#izzy hands apologist

[stinkyeggbow]

Sea swallow me,,,

[aithusarosekiller]

[izzyhandslightofmylife]

ofmd really said okay imagine there's this guy that's been desperate for love his entire life and was so convinced that he was destined for tragedy that he actively tried to bring about his own downfall and pain because he was convinced it was all he had. now imagine that there's this guy that got accepted despite the darkness inside of him for the first time in his life and instead of being scorned ended up bringing light to everyone around him. imagine him with a family that he had convinced himself he didn't deserve. got him in your head, this little guy? is he there? do you love him? we're killing him now. sorry

[carrymelikeimcute]

The izcourse continues...

When did people stop saying 'in my opinion'? because lord above would that simple phrase have stopped me getting so mad this morning.

I have no interest in reblogging the posts and starting drama, but some izzy takes I've seen this morning have made me want to chew through rawhide, and here's my opinion on why these 'factual statements' are wrong.

Izzy fans shouldn't be upset by his death because he's not a main character, he is a plot device to further the story of the main characters.

I'm a professional writer btw and to me a 'plot device' character is the barista who's in one scene. To me, if a named character with backstory and complicated interpersonal history with one or more main characters is just 'a plot device' - that's a waste of a character and shitty writing. I don't think ofmd is shittily written so this annoys me on two levels - disrespecting the show, and the character. Because in my view if Izzy is 'just a plot device' that's someone insulting the show.

2. Izzy was an antagonist and antagonists can only ever be redeemed and then die, or become a villain.

Not even true of ofmd and certainly not of media in general, yet stated as fact with nothing to back it up. This is NOT an opinion btw - you only have to look at Zheng and Jackie to know it's not true within the context of the show.

Jackie dobs Stede in to the British just as much as Izzy does, and she threatens them with vengeance again over the indigo - does she die? Does she become a villain? No, she's a guest at the lupete wedding for fuck sake.

Zheng insults Ed and attempts to kill Stede, two things Izzy was vilified for, gosh it was so sad when she died in the finale wasn't it? Oh no wait, she became their ally and sailed away on The Revenge!

'Have to die or become villains' is just...incomprehensible to me. The only way I can see it working in someone's head is if they think character like Jackie and Zheng did nothing wrong, when Izzy was evil, for doing the same things - albeit for more personally passionate reasons.

3. Izzy telling Ed that the ship's atmosphere was poison because of 'his feelings for Stede' was Izzy 'blaming Ed's actions on love again, just like he did in s1.e10 because Izzy is just one-note evil and only ever has that one thing to say.

To me, s1 Izzy is absolutely thrilled to have managed to bait Ed to anger, to have brought this out of him. He thinks he knows what he's just unleashed, but as we soon discover, he has no idea - because Ed had never cut off one of his extremities before. He poked the bear, but the bear was actually a fucking kraken.

s2 Izzy, in my opinion, looking at his expression above, is sad, resigned, he is saying Stede's name (which it's already established even obliquely mentioning him is a BAD IDEA with the whole 'talk it through' thing, after which Izzy sounds panicked) but he is specifically trying to make Ed see that he is not himself - that what he is doing to the crew is toxic.

Just because he's essentially saying 'This isn't you' in both scenes, doesn't mean the tone or the meaning of those scenes is the same. One scene ends with Izzy gleeful, victorious. One ends with him screaming on the deck, bleeding out.

I am happy for people to have these opinions, and for me to vehemently disagree with them, but they ARE opinions. And Izzy 'fans' or you know, people who see the show differently to you, are not stupid, racist, immature or whatever else you want to call us.

We just have a different opinion. If you're going to share your opinion, great! But it's still just your opinion.

[childoftheineffabledivorce]

Look at his face??? The nervous wave????? How am I supposed to live laugh love in these conditions?

[gaypirateslife4me]

Izzy Hands is a trigger-warning in himself:

A devious, (internalized) homophobic, simping, napoleon-complexed lil shitweasel who is also a broken, battered, silver-fox/unicorn worthy of love and redemption.

The duality of man. Or whatever.

[starks-hero]

Noceur (n.) - to find comfort in the dark

Pairing: Izzy Hands x Reader

Summary: You'd reached the genius conclusion that you couldn't have nightmares if you simply didn't sleep. Izzy isn't a fan of your logic.

Word Count: 1.6k

a/n: Stede may be Edward's lighthouse but Izzy is Reader's anchor. Because I'm a sucker for symbolism.

You stood on the quarterdeck, arms crossed carefully over the rail. It wasn't often you experienced nights like this, quiet and peaceful; nights where you could look out over the water and feel certain that nothing was hiding under the waves or lurking in the fog.

The clouds that had rolled in from the east had swallowed up the moon and sent Buttons away in turn. Once he'd disappeared below deck it was just you and the sea. You could hear the waves kissing the hull beneath you, the wind occasionally rippling the sails. Each subtle creek and groan of the ship steadied your mind.

You matched your breathing with the coming and going of the waves, the salt of the sea air filling your lungs. You'd almost mastered it, using the sounds of the ocean and the way of water to ground yourself.

You were so focused, in fact, that you failed to hear the splintering of the deck beneath heavy footsteps until a hand had already reached out and brushed your shoulder.

The stranger may have found your yelp of fear somewhat amusing if it weren't immediately followed by the cocking of a loaded pistol.

You turned and were met by the bemused first mate.

“Fuck, Izzy–” You lowered your weapon. “I told you I'd take the watch tonight.”

"Since when did I take orders from you?" the slight intimidation in his tone was discredited by the fond nudge of his shoulder against your own. He settled beside you, glancing out over the waves. He stood so close that your knees brushed and the floorboards groaned beneath your shared weight. You smiled despite yourself.

Only in the dark would Israel Hands allow himself be so soft. It was an odd sort of honor, you thought, to see him like this. You had shared enough night watches with the first mate to have been offered a glance beneath the sullen stares and stern hand. Spent enough hours in the dark together sitting in the crow's nest to have caught sight of his smile and see how it made him look ten years younger. On nights like those you could only be glad that the waters around Tortuga were generally quiet as you would have failed to see the entire Spanish armada if it were lined up in front of you. Izzy kept you steady, an anchor preventing you from cracking up on rocks of your own making.

You wished the crew knew him as you did but you were not one to tempt faith, especially not when it had already been so generous.

“What's going on with you?” Izzy asked eventually. The breathy tone of his voice seemed at one with the wind.

You shifted your weight. Behind you, the foresail beat faintly against the mast.

None of the crew had noticed yet. And if they had, they'd decided against saying anything. They stayed quiet as you agreed to the night watch night after night. And you were happy with that system, it was the easiest way to keep the nightmares at bay.

“I'm tired,” you said. It wasn't a lie.

Izzy hummed, an unconvincing sound that hung in the air between you. He glanced your way and when you still said nothing he reached for his pocket. The orange he produced was small, jagged scars running along its skin and already adopting a green hue.

You made a small noise of amusement.

Wordlessly, Izzy began to peel the fruit. He dug his thumb into its center and tore it in two clean halves before offering one to you.

It was somewhat of a tradition, Roach had prepared you rations for your night shifts but upon realizing that you were asking for larger portions solely to share with the first mate he'd stopped the service altogether. The chef's pettiness truly knew no bounds.

Izzy decided the next course of action was to just steal food from the kitchen instead. It was something he got oddly excited about; a feared pirate that pillaged dozens of merchant ships in his lifetime smiling like a young lad as he showed you the stale biscuits and ailing fruits he'd stolen from under the nose of your chef.

You accepted the orange with a small smile.

Izzy cleaned the citrus juice from his fingers with his tongue before tearing the fruit into segments, examining each before pushing one past his lips. Just like when running the ship, Izzy had a particular way of doing things. Vaguely or half-arsed wasn't his style.

As he ate, you traced the groves of the wood in front of you. The orange sat untouched in your palm.

“Nightmares,” you said eventually. “They keep me up most nights. Sometimes they're so bad I don't want to close my eyes so I figured if I just didn't sleep then...”

It was quiet for a moment, your confession growing stale the longer it hung in the air. You already wished you'd said nothing.

Izzy tossed the last of his fruit overboard.

“For someone so clever, you can be a right fucking twat.”

You couldn't help but laugh. “And you're a pioneer in self-care all of a sudden? Being Blackbeard's lapdog–”

“Watch it.” Izzy's tone readopted a sharp edge. You stood with a resigned sigh, an undeserving crate earning a sharp clip of your boot as you turned.

“Just leave it, Iz. Forget I mentioned it,” you said. “I don't need you of all people lecturing me on how to look after myself.”

You made your way down the steps that led onto the main deck, ignoring how Izzy called after you. In your haste and frustration, and certainly no thanks to your lack of sleep, your boot missed the next step and you began a sudden descent toward the ground.

A hand grasped your shoulder and a harsh yank backward recentered your point of gravity.

“You're a fucking wreck,” Izzy said, moving his hold to your forearm.

“I'm fine.”

“Bullshit.”

You didn't look at him as you steadied yourself. Instead you aimed your focus on the splintered wood beneath your boots.

You missed Izzy's expression soften, as if he were finally seeing the true extent of your exhaustion. The dimness in your eyes, the poorly hidden fatigue, and the way you swayed on your feet when you didn't have a wooden rail to support you. You were coming apart at the seams.

“Fuck,” Izzy cursed. “How long has it been since you've slept?”

“Three days.”

“Fuck,” Izzy cursed, again. This time with slightly more anger.

You waited for his ranting to begin, to be scorned like the rest of the crew and sent away like a misbehaved child. You wouldn't be surprised if he went to the captains first thing tomorrow and had your duties changed.

“Come on,” he said instead. His words were surprisingly faint. You let him lead you below deck, the dim glow of the ship's oil lamps doing little to light the way. The hand still hesitantly pressed to the small of your back was very possibly the only thing stopping you from keeling over.

Silently you walked through the gallery, past the sleeping crew and the hammock you left empty every night. When you didn't stop you offered the first mate a confused glance.

“Izzy, what-”

“Just-” he sighed. “Keep going.”

You eventually stopped in front of his own cabin and said nothing as he steered you inside and shut the door behind him.

“What are we doing?” The irritation was clear in your tone. The seventy odd hours without rest making your voice heavy.

Izzy loosened the handkerchief around his neck and kicked off his boots. “You are going to lie down,” he said plainly. He grasped the small stool that sat idle in the corner and pulled it towards the bedside. “And I'm going to make sure you get some fucking rest.”

He sat down and crossed his arms. When you didn't move, he sighed again. “You're not the only one. You don't live this life for so long and then get to sleep easy at night. It... it's just not how it works.”

At Izzy's words and what they implied, you caved. Wordlessly, you kicked off your boots, undid your belt, and removed your coat. It was as comfortable as you could get without undressing further. When you lay down on the mattress, you couldn't help the noise of contentment that escaped you. It was by no means the laps of luxury but having a somewhat soft base pillowed against your aching muscles was much nicer than what you were used to.

The fatigue washed over you in heavy waves and you were reminded of just how tired you were.

“If I think it's a nightmare I'll wake you,” Izzy promised, his words were genuine.

“Why are you doing all this, Izzy?” you asked. “I'm fairly certain if Lucius or Roach was having bad dreams you wouldn't invite them into your cabin and offer to play night guard.”

He shrugged. “You're neither of those twats.”

Izzy's words were transparent. 'You're not them. You're you, and you're different.' You laid back in the bed.

The quaint silence that filled Izzy's cabin was similar to the deck during watch, the same safety net there, the same guarantee that nothing said or done would go any further than you, him, and the waves.

You parted your lips to speak. Izzy reached over and dimmed the oil lamp and the dark swallowed your words before they came.

“Thank you, Iz.” You settled for instead. “I mean it.”

Izzy nodded. A quiet 'of course' accompanied the hesitant brush of his fingers against the back of your hand. In the dim light, Izzy was grateful you couldn't see how he looked at you as though you were the reason the sun rose every day.

Thank you for reading <3

[harrylovesspaezle]

never understand the people who see izzy as this huge villain and then worship ed. “he wanted to kill stede in front of ed!” yes and ed tried killing the whole crew. “izzy pushed him to do that” i really don’t think izzy asked him to kill the crew

[trauermaerchen]

Your honour, it's them.

[featherlesswings]

I find it really funny that so many people thought Izzy was homophobic, but really he was just the Fun Police.

[bluebyrd-screaming]

I don't get people who complain about how Izzy has had unreasonable growth between s1 and s2

He wanted Blackbeard back. He wanted a return to the way things used to be, a return to where he knew what their relationship was. He wanted his slightly manic masterful tactician who was ruthless but was also a halfway decent captain. He wanted the man he could have love for

And maybe it was a romanticization of the past, but Izzy could deal with suicidal ideation Ed

Kraken!Ed is so clearly *not* a return to the way things were

Now he is dealing with a fully suicidal Ed. Maybe he deserved to have his toe cut off for his very real betrayal of Blackbeards trust, but now it's gone to far. Every single time the crew question him a little bit he loses another toe. He's forced to raid and raid and raid and when the raiding in done, they throw the treasure off the ship to have room for more raiding (which, of course, always ends in a total massacre of the other ship)

Nothing about this is reasonable. This isn't the Ed he knew

And no matter how emotionally repressed or fucked up Izzy is, even he can see how much he fucked up here and how much danger he is in

Because every version of Ed that Izzy knows is not just content with dying, he needs to go out in a blaze of fire, killing himself and everyone around him

So yeah, I don't think Izzys emotional growth at the start of s2 is out of the blue at all, especially with how he has bonded with the crew through their shared trauma

[stinkyeggbow]

To be loved is to be changed...

[nandorsbf]

This scene is actually so important to me ,the contrast of izzy on season 1 and izzy now is crazy . HES SO COMFORTABLE. Season 1 izzy would never but he's opening up to the crew and had the confidence to see wee john doing his makeup and asking to do that as well . We fully see this when he starts SINGING !!!!!! (I actually freaked out sm when he started singing ) and nobody laughed at him they all enjoyed his singing . AND I JUST LOVE IZZY SM HES MY BABY ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[izzyhandslightofmylife]

Official statement on why Izzy's death affected me so much

Our Flag Means Death, is, at it’s core, is a show that focuses on queer joy- a form of therapy for those that have been raised on queerbaiting, shipping minor side characters, or watching, when nothing else is available, queer tragedies. You know how it goes- the two main characters, both male, have chemistry. They say things to each other that seem weirdly like declarations of love. They look at each other with love in their eyes. You see these things and the main man gets married off to a badly written, unfinished female character and is left feeling empty. The best friend dies for the main character to live. When everyone talks about how cute the main couple are, you want to scream all of a sudden, because nobody can see this love story play out except you. It’s queer, it’s tragic, and nobody else can understand it. 

Not Our Flag Means Death. From the moment it aired, it was praised as a show with unabashed queer joy, which means more than I can possibly say. The two main male characters meet, they have chemistry, and they fall in love. It’s not implied, or hinted at, but blatantly obvious. Their romances and the queer romances around them attracted so many queer fans who felt that after so many years, this type of show was a vindication for what they had been through with other media. 

In this show, piracy itself was that of a found family. Though Stede Bonnet and the crew of the Revenge start off with many differences, the core of the show centers around a theme that many queer audiences are attracted to: found family. The Revenge was depicted as a safe space, where everyone could express themselves freely, a refuge from a world of judgment. Queerness was not only accepted but normalized on The Revenge. No homophobia, no coming out, no typical complications of queer romance. Just love and safety. Warmth, which was Ed Teach wished for in purgatory. Which was what he found on the Revenge. The ship was a safe space that so many queer audiences had dreamed of. 

Well, a safe space except for one person: Izzy Hands, Blackbeard’s First Mate, who was a man painfully stuck in the wrong genre. This is the general consensus by both fans and the cast: Izzy, Edward and their crew had been in a gritty action movie, whereas Stede and his crew were in a muppet movie of sorts. While the majority of Blackbeard’s crew quickly acclimates to and celebrates the change, Izzy doesn’t. 

And right away, many fans felt a deep attraction to Izzy. The reason that Izzy couldn’t get Edward to love him was because, in the end, the only way that Izzy knew how to love was through blood. To give and receive pain in an action movie is one of the greatest forms of love, but Izzy fails to realize that Ed is not in an action movie anymore. He is happy with this stability, and the reason that so many people felt Izzy’s presence so was strongly was that he wasn’t. 

So many queer people are, in a way, addicted to tragedy. Tragedy is all that is represented in queer media for the most part, or was until very recently. Take Achilles and Patroclus, one of the most celebrated and recognized queer love stories of both ancient and modern times. Why that one? There are other greek love stories, many of them queer. The tragedy of it- Patroclus’ death and Achilles’ rage- made it all the more appealing. Many in the audience of Our Flag Means Death were not comedy fans, they were horror or drama fans, attracted to a comedy because of the love story. But Izzy, to them, was a physical representation of who they were, carrying an awareness of homophobia, of blood and pain that so many queer relationships had previously been illustrated by (i.e. Hannibal). Though Ed may not have understand this type of affection, the audience did- Izzy’s Otherness from the crew despite it’s safety, his expressions of love and his unrequited love story were all things that the audience were familiar with feeling. 

If Ed and Stede were good queer representation, Ed and Izzy, for example, were a foil of that. They were evil, messed up, and fed into the worst parts of each other because it brought them closer. This is a theme present in a lot of queer media, and by extension, queer lives: “if you love me, Henry, you don’t love me in a way I understand”, is an excerpt classic queer poem about unrequited love that fits the situation. The very reason Izzy stuck in people’s heads because he was of a different genre. His grittiness and bitterness made sense to the audience. They saw Izzy and saw what was familiar. He was exquisitely written, simultaneously making even casual audiences both hate him, and against all odds, find him oddly endearing. The idea of this man sacrificing every inch of himself for an unrequited love was a concept of tragedy, leaking into a comedic show. 

So fans projected onto Izzy. He was a catalyst for the heartache, for the audience’s sheer inability to have a happy show. For one reason or another, some of the audience simply couldn’t live with a show that was all fantastical, which I theorize is because they couldn’t see themselves in it. So Izzy became the epitome of queer suffering: pining longingly after another man that couldn’t understand him. This projection of suffering, however, led to a new wish: happiness for Izzy. If Izzy in Season 1 was a tragedy, assimilating him into the found family in Season 2 would have elevated the safe sense of the ship all the more. It would have proved to so many of these Izzy Fans that yes, even though you view yourself as unloveable, even though you see yourself as Israel Hands, Villain, even he can be loved too. Why can’t you be? 

And Season 2, for the most part, delivered beyond our wildest dreams. Izzy had people who cared about him. And though the genre shifted into the darker, Izzy himself shifted slightly to the comedic side as well. His life, which had been centered for so long around a man that didn’t reciprocate his feelings, was gone. He started a new life, and this life, again, focused on queer joy. The queer joy from Season 1 was suddenly for everyone, even those like Izzy that couldn’t have understood it. He sang, he whittled, he talked about feelings, he dressed in drag. Many elder queer fans also saw Izzy as another metaphor, too: that queer joy can be attained overtime. You don’t have to have had it the whole time, but you can accept yourself even when you are older. The message of Izzy was one of resilience and stubbornness, one that the queer community needed to hear: that you don’t have to be like this, you don’t have to create pain for yourself. You don’t need to watch tragedies all the time. You, too, can heal from the past.

And then, the season finale happened. By this point, many argued that Izzy had stolen the show. Con O’Neil’s acting mixed with his general arc of self acceptance had made him a fan favorite. In the last episode, it is Izzy himself who sums it up perfectly, accepting that he belongs somewhere despite his pain and flaws. Despite the darkness within him, he was still accepted and loved. He says it right to the face of Prince Ricky, who thinks himself above it all. That piracy, a metaphor for otherness, wasn’t actually about being alone; it was about finding others that understood you when nobody else could. 

Listen, this show is known for it’s nonsensicality. In the finale of Season 1, Lucius is thrown overboard by Ed and survives by simply swimming to another ship. Stede reunites with his crew by sailing a rowboat. Buttons turns into a seagull. Stede stabs Ed for a comedic bit. Earlier in the season, Izzy himself gets shot and survives. This queer joy show was celebrated for being, well, joyful. Even when things like getting thrown overboard did happen, they were, ultimately, a blip in the character’s journey towards acceptance, healing, etc, which was what made the show unique. Our Flag Means Death, whose audience had been living for years off of the “Bury your gays” trope, was adored because it illustrated a world where things didn’t have to be that way. A place where the impossible, such as Izzy Hands being loved, could happen. This show was one of survival. 

But not for the one person that was seen to struggle with this concept the most. Not for the one person that was a metaphor for belonging in this place, who became, over the course of a season, the embodiment of the message itself. Not for the Unicorn, the very symbol of this magical, nonsensical ship. Not for the most stubborn, most indestructible, most enduring (queer) person in the show. Not for Izzy Hands. 

This trope, honestly, was one that many have seen before, both in mainstream and queer media. A character, previously shown to be a villain or else to have gone through a lot of pain, is shown to heal, to get better, and then to die in order to “complete their arc”. This trope is common: Loki, Cas. even Ted Lasso, who doesn’t die but goes back to the very place that broke him in the first place. But the reason that Izzy’s death, while it might have been expected in another show, felt like a betrayal in this one is because it was known for subverting those tropes. From the “Bury Your Gays” to the “Up For Interpretation”, it was known to look those tropes in the eyes and say “fuck you, these people deserve to be happy”. And this did happen! Except for the one character who’s healing journey was one of the most relatable, at least to queer audiences. 

What also made it so jarring was that all the other characters got to be happy, except for the one that had struggled with the idea of happiness the most. In the scene immediately after Izzy is buried, Lucius and Pete get married. In the scene after, a montage of queer joy and found family is shown amongst the whole crew. In the final scene, Ed and Stede, our main queer couple, are shown healing themselves and starting a new life together. The last shot, however, showed Izzy’s grave, visited by Buttons the seagull while Ed and Stede had dinner. A tragedy in it’s finest. It wouldn’t have been difficult for Izzy to live. Because, in the end, his death meant nothing. His healing meant nothing. He died and was moved on from in a matter of seconds. He was, as I mentioned, the catalyst for tragedy, more specifically, queer tragedy. But because of this, of his genre, Izzy didn’t get to live. He had to die in order for the rest of the characters to keep living in this fantasy world. This death was, in a way, a preservation of these other love stories.

I maintain, however, that it would have meant more if Izzy had lived. If he had been  able to show to us that yes, despite what you have been through, despite what you may have inflicted upon yourself, you can switch genres. It’s possible. Izzy’s survival up until that point had been a profound testament to many that it is possible to heal, that queerness does not have to mean sadness. It would have continued to be a testament to that if only Izzy had lived. And so, this pirate that we latched onto, not in spite of his darkness but because of it, was buried on land on the side of the road. 

As a side note, many previous incidences in the story point to the idea even though Ed and Stede will definitely stay together, it’s uncertain if the inn would have worked out. It’s likely that, being a whim, those two might have chosen to move, or go back to the sea, or sail to China. If this is true, they would have left Izzy’s grave by itself, like a family pet buried in the yard. If this is true, Izzy Hands, a metaphor for belonging, would rot alone. 

Long live the tragedy addicts. Long live the Richard Siken poems. Long live Izzy Hands. 

*When I talk about the "fandom" I am referring to the canyon.

[carrymelikeimcute]

I feel like if Izzy had made Stede stab him for his own (sexual?) gratification, at gunpoint, we'd be seeing posts calling him a rapist, is all I'm saying.

Because literally everything he does, short of breathing, gets spun in the worst possible way until you'd not even sure you're watching the same show.

[childoftheineffabledivorce]

I cannot express how quickly my feelings about Izzy shifted. I rewatched season 1 and am now on season 2 again. Watching season 1 I saw him in such a different light. The man he knew and potentially (definitely, in my opinion) has loved for years was becoming a stranger to him. It was more than him disliking Stede. He saw the transition from Blackbeard to Ed as his Captain losing himself instead of finding a way to express another part of himself.

And maybe I’m looking too deeply into it but if Blackbeard was rejecting his old way of doing things, he was rejecting Izzy too. Because Izzy was an embodiment of his old life and behaviours. That was all Izzy knew. HE wasn’t being transformed by love and care. HE wasn’t having someone see a new side of him. He was standing on the outside looking in while his Captain transformed and left him behind.

Then Stede is gone. He leaves Ed. Abandons him and none of them have any insight into why. Izzy is proven right in his mind, Blackbeard never should have given up who he was. How could he know that encouraging him to go back to who he was would go the way it did? Ed was broken, and a return to his status as Captain was Izzy’s attempt at a solution.

This is a bit of a ramble so I’m not sure if it’s completely coherent but I think it says a lot that when Izzy started receiving the kind of love the crew has for each other, when that thing he couldn’t understand and was constantly on the outside of was directed at him, he changed. He saw it’s value. He fucking whimpered (still kills me) when he was held.

That man was never actually a villain. He was just lost.

(Also 100% convinced he had a kink for Ed being mean to him until it went too far and no one can change my mind. Did you see the way he cupped his face when Ed choked him against the wall? Exactly.)