look like his summer ones.

Also L.L. desires him carnally but he's like "I'm sorry lad I'm faithful to tae sea"

Speaking of carnally, Swede and L.L. never actually fucked lol. They had a sweet sort of romance going on but they never got intimate bc the lack of privacy.

Important to say although relatively obvious tho the person who first came into the ship and the one that returned all those years later isn't the same. I mean to begin with they can fucking swim (a little) now so.

[theorderofthetriad]

man, we on tumblr have got to bring back Pacific Rim AUs. I miss that feeling of "oh my god they were drift compatible..."

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

im so sorry to send you this but im confused. i thought izzy hands was obviously homophobic while i was watching the show but now people on the internet are telling me that calling him gay and homophobic is a conspiracy theory. i want to trust my instincts on this as a queer myself but they say it so much i think im starting to believe it. i know literally none of this matters but its genuinely bumming me out. maybe we all just have slightly different definitions of homophobia?

I would love to answer this for you. Your instincts are correct. Izzy is gay and homophobic. You should trust your gut on this because it's important for you be able to identify guys like Izzy irl if you're someone who might be on the receiving end of homophobia.

What happened is that back in June of 2022 everyone fully agreed that Izzy was one of those repressed gay men who's internalized homophobia rotted his soul and became externalized. We wanted to put him in a jar. We all interested in how this weird little freak got this way. Then everything changed when the canyon formed. Since then it has been a mad dash to beat the allegations. Unfortunately an actor has validated them in a way that makes me really wonder about him frankly, because he seems to be operating under the impression that people are saying that Izzy is a "homo sex is sin" Style homophobe when nobody was saying that, what we were saying is that Izzy is incredibly weird about and hateful towards feminine men and he believes that Stede is corrupting Ed with his foppishness, which is still homophobia it's just a different brand of homophobia than the religious right's obsession with the mechanics.

Tbh tho I don't actually care about that actors' take because he's not a writer, he has a history of not being very good at reading the subtext given that he fully didn't realize it was a gay show for half the episodes, and David Jenkins has liked multiple metas on twt about Izzy being a homophobe so I'll trust that lol. The only consequence that Con O'Neill being publically wrong has had for me is that people occasionally do an unearned victory lap when he says something.

But also I low key sometimes feel incredibly unsafe knowing that there's a substantial group of people who claim to be queer and against homophobia but who can't understand that the whole subplot with Lucius in episode 5 and the thing with Ed in episode 10 is laced with bigotry against feminine gay men. I don't think admitting that means you have to think it's his only motivation or that it's contradictory to the read of him being attracted to Ed and Lucius or with the concept that he's mostly just power hungry, but it does sort of mean that I have to move through the world knowing that there are people in my own community who would fully blame me if something happened to me. I don't fucking like it. That's why I get so upset about this so publicly. It's like so what happens if I get attacked but the guy calls me a namby pamby or a bitch instead of a faggot. Are you gonna be like "well we don't know~". It's just an uncomfortable thought. I don't understand why they're so desperate to beat the allegations either, like he's fake. People who have experienced things like what Ed and Lucius went through at his hands are real. The argument that gay people can "do something to (someone)'s brain" is written into legislation trying to ban trans people from public life. Nobody wants you to stop liking Izzy we just want you to stop saying shit that's harmful

And I don't necessarily think that everyone who chooses to put more emphasis on Izzys obsession with Ed wouldn't be able to identify a hate crime, I just have seen more than one piece of meta that goes "Izzys not homophobic he just thinks Stede is a mincing fop who's corrupting Ed with his frilly whiles there's nothing homophobic about that" and I just have to block them for being homophobic themselves because what else do I do with that? When I vague post about this shit I'm talking about specific ass things that I've seen that have made me feel very uncomfortable and unsafe not generic canyon trends. I just really feel like we need to calm down about Izzy. Like you can feel empathy towards a gay guy that hates himself and write a bunch of fic about him getting laid without deciding actually he did nothing wrong and everyone who can see that that's not true is making shit up to oppress *checks notes* people who like a fictional character. I don't get why that's so hard to do.

[jellybeanium124]

I gotta be honest I disagree with the take that Izzy only dresses like that bc Ed has a dress code for his crew. Like even if Ed does have a casual dress code for his crew I think Izzy came like that, all buttoned up in black and leather. what else would his toxic masculinity having ass wear in 1717?? bastard wouldn't touch anything a shade lighter than dark gray with a ten foot pole, and his fabric options are pretty much limited to cotton, linen, and leather (idk about fabrics tho so if someone wants to correct me on this about basic and masculine options he'd have in 1717 please do so). Leather is tough and makes him look tough. Same with black. That's natural Izzywear to me.

[johannestevans]

God my competence kink and specifically my competence kink for effective resource management is so intrinsic to my affection for izzy hands bc he's in an impossible situation on the revenge in that like

he cannot motivate bonnet's crew by offering them shares of spoils, because bonnet pays them a salary. he cannot beat them because bonnet is trying to make piracy "respectable" and keeps trying to say that sort of brutality isn't necessary. he can't motivate them by appealing to their senses of self-respect because they don't have any. they all think he's a joke and treat him like one and YES in the show and in that context he is but fuck like

what I wouldn't give to see like, izzy and ed break up (esp ed faking his death maybe, like stede?) and ed and Stede and the crew sneak up on izzy at whatever he's doing and it's Izzy like. at his best

which, is he a miserable, annoying cunt? absolutely. yes. he's the worst

but he's also running a crew extremely smoothly, especially thinking of him running training drills or something and everything going like clockwork and like, fuckin lucius or something going.

oh he's actually really good?

and ed going, oh, yeah. always was. and he's kind of wistful and also JEALOUS and frustrated at the idea that izzy has moved on and is living a life without Ed in it bc he does want him like he wants stede but Izzy shouldn't just be able to live on without him

but especially the crew having a moment of wait??? izzy can be... correct about stuff? and good at his job? wtf

and esp if it's bc ed is about to ask izzy to come back for a heist or whatever, and izzy takes one look at them and goes

fuck no.

even tho its literally agony. even tho ed is his fucking life even if he thought ed was dead. bc he can't go back To That

because Ed's new life is just great for him - he gets to have feelings and enjoy himself and mess about. but in Bonnet's world, in his version of piracy, Izzy is the butt of every single joke, and he point-blank refuses to go back

esp if the crew are like "well if you lightened up--" and he's like no! this is as light as i get! go fuck yourselves!

[chuplayswithfire]

1, 9, 13, 14, 15, 20 for the ofmd ask game! Sorry if it’s too much 😅

NEVER APOLOGIZE i love these things, getting asked them is NOT a hassle lmao

for the OFMD Ask Meme!

1( Ed x Stede: a slow burn or an arson fire?

I think the timeline has their entire romance take place over the course of a month (though I think the timeline can and would work just as well stretched out over the course of like, at least 3 months, considering it would take about 7 weeks for a sailing vessel in the 1700s to get across the Atlantic) so that's technically an arson fire, considering how hard and fast they hit in love.

But I genuinely consider it a slow burn anyway, and here's the thing: Ed x Stede has the *trappings* of a slow burn, eve if it doesn't actually take that long from them to get to first meeting and falling in love. We get the pining, we get the misunderstandings, we get the separation, we get the friends getting fed up and confronting them over their feelings, we see them become friends and then fall in love from there, we see the way the emotional confessions seem to naturally fall into place...

To me, an arson fire romance is one that feels spectacularly fast and dramatic, often propelled more by plot twists and sudden events than by the characters' own feelings. But everything about Stede x Ed revolves around Stede and Ed meeting, finding instant chemistry, and then sharing their interests, their idiosyncracies, and falling in love together. The fastest, most dramatic thing to happen is their break up, spurred on as much by Chauncey 'Gun to Your Face' Badminton and Izzy 'You Should Die If You Won't Be Miserable With Me' Hands as it is by their own insecurities.

So it's a slow burn, that just happened to have the time of an arson fire.

9( Favorite anachronism?

Honestly it changes by the day, but for today it's the costuming, from Ed's t-shirts to Olu's crocs to Stede's theater teacher turtle neck. It's so much fun. I love that they never once try to justify or address it. It just is.

13( Did Ed really plan to murder Stede when he told Izzy the plan?

No, I fully believe he came up with that plan in the spot. I can't imagine that Ed was thinking this whole time that he was hanging out with Stede that he would kill him and steal his identity - I think that's an idea he put together as a way to explain his interest in Stede without having to get rid of Izzy or let him walk away in a huff because he'd said a dick thing to Ed and felt bad about it.

Plus, in looking back, we the audience know that Ed hasn't personally killed a man and watched the life leave his eyes since he killed his father, and I don't think Ed would have been able to harden his resolve enough to do it to Stede, not after having such a genuine and open time. However:

I do think Ed said it with intent. I don't think he'd been planning it the whole time, but I think a part of him said it because that small and doubting part of him that knows how life works knew that he wouldn't be able to live like this forever, so he was speaking into existence a plan that would let the dream have a natural end point: when Stede has to die.

14( Favorite AU idea?

I answered previously that it's This Tired World Could Change, by gangnamstiles, which is still true (it's my absolutely favorite AU in the fandom thus far), and that I love the vampire and werewolf AUs, but lately I've also been really finding my love for "Ed and Stede Leave and Go To Barbados Together" AUs - there are SO many ways that this could end up being their path, from one or both of them being hurt, to Stede finding Ed and saying he needs to go to his wife and find closure, to Ed going to look for Stede and finding him walking away -

it's just an amazing opportunity to get one of my favorite concepts, Mary and Ed meeting, out into the open. Because Stede NEEDED to go back and get his closure but I love my babygirl Edward 'Dread Pirate Blackbeard' Teach who should never be hurt, and these AUs satisfy both of those desires.

15( What’s your number one wish for season 2 (besides happening at all or couples being reunited)?

Answered here!

20( Favorite plot hole?

Answered over here, because it's still the same answer!

[diamondcitydarlin]

i think that's the best argument any one could make about Lucius. he's got to be alive because it's not as interesting if he isn't

Thank you! And yep, that.

It's not often the case in TV shows or stories that a death would make things less interesting but OFMD is so unlike most of anything else I think it makes sense.

The only other interesting outcome/consequence of his actual death I could think of would be maybe Ivan and/or Fang esp getting upset about it and turning on Ed but...again, who would tell them? The only people who really know what happened are Lucius and Ed himself and I can only imagine Ed would tell them after everything is resolved, he wouldn't risk them turning on him now. Also I'm not convinced it would be enough to get them to turn as they seem to lean whichever way Blackbeard and Izzy are telling them to at the time (more accurately tho I think would be to say they're merciless when Blackbeard and Izzy are forcing them to be, and themselves when they aren't under that pressure)

There is the thing about Black Pete, especially his line about not being able to deal with Lucius' death that might foreshadow him doing something interesting because of it if he somehow found out- but, again, that does not even necessitate Lucius being permanently dead, just Pete believing that he is. Same with Ivan and Fang, really, or ANY of the characters that might use it as motivation for a thing.

It's just way funnier and more in-keeping with the fakeouts in the narrative for Lucius to actually be alive, soaking wet and pissed and I can't see this team wasting that opportunity, or the talent of the actor who plays him (he's clearly a part of the ensemble, I don't see him being taken out this early). Like I said, Lucius has access to SO MUCH dirty laundry and him getting to come back and like, tell Stede what Ed did to him...??? How is him being a corpse at the bottom of the ocean more ideal than that lol

(also I feel WWDITS' fakeout with Colin's death as well as the parallel of being left behind with something red of the other boyfriend's- it all kinda points the same direction, doesn't it?)

also the vagueness of it. We all talk about it as 'Lucius' death' but we don't ever actually hear or see him even die we just don't see him again for the rest of the episode. Ed pushes him off the ship, we don't see him again, Ed tells Izzy he's dead bc he benefits from Izzy believing that, we assume he must be dead but that isn't really established. And it could have been, you know. In fact, had Ed like shot him (it happened to Chancey, so why not?) in the head or something prior to pushing him off the ship that would've been a great way to show how deeply he has fallen back into the Blackbeard persona- or indeed, something even worse.

But they didn't do that? They didn't even confirm his death, just that he's in the ocean now lol. And from there who fucking knows? We're not playing by real life rules here, these are muppet rules, so like literally anything. He gets saved by a pack of friendly dolphins that he then turns against Ed. He holds on to a piece of driftwood for like a week until Stede and the others happen upon him in a dingy. He's been hiding in the hull of the ship the whole time. Spanish Jackie saves him. The English find and maybe arrest him. I could go on for quite some time because...again, there's more potential to him being alive than not. Just imo anyway.