#this could be to anyone but it’s to Pete AND or Izzy. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cuculine-nelipot · 7 months

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One way in which OFMD exceeded expectations this season is the emphasis they placed on the need for personal growth, especially in the pursuit of relationships - all relationships, not just romantic . Buttons laid it all out for Ed, and then turned into a bird just to prove that it is possible if you believe enough. They repeatedly drew attention to Ed's and Stede's flaws, and why they need to work on them in order to become better people not only for each other, but for everyone around them

Lucius told Stede that he was selfish and self-centred, that despite his self-proclaimed love, respect, and kindness, his actions made him anything but. He and the other crew members told him that he was wilfully ignoring reality so that he could believe in the fantasy of Ed/Blackbeard that he had constructed for himself. These are all things that prevent him from being both the captain and the romantic partner he wants to be. The main thing he needs to do to change is listen actively. This has been true since season 1, when we saw him refusing to engage in an honest dialogue with Mary, and several times when he ignored his crew. However, throughout season 2 he is given ample opportunities to listen, to grow as a person, to become a better leader and partner, but he doesn't. At all. He tells Lucius that he can talk to him about his bad experiences, only to quickly tell him that it's too much, talk to Pete instead. He lets the crew vote as to whether Ed should be allowed to stay, only to invite him back shortly after they decide against. After much arguing, he begrudgingly accepts that the crew believes his red suit is cursed, but he does not get rid of the shirt. He agrees when Ed tells him that he needs their relationship to progress slowly, only to initiate sex with him soon after. When Ed expresses his anger about that, he does not understand, and he does not take responsibility. He murders Ned Low even though he knows how desperate Ed is to leave violence behind. In the final episode when everyone tells him that his plan is terrible, he does not listen and insists that they do it anyway, and Izzy dies because of it. He does not take responsibility for that either. In fact, throughout the season he happily comments on the fact that despite his staggering incompetence, things always seem to work out for him specifically, not acknowledging that the same is not true for anyone else. He has remained just as self-centred and self-serving as he was in the very beginning.

Ed too experiences a similar state of arrested development. His core motivation is still to be a different person, and like in the first season he swings from one persona to the next, never reconciling the disparate parts of himself. The closet he gets to reckoning with himself is when he admits that he does not think he is worthy or capable of being loved, but that he wishes he was. However after being "reborn" every attempt he makes to that end is at best superficial and half-hearted. When he addresses the crew he does not say he's sorry, and the only thing he does that could be framed as an attempt at reparations is when he gives them money to throw themselves a party. At that same party he (at Stede's encouragement) congratulates himself for dispelling the poison, disregarding the fact that it was the crew's idea, and the crew who put all the effort into it.

Like in season 1, each of his personas comes with a costume change. There's the kohl smeared face of the Kraken, the cleaner crisper Blackbeard, and the neutrals of Ed - a blank canvas. He does not know who Ed is yet, and he is prevented from finding out by his unwillingness to accept that he is the Kraken and Blackbeard, to sit alone with himself. Fang points this out to him, but instead of anything meaningful coming from it, we get two separate scenes of Ed thinking about being quiet, about being present. Just for a laugh. Because, like with Stede, it's funnier (apparently) for him to stay exactly the way he is.

So he does not grow, because despite the writers putting him in positions to do so, their idea of comedy is for him not to. His brief stint as a fisherman is shockingly reminiscent of the end of season 1, where he's so focused on being zen and chill and being a totally new person that he neglects the basic functions of his job. Unlike then, he does not have the excuse of being burnt out. There is no commentary on toxic masculinity here. It was just 'funnier' to show him being incompetent, and apparently the only way the writers could think to get him back to the main narrative. By which, of course, I mean Stede. Because despite it's ensemble cast and the seamlessly integrated character-driven storylines on season 1, this is the Stede Bonnet show, right?

In spite of his very real, and understandable frustration with Stede a) initiating sex despite his explicitly saying he wasn't ready and b) killing Ned Low right when he was trying to leave violence behind, he makes a beeline for him. He rows back to the Republic of Pirates, sees it on fire, and immediately thinks of Stede. Not the crew (because despite Izzy's quite frankly insane last words he has not done anything to build a relationship with them) and not either of the two men he's sailed with for years. Only Stede. For Stede all of his development (as little as it was) is undone. He kills some naval officers despite his previously established desire to avoid violence. he dives to retrieve his Blackbeard outfit, simultaneously completely undermining the significance of him tossing them in the first place, and of his swimming upward towards a new life.

In season 1 he left Blackbeard for Stede and in season 2 he reclaims him for the same reason. But that's not growth. That's not character development. In both instances he is simply being reinvented in the context someone else. He pursues Stede simply because Stede enables him to imagine that he is a different person, he becomes the version of himself that exists in Stede's mind. If this were real life, it would be an extremely unhealthy way to live. In terms of fictional media, it's just lazy writing. Putting him next to Stede is the easiest, least meaningful way for Ed to change. Despite insights into his interiority, he is not being written as a character with agency.

This becomes especially obvious when we look at Izzy's dying words, and at David Jenkins own thoughts about their relationship. Jenkins says that Izzy fed Edward poison and ended up eating it too. Izzy says that he fed Edward darkness because he needed Blackbeard. There is exactly one instance where this is true. That one instance does not in anyway serve as evidence that Izzy was responsible for every violent thing Ed had ever done. Izzy was not responsible for Ed killing his dad, Izzy was not responsible for the joy Ed admitted he took in maiming people, and it certainly does not in anyway justify the violence Ed enacted on him. That one instance also does not change the fact that Ed very clearly had all the power in his and Izzy's relationship. He ignores Izzy continuously. His reaction to Izzy's anger is violence - he chokes him, he maims him. Izzy has no power. Ed chose violence - for a myriad of complex reasons, yes, but it was his choice. But the writers are framing it so that Ed is simply a puppet - he can either be filled with "Izzy's" poison, or Stede's "goodness." He has no agency, because it's too hard. It's too complicated. It would be too much for Ed to be a complex, morally flawed character who grows and changes for the better, and it would be so hard to write him having his happy rom-com story. So it's better to just simplify all that complexity, right? Forget the trauma Ed endured, forget the trauma he inflicted, forget his depression and his mania. Izzy fed him poison. Izzy made him Blackbeard. Let's just leave it at that. Except that's not the story they wrote, is it. If Izzy made him Blackbeard, fed Blackbeard, wanted Blackbeard, needed Blackbeard, then why does he almost never call him Blackbeard? Consistently, since episode 2, it's a constant stream of "Edward", "Ed" and "Eddie" and we're supposed to believe it was Blackbeard he was after? Speaking of Izzy, his arc is the cruelest of all. And no, I'm not salty that he died. I am beyond disappointed that he died in the arms of his abuser, that his last act was to not only absolve his abuser of all responsibility, but to take it on as his own, and that David Jenkins seems to think that this is a good end to his story.

At this juncture it's important to say that Izzy Hands is very clearly a victim of abuse - physical and emotional. It has however become abundantly clear David Jenkins and many fans of the show do not see it that way. Why? Is it because he's a man? Because he does not act like some preconceived notion of an abuse victim acts? Because it's possible that he "brought him on himself"? Is it really possible for anyone to bring that level of violence on themselves? He experiences the most growth of this season, yes, but as we've established the bar is very low, and he was not given the chance to flourish like it first seems. He does not remove himself from the abusive situation. He is confronted about it, he lashes out in panic, and he is consoled, but he still cannot admit to it. That one moment of care allows him to distance himself from Edward - just a little bit. It allows him to stop enabling Ed, and to stand up for the crew. Not himself, the crew. He is just as selfless and as blind to his own needs as ever.

When Edward shoots him in the leg he screams for death. When Edward confronts him again, he surrenders to the fact that he is not loved, or wanted, and he tries to kill himself. He does not survive for himself, or of his own volition. He survives because the crew makes him survive - they try to hide him, they cut off his festering leg, they make him a wooden one, they allow him to lean on them (physically and implicitly emotionally) for support. He begins to heal, but he does not fully get there. He still loves Edward. We see it in his desperation to know what Ed told Stede about him. We see it in the way he approaches Ed, hoping for a moment of his time. He never reckons with the fact of his own abuse. He tells himself a shark took his leg. His dying act is to apologise to his abuser, to blame himself. He lets Edward go not for his own sake, but Edwards'. He lets go of Edward, and he says he wants to die, just like he did when Edward shot him, just like he did when Edward talked to him after that. He hasn't healed. While Ed's and Stede's fatal flaw is their selfishness, Izzy's has always been his selflessness, and that is still true. He still loves the man who hurt him beyond comprehension, he still gives his life - takes away his guilt and gives him the family he earned for himself - so that man can be happy without him. He literally dies for Edward's sins. He is denied the opportunity to ever live for himself. He was given the beginnings of healing, a home and, a family; one party and a swan song.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd spoilers #Izzy Hands #Edward Teach #Stede Bonnet #tw sui ideation #this post is much longer than I thought it would be whoops

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greykolla-art · 8 months

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Your art drives me cuckoo bananas. If you're still doing requests, could you perhaps draw some poly Lucius/Izzy/Black Pete?

This was so fun! cause I had to figure out what the dynamic between these three would be together!

I’ve never come across a fic that has Pete join in with Lucius and Izzy’s weird little dance. I don’t personally think that would work, but I can see them bond over other stuff!😁

(Oh my god guys anyone else wanna throw up from excitement?! Season 2 in one day!!! 🤩)

(well, I gotta wait untill oct 6 probably, cause I live in Iceland but THATS OKAY IM SO READY!)

#grey art #fan art #ofmd #our flag means fanart #our flag means death #ofmd fanart #lucius spriggs #black pete #izzy hands #sprizzy #and Pete 😂#I love them i can’t live!#art suggestions #god I’m going insane

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internerdionality · 7 months

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And just to be clear, it wasn't just Izzy's death or the way it happened that I found incredibly disappointing about that finale. For that matter, while there were some great moments, the entire season felt rushed and incomplete, with a lot of decisions that just baffled me.

The Olu/Zheng/Jim/Archie polycule got no resolution whatsoever and just felt crappily done. It felt like Jim and Olu transitioned from romantic to platonic between seasons and then got shoved at new love interests, instead of actually grappling with the interesting poly dynamics, jealousy, NRE, insecurity, etc., that they could have engaged with. And to be clear I LOVED every moment of Olu/Zheng and Jim/Archie! But it felt like the show didn't believe you can have meaningful romantic relationships with multiple people at the same time, so they had to make it as if Jim and Olu's romantic sexual encounter at the end of last season didn't mean anything and that the two of them are perfectly happy being chosen siblings. This after Oluwande is explicitly described as in love with Jim in the first season! WTF?

It also felt like they just abandoned Lucius and Pete being poly in favor of having a cutesy wedding? Like don’t get me wrong, yay for weddings, but honestly it felt very mononormative and forced instead of queer and affirming. Even if Lucius had like, kissed Fang on the lips right after, or if they'd had more affection shown between the whole crew during the wedding, that would have been something. It just felt off.

Zheng felt like a wasted character by the end. Her just letting Ricky know where all her ships were was unbelievable for how competent and badass they made her out to be, and literally her only impact on the plot was serving as a vehicle to drive Stede from place to place. Also just killing off her entire crew other than Auntie? Hundreds of mostly Asian women? Yeah, that's not a good look.

Why did they feel the need to destroy the Republic of Pirates, for that matter? What actual plot or emotional growth did it create? At the end of Episode 7, I expected Stede to have to grapple with how he's managed to not just bring down Blackbeard but the *entire Republic of Pirates* and *the Pirate Queen of China* to add to his whole "I ruin beautiful things" trauma and instead he just doesn't seem to care at all. Like how did he get from all of his trauma and grief about being inadequate in the first season—the actual trauma that led him to leave Ed in the first place—to "oh, it's not so bad being a failure once you get used to it"?!?! Throughout the season I kept thinking that he was repressing and it would come back up to bite him in the ass but no, apparently he just fixed that issue offscreen? What the hell?

And it was the same with Ed! After all that build up in the first season about how Ed doesn’t like to kill people directly—and maintaining that through the first two episodes, even, which was hard! We never see him directly kill anyone! The guy he shot had already been run through!—he’s literally joking while surrounded by corpses he killed and the show barely addressed the trauma that the character we knew would have experienced. Just a completely dropped note. What happened to Ed's self-hatred that they spent an entire dream sequence episode establishing?

Ed and Stede’s actual conflicts and problems just basically disappeared at the end, with a “oh I actually do love you, babe” glossing over Ed’s very legit reasons for leaving and then Stede (apparently?!?) being convinced to give up piracy without a second of screen time spent discussing it. If felt like they were actually setting them up to just be the toxic lesbians from episode four, how is that a satisfying finale? I honestly would have rather had them end the season apart again, but this time knowing they love each other and they have to do some work to get back to each other. Like, Stede sailing into the sunset after kissing Ed and promising to come back and Ed going "i trust that you will, thank you for giving me the space I need to heal"—that would have been a satisfying place to leave them.

And then Izzy's death... don't get me fucking started on what a complete waste of screen time and acting that was. Wow.

#our flag means death #ofmd s2 spoilers #izzy hands #ofmd #gentlebeard #blackbeard ofmd #boatmance #lupete

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celluloidbroomcloset · 6 months

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This show’s big message is (very corny and very true) the power of love. Yes, Ed and Stede have a romantic love and their's is the central relationship, but it's not solely about romantic love or partnership. They're friends first - Stede's first offer is not of romance, but of friendship. He looks at this man who, again, proclaims himself a bad person and friendless and says "I'm your friend." There's no ulterior motive there.

But it doesn't start or end there. The crew is all about love - the friendships and connections, romantic, nonromantic, sexual, platonic. Buttons loving the sea, Frenchie and Roach's friendship, Jim and Olu and Archie's polycule, Fang's tenderness and love of animals, everyone loving Wee John, Wee John's love for knitting and creation, Lucius and Pete's romance, Lucius's love of art (and sleeping with everyone), Swede and Jackie's weird little romance, Zheng and Auntie's care for each other, Zheng and Olu’s developing romance, Stede’s being a father to his crew, Stede’s imperfect care for his family, Mary and Annie's ridiculous marriage. All the friendships that exist. Just love.

And then there’s Izzy. Izzy who wants to die. Who confesses his love and gets shot but who is also told that Ed loved him as best he could. And what happens then? The crew see him suffering and go "he needs to be cared for." Rather than laughing and pointing and celebrating that a man who hurt them is in pain himself, they show him love. They give him a new leg and a new name, but leave it up to him whether to accept it. Just like what Stede offers Ed, and really what all the love on this show is based on, it has no strings or conditions - it’s an act of pure love. Izzy can choose whether to accept it and how to accept it, and he does. It helps to heal him. He's loved.*

*Which is honestly why the whole "they disrespected him in death!" makes me mad. They loved him! They showed him love! He died surrounded by people who were crying at his loss, even though he caused a lot of hurt to them, being held by a man he loved, who was himself weeping at the loss of his family. His last words may have been about Ed and Ed finding people who loved him, but it was about himself too! He's part of Blackbeard. They buried him on land, marking his grave with things that were important to him, and in a place where he could be near the person he cared for (and where his grave could be cared for too). They gave him back a missing piece of himself, they offered him a new name, they celebrated his joy when he chose to share it. How dare anyone say that they disrespected him?

#ofmd s2 #ofmd #our flag means death #i dunno man #all in my feels about this show #it's one of the best #even if max doesn't renew it #dear god they accomplished a lot #ofmd meta

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dragon-kazansky · 7 months

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Spirit of the sea

Izzy Hands x Reader (GN)

SEASON 2 CONTENT AHEAD!!!

Blackbeard rules the sea. Despite wanting his captain back, Izzy realises his mistake. Protecting the crew is his concern. Protecting you is his life mission. Stede's return brings hope, but there's a lot of work to be done before this crew becomes a family.

{Masterlist}

{Previous Chapter} - {Next Chapter}

Warnings: Spoilers. Izzy's depression spiral. No real unicorns were harmed in the making of Izzy's new leg. Things get a little steamy at the end.

Chapter Thirteen - Loving touch

♡♡♡

Stede had gathered the crew, minus Izzy, to talk to them all. Turns out Ed woke up. You swore under your breath when you heard that. No way is that man going to be happy with any of you.

"What happened to your face?" Pete asked Stede who was standing to a bruise on his cheek.

"Bet Blackbeard did that, didn't he?" Wee John asks.

"It was an accident. Okay? I think Ed just sat up too quickly," Stede says.

"That's what they all say," Roach states.

"As you know, he's gone through quite the ordeal and he does need to regain his strength," Stede explains.

"Yeah. He'll probably get around to killing you after he's rested," Jim says, looking Stede in the eye.

"Yeah, I'd say it's a pretty obvious mistake letting him get strong again," Lucius points out. You nod.

"Kick him off the ship already!" Jim yells.

"We just don't banish people, do we?" Stede says. "That's not us. Let's give him some time, perhaps to rebound a bit."

"Medically speaking, the man can't speak, and his brain is maybe couscous." Roach points out. "Also, gonna need that steak back. It's dinner."

"Right. Yes, aye."

"Maybe we should put it to the vote," Fang suggests.

"Do we have to do this now?" Stede asks.

The crew start yelling.

♡♡♡

Stede got his answers from the crew, that much was clear enough. As you head out, Stede catches up to you.

"You were awfully quiet in there."

"Don't get me wrong. I agree with them, Ed has to go."

Stede's expression falls.

"I know you like him, but that man... he did things. He hurt people like I've never seen before. He hurt Izzy..."

"Ah yes, Izzy. How is he?" Stede asks.

"He's been better."

"Where is he anyway? I didn't see him in there."

"Drinking probably. He, uh, he's stopped talking to me at the moment. He won't talk to anyone."

Stede frowns again. "He's stopped talking to you?"

"I think it's the constant drinking... It's making him... upset. Like, more than before."

"I see..."

You shrug lightly and sigh. "Look, I'm not looking for sympathy. You're the captain, sort this out."

You walk off. Stede watches you go, his heart feeling heavy. Maybe he could have a word with Izzy for you.

♡♡♡

You sit on deck with the wooden sparrow in your hands. After everything that happened it had survived. Izzy had kept it in his cabin. You had found it when you had gone in there to find him. Izzy was nowhere to be seen, but the sparrow was sitting on his desk. There was a slight chip in the wood, right on the wing, but for the most part it looked good.

You sigh as you run your finger carefully over it's little head. Did Izzy even notice it was gone? Probably not.

"The atmosphere around here sucks," Lucius sighs, sitting down next to you. You notice the cigarette between his fingers, but you don't ask. "What's that?" He nods toward the wooden bird.

"Marietta."

"Marietta?" He looks at you with a funny expression.

"That's what I called it. It was a gift for Izzy from me. I dropped the first one in the sea while I was angry at him... so I remade her." You hold the sparrow up. "She's a little beaten, but still in nest condition."

"You carved him a bird?"

"Look, I can't draw like you can. I can't make sew like Frenchie, or knit like Wee John. I can, however, whittle."

Lucius smiles a little. "I like it."

A moment of silence passes while you play with the bird in your hands a little more.

"So, you and Izzy?"

"So, you and Pete?" You reply, sarcastically.

"We're fine," he says defensively. "What's going on with your boyfriend?"

You raise your eyes to Lucius. "Blackbeard abused him. Punished him. Took his leg. He's a little upset at the moment. Rightfully so."

Lucius stands up a little defensively. "We've all been through shit," he says.

You narrow your eyes at him. "I'm not saying you haven't. We thought you were dead!"

"Well, I wasn't." He puts out his cigarette. "I've suffered too and it's all his fault!" He points to where Blackbeard is tied up on the deck.

"He's fucked everyone over, Lucius. Just need Stede to get his ass in gear and do something about it."

Lucius sighs. "Do you think anything will ever go back to how it was?"

"No," you admit honestly. "But I do believe things can get better. In time."

Lucius says nothing. He glares at Blackbeard and then leaves. You sigh and return to holding the bird, caressing it again gently.

"Oh, Izzy..."

♡♡♡

Stede found Izzy at the front of the ship. He was leaning on some of the rope rigging, his wooden leg propped up on the railing. In his other hand was a bottle of rum, of which he was drinking merrily.

He looked a mess.

Stede offered him a smile as he joined him, ignoring the look Izzy was throwing his way. He means over and notices the unicorn is missing it's head.

"He's seen better days, hasn't he?" Stede asks in a lighthearted manner.

"At least he's still got both legs!" Izzy yells.

"Yes!" Stede joins in. "He can't hear you, he's go no head. You've got a head, though, which you should look after."

Izzy down his rum. Stede sighs.

"What do you want, Bonnet?" Izzy asks, not really in the mood for conversation.

"Well, here's the thing. The crew, they're in a bit of a deadlock over the whole banishment of Ed thing and I just thought, seeing as, well, you were the one who kept his body aboard, maybe you should weigh in. You've already murdered him once. Seems like a pretty good payback." He chuckles softly. "So, what do you think?"

"My vote?" Izzy leans in a little closer to Stede. "A rotten let's got to come off."

"Right. Just to confirm, was that a nay or yay on the banishment?"

Izzy just drinks some more.

"Right... I suppose I just mention that our Spirit of the sea is worried about you. You've stopped talking to them apparently..."

Izzy says nothing.

"Don't push them out, Izzy."

Izzy just drinks from his bottle again. Stede sighs and takes his leave.

♡♡♡

"So! We, the crew of The Revenge, have voted and we've chosen banishment, unfortunately." Frenchie states, announcing the result. "So, yeah. Effective immediately. Your complimentary dinghy awaits you portside. Now leave, please."

"Fuck off," Ed hisses, walking past him. You watch him closely.

"Alright, rude."

"Fuck you," Ed laughs softly, walking past Olu.

"First time I've been on this side of a walk of shame," Wee John comments.

"Way to make this awkward, bruh," Archie says.

"Shitty sailing with you." Jim chimes in.

"You're making it really hard to look up to you, man," Pete sighs.

"Hey, made you this sandwich for the trip," Roach says, holding it out to him. Ed slaps it out of his hand and Stede catches it

"You don't want your sammie?" Stede looks sad.

Ed slaps it out of Stede's hand and it hits Lucius in the face. You have to cover your mouth to stop from laughing. Lucius bites back his laughter too. It really isn't a funny moment, throwing someone off the ship, but at least you can find something to laugh about, you supposed.

"Ed, say something at least."

Ed turns his head and looks at Stede.

"You're not a fuckin' mermaid."

You knit your brows together in confusion by that statement. Stede looked equally confused.

"What?"

Ed climbs off the ship and into the dinghy. Stede looks down and watches him, you and Lucius part with the rest if the crew, not hanging about to watch any longer.

Ed was gone. That was that.

♡♡♡

"Is it me or does the energy around here seem off?" Wee John asked.

"By 'the energy,' do we mean him?" Roach nods over to Lucius who was smiling and freaking out a little. "Or him?" He gestures over to where Izzy is still standing at the front of the ship yelling at the unicorn.

"Well, mythical creature?" Izzy yells. You sigh as you watch him from where you stand. He still wasn't talking to you much. "Anything to say to yourself? Fuck you!"

"Or them?" Roach asks, looking at Jim, Archie, Frenchie, and Fang scrubbing the deck of any "possible" bloodstains left over from where Edward had bled out.

"Do you still see blood?"

"Yeah. We'll get it. Just keep scrubbing."

"They're lookin' this way." Fang says.

You tune out the rest of their conversation to watch your stupid drunk pirate curse at the unicorn some more. If only you could talk to him. He would surely listen to you.

It was breaking your heart to see him fall apart like this. Izzy hadn't held you since you got back onto The Revenge. He was shutting you out, suffering on his own.

You hated it.

You try not to let the tears fall as you walk away, letting Izzy do whatever the fuck he wanted.

♡♡♡

Olu had invited you to join the crew for a surprise. Jim had speculated they were planning to kill you all off for being disturbed after sailing with Blackbeard. You thought it was a bit of a stretch, but you wouldn't put it last them either.

You were all guided below deck where the surprise was.

"You gotta close your 'cause it's a surprise." Olu says.

No one does that, everyone sceptical. Frenchie leads you all behind Olu. You find Pete and Wee John waiting.

"Ta da!"

Wee John moves to reveal the surprise.

The crew all jump and startle, hiding the knives they were all carrying behind their backs incase of an attack.

"Fuck!" Lucius sighs, jumpy enough already.

"Guys, it's called a pine-ata." Pete says.

"Yeah. So, you just pull this string and then--" Olu tries to explain.

"And then you hit it with a stick!" Pete demonstrates.

Everyone is triggered. PTSD from the storm, from Blackbeard.

"Time for blindfolding." Wee John tries.

"Stay the fuck sway from me!" Jim yells.

"You won't want to stay the fuck away from this came!" Roach says, brining the cake in.

You feel your stomach churn at the sight of it. It looks like the wedding cake...

"God's sake, take it away!" Fang screams.

You all draw your weapons. Yeah, even you. This is too much, too soon. This how it ends up at a stand off.

"One-half of this room has some serious emotional damage," Jim explains, holding Wee John in a choke hold. "And it's not us."

"Well, it's not us!" Wee John says back.

You have your knife pointing at Olu.

"Right, so, is everybody else's arms and various limbs getting tired?" Frenchie asks.

"Alright, look, look, look, look. I think there's actually an easier way to resolve this." Olu days, eyeing your knife. "Yes? Right. So you all think that we're plottin' against you?"

"Yeah," you nod.

"Which, in hindsight, maybe was inaccurate." Frenchie says. "I don't know, you tell me."

"Okay. So, can we all agree to just not jump the other crew and solve this as fuckin' adults?" Olu asks.

"You're saying this is like a space that is safe?" Jim asks him.

"Yeah, babe." Olu looks at them.

"I love that."

"A safe space."

"Yeah, okay."

You all lower your knives. You take a deep breath. Nearly lost your cool there.

"A lot has gone unsaid," Roach speaks. "I think now is a great time to discuss lingering issues."

"Yeah, yeah, absolutely." Archie nods. "Can we talk about the fucked-up sleeping arrangements?"

"Excuse me, do you even have a name, new guy?" Wee John asks her.

"Yeah, fuck you is her name." Jim starts, drawing their knife again.

"Hey, stupid name for a person," Roach draw his knife on Jim.

"You know my name is Archie," she point her weapon at Roach.

Everyone draws their weapons again. You sigh and point your knife at Olu again, but he doesn't sense any actual malice from you.

The sound of something thudding against the floor draws everyone's attention to the door. You turn and your heart skips a beat at the sight of Izzy. Two wooden legs at his feet.

"There! It's done!" He yells. "Maybe next time he'll think twice about not doing his fucking--" Izzy's peg leg breaks from under him as he raises his crutch and he falls harshly to the ground.

You gasp and drop your knife, hurrying over to him. He shrugs you off.

"Get off me! Fuck off!"

You sit there on your knees as he rolls over and starts crawling down the hall. Your heart breaks watching him.

"Leave me alone! I'm already gone." He mutters. He starts repeating a phrase over and over again. "You're born alone, you die alone. You're born alone, you die alone."

You can feel tears building up again. God, only Izzy could ever make you cry so much.

"Yeah, he's definitely more disturbed than any of us," Lucius says, watching Izzy go.

You try to hide your teary eyes as you get up and leave.

♡♡♡

You're sat up on deck with yours curled up wiping away the tears that were falling. If only you could get that stupid man to talk to you. You just wound to heal his internal wounds, and soothe his external wounds.

You don't hear the door open, but you do hear footsteps coming over. You turn your face away, but you know it's Fang who is now sitting beside you. He has one of the unicorn legs in his hand.

"You okay?" He asks softly. Fang was a soothing presence.

"Spectacular," you mutter.

He look down at the wooden leg and then back at you.

"We, uh, we had an idea for Izzy."

You wipe your eyes again. "Yeah?"

"We're gonna make him a new leg. You wanna help? It would sure mean a lot if you gave it to him after." Fang smiles.

"You want me to help?"

"I think Izzy would like that, don't you?"

You shrug quietly. "I don't know. He's not exactly talking to me right now."

"Aw, listen. He still loves you. He's just hurting, but maybe we can help. Let's do something good for him."

Fang offers you a small smile.

You find yourself smiling back. You reach over and take the leg from him. "Okay. Let me see what we can do."

Less than 30 minutes later the leg is being constructed, the crew are gathered to help. Fang constructs the leg into a strong, comfortable, and practical leg. Lucius had got some gold paint to add something that little bit extra.

You smile as you paint the leg.

"The gold was a gold touch."

Lucius smiles, happy he could help.

You leave the leg to dry and then Fang returns to your side with it. You sigh as you take it, looking it over.

"We sure it will do?" You ask.

"Its been measured and made just for Izzy. It will more than do. Oh don't forget the note." Fang holds out the parchment.

You take the leg and take the note.

"Right..."

"Just leave it outside his door if he doesn't want to talk. I can assure you he'll talk to you again soon."

You nod and make your way to Izzy's cabin.

♡♡♡

As you approach Izzy's door, you don't hear much. It's almost too quiet for your liking. You hover outside the door, the leg in hand. That's when you hear his voice. He's talking to someone.

"And you? What's your excuse?" You hear him say. You lean a little closer to listen, worried about him. "I mean, what even are you?"

You knock on the door hoping he'll answer.

"Fuck off." You hear him shout. You knock again firmly. "Fuck off!" He yells again.

You sigh. Telling him it was you probably wouldn't make a difference. You prop the leg up but the door, tucking the note and Marietta, Izzy's carved sparrow that you still had, into it.

You knock again and hurry away, disappearing down the hall.

"You are harassing a cripple! Fucking twats!" Izzy yells, no longer realising the person has gone from behind his door. He limps his way over and opens it, looking down the hall.

He sees no one.

His gaze drops down to the item waiting for him. He sees the note and the bird. He reads the note first, all emotion clogging up in his throat.

Those little shits.

He cries. Izzy covers his mouth as tears overwhelm him. He looks up down the hall, trying not to break down.

"Fucking cocksuckers."

He sees the sparrow and picks it up. It's then he realises you had been the one knocking. His finger close around the bird and the tears fall freely.

Shit. He's been really shit to you.

Izzy hold the sparrow against his chest and takes a few deep breaths. He grabs the leg and hobbles back inside his room.

♡♡♡

It's the early hours of the morning.

Izzy stands on deck with his new leg on. It's a good fit. Made really well. His hair is slicked back against his scalp, out of his face. His face is a little cleaner. No rum in sight.

In one hand he's clutching the ring he wears under his clothes, hanging from a string of twine. He smiles as he looks down at it.

In his other hand is the note. His eyes drift over to the words written on it. His heart feels full.

'For the new unicorn.'

Izzy smiles.

With the dawn of a new day comes a new Izzy. A healing Izzy.

He's going to be okay.

No. He'll be more than okay.

He just needs to talk to you first.

♡♡♡

The sun hasn't even risen yet when Izzy wakes you. You've been sleeping with the rest of the crew since Izzy stopped talking to you, so he had to be quiet when waking you. You're startled awake by something hitting your face again and again.

You wake up to find little balls of paper being thrown at you. You look up to see Izzy waving you over. You look at him confused. He wasn't talking to you befkre, and now he wants to?

That's when you notice the leg and your heart begins to race.

You climb out of bed and make your way out of the room, not waking a single person. You follow Izzy into his cabin and enter cautiously. He looks tidier, cleaner, more content.

"Izzy?"

He stands there and looks at you. There are several emotions flickering in his eyes, but he finds his words in no time.

"Thank you."

You stand there awkwardly. "I didn't do anything."

Izzy inhales loud enough for you to hear as he looks down at his leg, his hand resting over his thigh. "You did this."

"It was the crew's idea."

Izzy holds up the sparrow. "I noticed it was gone, but there was only one place it could be."

You nod your head softly.

Izzy puts the sparrow down and walks over to you, closing the distance between you both. You find your heart rate picking up as you look into those beautiful eyes of him.

"I love you," he whispers.

Just like that he's reaching out and kissing you. You're in his arms again. You return his kiss, having missed his lips. Having missed him. You reach out and take hold of him.

The kiss is hot, passionate, desperate. It's significance lies with the fact that you two spend all your time wanting each other, but when you're hurting, you don't reach out for one another.

You remove his scarf, taking the ring around it and carefully placing it down. It belonged to his mother and you know he would definitely curse you if you lost it. You begin to undress him, and he, you.

Clothes land on the floor. The soft thud of his wooden foot taps lightly on the floor as he moves you over to his bed.

Doing this right after the emotional rollercoaster you both has been through probably wasn't the best idea, but this time no one could stop you both, and this was long overdue.

You push Izzy down on the bed and take care of him, admiring him. You notice the other ring around his neck. You had seen it before, but it's origins you hadn't known. He was wearing it last time you did this too.

Still, your mind was focused on other things.

Safe to say, both of you are going to be a little late getting up tomorrow.

♡♡♡

@grippleback-galaxy - @askmarinaandothers - @godlikegallagher - @for-fuck-sake-im-alive - @whiskeyswriting - @lxsm2 - @bloody-bunni666 - @the-chocoholic-writer - @bugbugboy - @callmemana - @the-shenny-of-azkaban - @cool-ontherun-world - @outer-space-beech - @ahewi24 - @grace585 - @innertimemachinegirl - @dmitrytherat - @emilynissangtr -

#izzy hands x reader #spirit of the sea #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 #ofmd season 2 #ofmd 2 #ofmd #dragon writes

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run-me-through-but-not-like-that · 1 year

Note

Would you consider writing something about izzy being turned on, but also VERY self conscious, about the age gap between himself and reader? (Both are obviously adults)

You Shoot Your Shot with First Mate Hands (semi-NSFW):

Of course, during their shore leave, Bonnet’s crew had chosen to infest the one tavern in this port that Izzy could stand. So, he was forced to visit the same establishment as them.

As expected, the crew had left him to himself, which he was at least grateful for. He was able to take his preferred seat in a quiet corner with a drink and just observe the other patrons while the rest of the crew busied themselves with drinking their wages worth of booze. He could just ignore them for the most part…at least, he would be able to if you weren’t there.

No matter how hard he tried, his attention was always dragged back to you. Watching you speaking with the rest of the crew, laughing joyfully at their jokes, leaning over the table with a bright smile to take the drink being served to you. A part of him admired the way you weaved through the other patrons with ease, finding an easy closeness with your crewmates. It was an ease that Izzy felt came with being of a younger age, when having fun on shore leave was more important than worrying about the ship.

What Izzy always seemed to miss in his observations, though, was that you were watching him too. Even as Frenchie chatted to you, a conversation you were genuinely invested in, you couldn’t help but steal glances at the isolated first mate. Sat in the back of the room, drink in hand. He certainly gave off the vibe that he didn’t want anyone bothering him, that he was here for a stiff drink before getting on with his night.

Over the brim of your tankard, you watched Izzy. Surely, the rest of the crew knew who had your attention. The two of you had been dancing around each other for a while now. You hadn’t missed the looks he sent in your direction, the way he reacted when you were close by, the way he flushed when you decided to flirt from time to time.

It had never felt like the right time to try for anything more but maybe shore leave would put some separation between the two of you and your positions aboard the Revenge.

Tonight, you were going to make your move.

Once the crew was distracted with a story that Black Pete was telling, you slipped away from the group. They would probably notice you were missing at some point but know not to interrupt when they saw you with Izzy, you had not been secretive about your interest in him. If nothing else, Lucius would support you in your goals and make sure nobody ruined your chances.

Izzy quickly noticed you approaching, watching you as you walked up to his table. You just smiled at him as you perched yourself on the bench with him, close enough to seem familiar, but not close enough to make him uncomfortable.

“What are you doing sitting all on your lonesome over here?” you tried to keep your tone as neutral as possible, while hoping he didn’t miss the underlying suggestiveness.

“That's the best pick up line you’ve got?” Izzy scoffed. He sounded unimpressed but you saw the way he shifted in his seat, put on edge by your presence.

“Do you want me to be picking you up?” you smirked, elbow resting on the table as you lent towards him.

“Fuck off,” he turned his face away from you.

“Tell me to fuck off again and I will, I’m not an asshole. So, no saying it unless you really mean it,” your voice turned serious, verging on stern, and that caused Izzy to look at you again.

He assessed you. You had backed up ever so slightly, allowing him some space, and your expression was serious. He couldn’t tell what you were thinking, but maybe that was the point.

“Who says I don’t really mean it?” Izzy huffed.

“You really want me to answer that honestly, Iz?” you asked, tilting your head to the side.

“Fuck you,” Izzy looked away from you again but the change felt purposeful, and that put the smile back on your face.

Leaning towards him again, you peered into his tankard. It looked like rum but you couldn’t be sure. “What’cha drinking? Can I get you another one?” you asked.

“Still got plenty left,” Izzy shrugged.

“Really making me work for it here,” you joked, not letting it deter you. If he didn’t want your company at all, Izzy would definitely let you know. “On a serious note though, why aren’t you mingling with the crew?”

Izzy lifted his tankard up to his face, not managing to mask his scowl. “I couldn’t think of anything worse.” He took a drink.

“Oh c’mon, I think you’d have fun. I think Ivan and Fang would appreciate it and I’m sure the crew would like to get to know you better.” You would love him to get along with the crew a little more, to join them during times of recreation, but a selfish part of you liked having him all to yourself.

Izzy looked at you again. And you definitely didn’t preen under the way he looked you up and down. “I’m talking to you, right?”

“Sure,” you nodded.

“There. I’m mingling with the crew,” Izzy shrugged, fiddling with the handle of his tankard as he placed it down on the table again.

“Baby steps,” you agreed, amused and pleased. You lent towards him some more, still not touching him but pressing into his space. “Care to do a little more mingling?” you asked, voice lowering a little.

Izzy wasn’t stupid, your attempts at flirting were blatant. Admittedly it had been a long time since he had actively attempted to flirt with anyone or anyone had been forward about their attempts at flirting, but he still recognised it.

You were young and carefree, something he both envied and resented.

He had never been very carefree but he had been more so than he was now when he was younger. Edward and Jack had always been far more careless than him, having confidence that Izzy could never even hope to achieve. You reminded him of them, a little. Bright eyes and smiles, charming and alluring.

Now you were looking at him, smiling brilliantly at him, like he had put the stars in the sky.

“Do you think you’re being subtle?” Izzy asked, genuinely curious. Was this your idea of subtlety or were you really just that unashamed about it?

“I hope not!” you almost looked offended that he would dare accuse you of subtlety. “Think my motives here are pretty obvious. Sliding up to a man all alone in some tavern of ill repute,” you hummed, brushing your fingertips over the tabletop, nearly touching his arm.

“It’s not-it’s just a normal tavern,” Izzy grumbled, cheeks turning a soft shade of pink.

“Have some imagination, Iz,” you tease. Maybe he wasn’t one for roleplay, maybe this just wasn’t the time. “I’m not just some crewmember of yours, I’m an exciting stranger in the establishment you’re visiting. An exciting stranger who took an interest in the handsome pirate sitting in the corner, the handsome pirate who I definitely happen to share some tension with.”

“Fucking hell,” Izzy definitely wasn’t going to play along with that fantasy but he seem somewhat amused by it, and that was enough for you. “Think I’d rather you just be yourself,” he confessed with a mutter.

You couldn’t help but smile, expression softening a little. “Aw, Iz. That’s actually pretty sweet.”

That had the blush on his face deepening. “I didn’t…fuck it, whatever,” turning his face again once again didn’t hide his blush, you could still see the warm colour creeping up his neck.

You bit down on your lip to hold back a giggle.

You both knew perfectly well why you came over here, where this would hopefully be going. Izzy clearly wasn’t an enjoyer of small talk, and he really wasn’t giving you much to work with, so you decided to just get right to the point.

“Can I kiss you?” Perhaps with somebody else you would have let things happen a little more naturally but you didn’t feel like being stabbed for assuming and trying to kiss him without asking explicitly.

“What the fuck?” Izzy breathed out, head snapping to face you again, but there was no bite to his words.

“Can I kiss you?” you repeated, clear and soft. Not a hint of teasing or joke.

“No, I heard you,” he muttered, taking another short drink from his tankard.

“I want to kiss you, Iz, have for a while now. And I think you want to kiss me too.”

“That’s presumptuous.”

You couldn’t help but smile, even as he spoke into his tankard his flush turned more red. “So you don’t want me? You just stare at me because…you like my fashion sense and you’re looking for ideas? When you’re watching my mouth when I talk, you’re just reading my lips, right? Yeah, Iz, I see you,” you felt a little bad when he started to look honestly embarrassed, but you weren’t mocking him, so you continued. “I see you because I watch you too, love the way you can’t look away from my mouth when we’re talking, the way I can feel your eyes on me, feel my knees going weak when you’re pissed off and get all up in my face.”

“You don’t have to make fun,” Izzy grimaced down at his emptying cup, his grip on the handle tense and tight.

“Izzy, I’m not…I mean it.” It was the softness and sincerity of your tone that gave Izzy the ability to actually meet your gaze.

He still looked cautious as he assessed you, as if he may be walking into some sort of trap. “You don’t mind?” he questioned.

It took you a second to realise just what he was asking. Asking if you didn’t mind the way he looked at you, the interest he took in you. “Why would I mind?”

“Your first mate, a man 20 or 30 years your senior, leering at you.” He was glaring but not at you, you had a feeling it was directed more at himself.

Ah, now you were seeing what was bothering him. You gave him a small smile. He tensed when you placed your hand on his knee but relaxed a little when it just stayed there, like a grounding weight. “I don’t feel like you’re leering, just watching. You’re not some creepy old man, Izzy. You’re the smoking hot first mate,” you assured him, balancing the right amount of sincerity with flirty.

“Fucking hell.” There was an element of disbelief to his breathy curse.

“You like me, I like you. That’s that,” you shrugged, as if it were that simple. And, of course, it was that simple if Izzy could get out of his own head. You let your words sink in for a moment, let him process them in whatever way he needed, before giving his knee a small squeeze. “So…about kissing you?”

Izzy released his hold on his tankard and sat back slightly. He looked down at your hand against his knee, still unmoving, before meeting your gaze again. “How much have you had to drink?” Izzy asked.

A part of you felt frustrated that he felt you could only hit on him when you were drunk, but another part of you felt fond that he would worry about it. “I’m not drunk,” you assured him.

“How much?” Izzy repeated sternly. You hadn’t actually answered his question.

“Like three? Enough for a bit of a buzz but I promise I am in the right mind to make these sorts of decisions. Want me to walk in a straight line to prove it?” you asked, only a little teasingly.

“No, fucking hell,” Izzy huffed, rolling his eyes.

“And what about you?” you asked. You had come over here to finally make a move, certainly not to take advantage.

“I was on my first drink when you came over,” he told you, nodding towards the tankard that only had the dregs of his drink left.

“So…now can I kiss you?”

The question lingered for a moment, Izzy only watching you. You were sitting close, though the hand against his knee was the only way you were touching him, it was nearly respectful. You were watching him with shimmering eyes, all hopeful but honest.

“Suppose so,” he had aimed to sound unaffected, almost disinterested, but instead it came out a little shaky and quiet. He would have cursed himself for it if you gave him a change.

Feeling almost overwhelmed with fondness for Izzy’s little oddities, you lifted your hand from his knee and cupped his cheek. Then, your mouth was on his, warm but hesitant. You were light and cautious, lips brushing his before pressing a little closer.

Overcoming the initial pause your kiss had caused him, Izzy timidly returned your kiss. Feeling his reciprocation, you smiled into the kiss and pressed a little closer, sliding along the bench until your thigh was pressed against his.

You sighed contently into his mouth before running your tongue over his bottom lip, and just like that, the tavern fell away around you both. Suddenly, Izzy couldn’t hear the shouting and clatter of the tavern, couldn’t even bring himself to think about the other patrons or the crew that really wasn’t all that far away.

Just then, it was only the two of you. You were the only thing Izzy could pay any mind too. He found himself lifting his hands from his lap, a hand curling around the back of your neck and his other resting against your waist. His lips parting, allowing you in.

Feeling the change in his demeanour, you found yourself helplessly climbing into his lap. It was a little awkward with the table in the way but you positioned yourself in his lap, a knee on either side of his hips, a hand on the underside of his jaw and the other buried in his hair.

Izzy tilted his chin up, ensuring you didn’t break the kiss as you moved. The hand on the back of your neck remained, holding you close enough that he couldn’t lose your mouth, while his other arm slipped instinctively around your waist to keep you steady in his lap.

His mouth was hot and searching, inhibitions fading quick. You pressed yourself closer, the kiss becoming more desperate as your body pressed against his. Izzy gasped as you rolled your hips down and against his, already feeling him growing hard beneath you.

That seemed to snap Izzy back to reality, reminding him of where the two of you were. He pulled back, breaking the kiss. The two of you breathing hard, faces flushed and lips kiss bitten.

“People will see,” Izzy warned breathlessly.

“Let them see, I don’t care,” you shrugged, hands on his shoulders.

Izzy’s breath hitched as you settled comfortably down against his crotch, thumbs rubbing small circles into his shoulders.

“The crew…” you could practically hear his arguments growing weaker.

“Don’t care about the crew seeing,” you admitted, dipping your head down to press a kiss to his jaw. “Let them see that I have the attention of Israel Hands.” He could feel you smirking against his neck as you planted a few more kisses.

“Fuck,” Izzy groaned, taking hold of the nape of your neck. You didn’t protest, let him lift your head and bring you back in for another kiss. All of a sudden, he felt like he needed to kiss you like he needed to breathe.

You nipped at his bottom lip before pulling back again. “But if it’s bothering you, I have a room upstairs,” you informed him, innocently playing with the collar of his shirt.

Izzy looked up at you, eyes turning even darker, pupils blown out. You assumed that was a silent acceptance of your offer.

“Wanna come up to my room, Mister Hands?” you asked, as sultry as you could, batting your lashes at him. Laying it on thick, just to see that blush of his deepen.

“Do you want me too?” Izzy asked, hands settled on your hips.

“More than anything,” you couldn’t possibly sound more sincere and Izzy’s mouth went dry.

You weren’t going to lie to him, though, or downplay your own desires. You had been pining for him for too long, dreaming of this opportunity for too long, you definitely weren’t going to ruin it by playing coy or hard to get.

“Alright then,” Izzy nodded, voice only cracking a little.

You smiled brightly, kissing him once more before slipping off of his lap and from the table. Izzy cleared his throat and straightened out his clothing that you had ruffled, suddenly cursing his leather pants for failing to hide anything, before standing with you.

With another smile, this one fond and sweet, as you took his hand in yours and led him towards the stairs. Instinctively, Izzy looked over at where the crew was gathered, to see if they had noticed, to see how they were reacting.

They apparently hadn’t noticed your absence and hadn’t noticed the two of you holed up in the corner, or just didn’t care. They hadn’t noticed the two of you, too caught up in their own conversations and drunkenness to see how the two of you slipped through the tavern and disappeared up the stairs. The lack of audience helped Izzy relax some more.

Izzy followed you to your rented room, you only let go of his hand to unlock the door. You stepped inside, letting him follow you in, before closing the door again.

As soon as the door was shut, you wrapped your hand around the collar of Izzy’s waistcoat and pulled him towards you. You braced your weight back against the door as Izzy’s body collided with yours, one arm wrapping around his neck as you pulled him into a kiss.

He gripped your waist, steadying himself from your sudden manoeuvre, meeting your kiss with fervour. He couldn’t think about anything other than how you touched him, how you clung to him, like you just couldn’t get close enough. Your fingers threaded through his hair, a tug making him moan quietly.

You had pressed yourself between the door and your first mate, completely purposeful, and there was nowhere else you would rather be. The hand that wasn’t in his hair clutched at his shirt to pull him impossibly closer.

Your hips involuntarily rolled forward in the search for friction. Izzy’s hand slipped from your waist to your hip, his grip strong as he anchored you back against the door.

“Are you sure?” he asked, as if you hadn’t already been more than clear about what you wanted.

“Completely,” you nodded, close to whining about him being too far away when the reality was that he just wasn’t kissing you anymore.

“With…me?” Izzy asked again, more carefully this time. As if you had somehow misunderstood him the first time, like you forgot who you were standing in a room with.

“Izzy,” you sighed softly, bringing both of your hands to his face, stroking your thumbs over his cheeks and making sure he didn’t look away from you. “Of course with you. If I didn’t want you, I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t have come to sit with you. If I wanted somebody else, I’d be talking to them,” you told him, like it was obvious. He was your first choice, the person you wanted to spend your time with tonight. “I want you, I’ve wanted you, will want you after tonight as well,” you promised, tenderly caressing his cheek before asking, “you want this, Iz?”

“Yes. Fuck yes,” Izzy sighed, pressing his forehead against yours. “Just don’t want you to…regret-”

“You listen here, Izzy Hands,” you tutted, not even letting him finish the thought. “I won’t regret this. I won’t regret you. I promise.”

“You can’t promise that.”

More than anything, you wanted Izzy to be able to see what you see. A feared pirate, a dedicated first mate, an insanely attractive man.

“I can, as long as you don’t give me a reason to regret it,” you insisted.

“I will,” Izzy sounded so certain, so sure that he would do something that would change your mind about him.

Maybe he would. Maybe he’d run off before the sun rose, maybe he would chastise and degrade you once you returned to the ship just so you didn’t think he was getting too soft on you, to remind you of where you both stood. You couldn’t predict how he would react, couldn’t predict how things would progress in the future, but that was just life.

“And I’ll forgive you.” Once again, you spoke as if things could be that simple.

“Why?” Izzy’s voice sounded strained.

“Because I like you and I think you’re worth it,” you smiled, running your fingers through his hair.

“Don’t know what’s wrong with you,” Izzy muttered but you would swear that you heard fondness in his voice.

“Plenty, probably. But that has nothing to do with this,” you joked, managing to pull a small smile from Izzy. “So…?” you started to play with the buttons of his waistcoat, waiting for him to give you the go ahead. Letting him decide whether he wanted you to continue or if he wanted to stop.

Izzy assessed you one more time before being hit with the realisation that you were perfectly capable of making these decisions, perfectly capable of knowing what you want and taking it.

It was only him getting in his own head about it, viewing himself as he leering older crewmates from the first ship he was on. That wasn’t the same as this, he never once put any pressure on you, you came to him, you wanted him. He could see that now.

You had invited him up to your room, had practically thrown yourself at him. He needed to fucking relax and let himself enjoy something good.

This time, it was Izzy that kissed you. A hand steadying your jaw as his lips met yours. You smiled into the kiss, wasting no time in getting your hands on him properly again. This time, Izzy took an active part in pressing you up against the door, letting himself give as good as he got.

You have his chest a small shove and the two of you clumsily made your way across the room. Deft hands worked on your clothes. You may not be as skilled at tying knots as Izzy, but you undid his ties downright expertly.

By the time the back of Izzy’s legs hit the bed, the two of you were down to your smalls. When Izzy sat on the edge of the bed, you followed fluidly, straddling his lap.

His hands stroked up your back, a little fascinated by the smooth skin. Skin yet to obtain the plethora of scars that came with a lifetime of piracy. Even more fascinated by the way you writhed and preened under his touch and attention, squirming shameless in his lap.

In a tangle of bed sheets, your hands endlessly explored Izzy’s skin. Kissing and nipping over his chest and stomach, licking over his silvery scars. Unfazed by the lifetime behind them, treating each of them as if they were precious.

One moment Izzy’s body was pressing you down against the mattress, the next your body was draped over his. Hands always roaming, mouths always busy, whether it be with kisses or rambled praise.

It couldn’t have been long after sunrise when Izzy woke up, a warm light soaking into the curtains. He woke up to an unfamiliar weight against his chest, and an even more unfamiliar warmth surrounding him.

Blinking himself awake properly, Izzy remembered where he was. In a room above the tavern the crew had been visiting the previous evening. He glanced down at the weight, finding you curled up against his body with your head pillowed on his chest.

You hummed in your sleep, nuzzling closer to him. Izzy was overcome with one inane thought, this was nice. It was warm and comfortable.

Slowly, as to not wake you, Izzy extracted himself from your embrace. Using only the slight light coming in through the window, he dressed and slipped out of the room, clicking the door shut behind him.

When you woke up, you stretched your body out and instinctively sought out the source of the warmth beside you. Much to your disappointment, you found no warm body beside you, just the empty space it once occupied. Still a little warm, but not at all what you actually wanted.

With a small frown, you glanced around the room to see that all of Izzy’s clothes were gone as well. So, he wasn’t just visiting the bathroom.

You flopped back down onto the mattress, sighing into the pillow. You weren’t too surprised that Izzy had run off for whatever reason he had come up with but it was still disappointing.

Burrowing into the pillows and blanket, you decided that you might as well make use of the room even if you didn’t have the first mate to share it with. Just as you were about to drop back off to sleep, the door creaked open.

You shot up in the bed, surprised by the intrusion, ready to face the intruder. But you quickly relaxed when you saw Izzy entering the room with a tray in his hands.

You just blinked at him, unsure of what to say. He didn’t speak either, just closed the door and gave you an awkward nod as he approached and placed the tray down on the bedside table. You eyed the tray of food and drink. Two mugs of coffee, and some bread and cheese. It was nothing fancy but certainly appreciated.

“Thought you ran off,” you confessed, watching him fuss over the tray.

“You paid for the room, thought I’d pay for breakfast,” he shrugged, silently pleading that you didn’t make a whole thing out of it.

“Holy shit, you’re a real gentleman, Iz,” you grinned. He supposed that was too bad, he still kept his attention on the tray in the hopes you didn’t catch his blush. You definitely did, though. “Okay, not get naked and back in bed,” you ordered lighty, patting the empty space beside you.

Izzy looked at you then, more confused than anything. You just chuckled at his expression before explaining, “you’re going to get undressed again so that I’m not underdressed for this date. Then you’re going to get back in here and we’re going to have breakfast in bed.”

Obviously, duh, how else would you spend the morning?

Izzy cleared his throat, deciding against thinking too much about how you called this a ‘date’. “Alright,” he nodded.

You at least had the decency not to watch him as he undressed, despite having seen it all already. Once he was down to his smalls, he climbed into the bed.

He placed the tray in front of you both and you helped yourself to one of the mugs. “I love cheap coffee in the morning,” you sighed happily into your mug before taking a sip.

“Does the job. Wakes you up,” Izzy took a generous drink of his own coffee.

“With a fucking jolt,” you laughed, nibbling on some bread and cheese. Izzy smiled into his mug.

The two of you ate and drank in a comfortable silence until your mugs were empty and all that was left was crumbs.

“How long until our shore leave is over?” you asked, placing your mug down and letting Izzy move the tray.

“Have until noon. Would’ve been better to leave in the morning but the captains didn’t want an early start,” Izzy informed you as he placed the tray back on the bedside table. You smiled a little, amused by his irritation with the captains.

“So, we have a couple of hours before having to get back to the ship?” you asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded, squinting at you slightly. You sounded like you were up to something.

“Brilliant,” you smiled happily and easily as you fell back down onto the bed, making yourself comfy.

Izzy admired the freeness in your movements, the way you stretched out like a cat in the sun. While he just sits beside you awkwardly.

“Lay with me, Iz. It’s our shore leave, we’re supposed to be relaxing,” you guided sweetly, still smiling but now looking at him.

Izzy sighed, feigning effort, but happily lay with you. And he didn’t complain when you snuggled up to him, arm draped over his waist and head resting on his chest. Just like the way he had woken up.

“This okay?” you asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Izzy relaxed and wrapped an arm around your shoulders, holding you against him.

You hummed approvingly as you nuzzled your face into his neck, leaving little kisses against his skin. “This is nice,” you commented.

“Yeah…yeah, it is…” Izzy whispered up at the wooden board of the ceiling, letting his hand stroke up and down your side.

Maybe Izzy could allow himself to be a little selfish, to let himself enjoy whatever you’re willing to give him until you realise he didn’t deserve it.

#israel hands x reader #izzy hands x reader #ofmd izzy #izzy hands #ofmd x reader #ofmd #our flag means death

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ladyluscinia · 7 months

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Why do Izzy haters keep saying Izzy's arc came "at the expense of characters of color" when it's so intrinsically tied up in the crew's union building arc of the season where Frenchie, Oluwande, and Jim have taken major roles in leadership? Since when is Frenchie white??? Not to mention Fang got to have one of the most significant emotional beats with Edward?

Buttons and the Swede have been mostly offscreened, and Roach and Wee John are probably still on the lowest tier of side character development - about where they were last season (somebody has to be, and Roach is getting a lot of good little moments inventing stuff). If anyone else has become less significant I'd say it's Lucius and Black Pete (who aren't really driving Stede's story as much)?

Maybe if they spent less time focusing on how much they want all their fave crew members to hate Izzy they could enjoy them all doing character stuff that is not that?

#our flag means death #especially the people convinced jim and olu have been completely tossed aside?#they've both got new love interests. jim got to mutiny edward. olu has been a big part of the zheng arc #it's an ensemble cast and a budget crunched season so everyone is getting a bit less but like. you'd think the crew had quit 🙄#instead of an important character and dynamic from s1 remaining important in s2 #izzy hands ofmd #the izcourse #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #oluwande boodhari ofmd #jim jimenez ofmd #frenchie ofmd #ladyluscinia

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ecoamerica · 1 month

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youtube

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

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khruschevshoe · 6 months

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OFMD Critique: Izzy Hands, "Burying Your Cripples," and That Fucking Finale

(Note: this is a cleaned-up/expanded version of a post I made earlier regarding disability rep in this show bc I was chatting with @itswhatyougive and @notthewriteryourelookingfor about "Burying Your Gays" and the parallels with the "Burying Your Cripples" trope in media, which is often more insidious because people are less primed to notice it and call it out.

Also, although I am analyzing a trope in media in the most unbiased way I can, I am going to get angry. Because this is a show that did its job at making us care about its characters and their portrayals and you can't get mad at me that I did just that.)

On a fourth note when it comes to the problems with the writing in this season of ofmd...the handling of disability. Because good God.

To preface this before anyone jumps down my throat about getting upset: I am disabled myself, both physically and mentally. I carry a small laundry list of mild to moderate conditions that impair my daily functions. I understand what it is like to desire to see characters that carry disabilities similar and dissimilar to my own onscreen. I also understand that there ARE multiple disabled characters in OFMD (ex. Jackie with her wooden hand, Ed with his knee brace, Pete with his cleft palate, Lucius with his mentioned bad back/wooden finger). I UNDERSTAND that these were all generally handled decently well, incorporated without drawing attention to them (although the disappearance of Ed's knee brace was strange to me in season 2, even that I could get with bc personally I only need to use my cane when my knee flares bad and can walk perfectly normally the rest of the time without an aid).

Which is all to say: the way that Izzy's death was written is insidiously (likely unconsciously, but still) ableist. His entire arc this season revolves around community and recovering from trauma and accepting himself both in a queer sense and a DISTINCTLY DISABLED sense. The way he remarks upon his own disability and his acceptance of himself and the way that the show is written to have his crew member ACCOMODATE him joyfully as an EXPLICIT SYMBOL OF LOVE was a breath of fresh air when it comes to disabled characters. I also enjoyed the way that he pokes fun at it occasionally in the same way that I do with my coworkers/friends (joking "oh really, you're going to ask an invalid to do that?" *gestures at my cane*).

But that ending. God, that fucking ending. *vehemently taps table* The fact that this character who opens up, who is accepted for both sides of his identity after dragging himself through the fucking pits over them, is killed. BECAUSE HIS MOBILITY AID COULD BE SEEN BY THE ENEMY. BECAUSE HE WAS SEEN AS UNIQUELY VULNERABLE. And then they FUCKING PULL HIS MOBILITY AID, the very symbol of his acceptance, from his FUCKING BODY SO HE CANNOT BE BURIED WHOLE?

I'm sorry. I really am. I don't mean to get furious about this. But as a disabled person who saw such hope in this character, who saw a storyline about a part of myself that is rarely displayed onscreen (that slow acceptance of the part of yourself you considered broken + the acknowledgement of love by your family/community in the form of loving accommodation without complaint), this hurt me at a very primal level that I didn't know I could be hurt at.

Bringing this back around to the "Burying Your Cripples" trope: the reason why an ending like this is so horrifying is because it is very much telling you that you can have a healing arc, that you can finally find yourself accommodation and acceptance, and it doesn't matter. Your disability will be the thing that kills you.

To people who say that this ending is justified because sometimes death is just random like that, that saying that death makes healing not worth it, I get what you're saying. In real life, of course you're right.

But this is a CLOSED NARRATIVE. It is a story with BEATS that MATTER, made of decisions by writers who had to purposefully decide to put scenes together. There's a reason they're called "arcs"- they're supposed to aim at a specific point. IF YOU LET EVERY CHARACTER IN A SHOW LIVE THROUGH THINGS THAT SHOULD HAVE KILLED THEM EXCEPT FOR THE DISABLED CHARACTER, YOU ARE MAKING A FUCKING POINT WHETHER YOU REALIZE IT OR NOT. Izzy's death is not showing "random chance" or "the risks of piracy"- HE DIED BECAUSE HIS MOBILITY AID WAS VISIBLE.

Lemme repeat that: costume concepts showed that the original design of Izzy's naval outfit covered his wooden hoof. It was a conscious decision to have the shot of the naval officer looking down at Izzy's leg, at his exposed leg, and pinpointing him as the weak one despite there being entire scenes dedicated to showing that he was still as strong as the rest of them. In a show where the budget and runtime was restricted, not a single shot or costume decision was on accident. They had to pay more to green screen in that leg.

If Castiel went to superhell because of his gay confession for Dean, then I cannot think of a clearer way to Bury Your Cripples than having Izzy die because someone saw his mobility aid.

Do I think they did this on purpose? Well, no more on purpose than David Jenkins looking at Izzy's Hayes-Code-era gay coding/arc and saying that he knew that Izzy would have to die because that's what characters like that do. No more on purpose than saying that the mentor character had to die because that's what characters like that do.

Izzy's disability was visible, was the cause of his death, because "that's what happens" to pirates who gain disabilities. They are weaker. They are more at risk.

I'm sorry, but fuck that.

Fuck the idea that in a show that created a careful space in its narrative (for a season and a half at least) for queerness to be treated ahistorically kindly, that often disregarded geographic, historical, and medical accuracy to tell a compelling story, and that purposefully provided racial and body diversity while calling out racism, that the disabled character getting offed is a "kind ending." It's not. It never has been. And I'm tired of accepting that sort of thing.

I am SO GLAD that fanfic exists with better depictions of disabled arcs/endings in OFMD bc I don't know if I could recover otherwise. Hope my fellow disabled folk out there are recovering as well, and that they understand that there is positivity to be made out of poison- it just wasn't what the finale gave us.

#disability representation #ofmd critical #meta #izzy hands #2x08 mermen #ofmd 2x08 #rant #analysis #burying your cripples #actually disabled #lucius spriggs #spanish jackie #ofmd season 2 #ofmd season 2 finale #fanfic #costume design

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something-about-sunflowers · 1 year

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Hot take: The people who are STILL insisting that Izzy is homophobic (despite the NUMEROUS instances of the cast/crew/David himself saying that nobody on the show is being targeted for their identity and ‘it’s not “I can’t believe he’s with a guy” but “I can’t believe he’s with THAT guy”‘ ad nauseam) towards Stede, Lucius, or Ed (I don’t believe I’ve seen anyone say anything about Fang or Pete, though I could be wrong, but I’m gonna touch on that in a bit too*)? They’re, unironically, being homophobic by stereotyping the characters and reducing them to just their sexuality.

If you recognize that Stede is a multifaceted character and you recognize the ways in which he is multifaceted - He’s a man born into wealth and raised on classist, colonialist ideals. Yes, he’s also traumatized by how he was treated by his father and peers but trauma doesn’t exempt people from blame when participating in, embracing, enforcing, and benefiting from classist and colonialist ideals - you will understand that Izzy is not being homophobic towards him just because he hates him.

If you only view Stede as a gay man and ignore everything else about his character then the only motivation for Izzy to hate him MUST be because he’s a gay man and therefore Izzy MUST be homophobic.

If you recognize that Lucius is a multifaceted character and you recognize the ways in which he is multifaceted - He’s a man who likely was born into some level of the middle class, given that he can read and write (It’s also possible that he was born into a working class family and he learned to read and write there, but it’s the unlikely option by default. None of the rest of the working class crew know how to read or write save Jim who was raised by a nun and would have been taught by her.), he also avoids doing work which is necessary for the function of the ship that they live on and depend on for their livelihoods and encourages the rest of the crew to do the same with his insubordination. He’s also in an unorthodox relationship that people who have not experienced the concept of consensual non-monogamy would not understand and might interpret as cheating - you will understand that Izzy is not being homophobic towards him just because he hates him.

If you only view Lucius as a gay man and ignore everything else about his character then the only motivation for Izzy to hate him MUST be because he’s a gay man and therefore Izzy MUST be homophobic.

If you recognize that Ed is a multifaceted character and you recognize the ways in which he is multifaceted - He’s a man of color, born into a working class family who worked hard to make a name for himself, to the point where he did not have to endanger himself or his crew to earn their livelihoods. He’s also some level of neurodivergent and understimulated by the environment he’s in (because he excels at his job) which leads him to make irrational and dangerous decisions and puts the lives of himself and his crew in danger. He’s also been making increasingly out of character decisions (corroborated by Fang and Ivan) by the influence of Stede - you will understand that Izzy is not being homophobic towards him just because he’s angry about his relationship with Stede.

If you only view Ed as a gay man and ignore everything else about his character then the only motivation for Izzy to be angry about his relationship with Stede (and only Stede, because he had no qualms about Ed and Calico Jack’s involvement with one another given that he sent Jack to get Ed out of the way of the English, but that’s another post I don’t have the spoons to make) MUST be because he’s a gay man and therefore Izzy MUST be homophobic.

If you IGNORE that Izzy is a multifaceted character and you IGNORE the ways in which he is multifaceted - He’s a gay (we’re not having this argument) working class man who earned his high ranking position on an extremely respectable pirate’s crew. He’s capable and is rightfully angry when he’s looked down on because of his class. He recognizes the importance of ship maintenance and is rightfully angry when those tasks are ignored. He doesn’t understand Lucius’ relationship dynamic and thinks he can use (what he thought was) him cheating on his partner (seriously, how is ‘I’m going to tell the man you were fucking that you were fucking another man’ threatening to out him?) as a motivation to make him do the necessary ship work. He is rightfully angry when his orders are ignored because he’s the highest authority on the ship next to the captains. He is in love with Ed and is jealous because Ed is in love with Stede - you can pretend that Izzy is homophobic because of how he behaves towards the other gay men on the ship.

If you ignore that Izzy has valid reasons for his actions (which does not mean that the actions are all entirely justified) then the only motivation for them MUST be because he’s homophobic.

(* The persistent neglect of Fang and Pete in these discussions is also rooted in homophobia. Fang and Pete are the only explicitly gay men on the ship who don’t, at any point, present ‘femininely’** and therefore don’t fall so easily into the bubble of the stereotypical gay man and so they get ignored in these discussions because they aren’t suitable to push the narrative that Izzy only interacts negatively towards ‘feminine’/’gnc’** gay men.)

(** The insistence that Stede, Lucius, and Ed are in any way, at any point, LEGITIMATELY presenting ‘femininely’ or are ‘gender non-conforming’ is ALSO rooted in homophobia - and I’d argue a touch of racism via Ed’s hair and beard as they relate to his indigenous roots. The assumption/association with those three being considered feminine comes from their identity as gay men. That is homophobia.

Stede wears men’s clothes. He wears RICH men’s clothes. Bright, colorful, patterned fabrics are worn by RICH men in the 1700s - if you want to argue that, say, king George presented femininely or was gnc because of the way he dressed be my guest but you won’t because he doesn’t and he isn’t. Lucius wears men’s clothes. His clothes are perfectly at place amongst the rest of the crew’s clothes. Ed wears men’s clothes. His leather is in direct relation to gay leather-men which is a hyper-masculine aesthetic in the same way drag is - typically - a hyper-feminine aesthetic. His appreciation for Stede’s clothes comes from the wealth and privilege that centers around the easy possession of those types and quantities of fabrics.

None of them behave in ways that are stereotypically feminine. Having and expressing emotions is not a uniquely or inherently feminine trait. Caring for and maintaining your appearance is not a uniquely or inherently feminine trait. Even if they were, Izzy also does those things. Izzy frequently expresses his emotions - yes, anger, a stereotypically ‘masculine’ emotion, but others as well. He also puts a great deal of care into his appearance, aside from the materials, the only difference between his and Stede’s outfits are the type of shoes and the presence of a jacket. If those traits are to be considered inherently feminine then it is disingenuous to not apply that label to Izzy as well.)

#the dork is being a dork #izzy hands #the izcourse #always feels like i'm swinging at a hornet's nest tagging them but #edward teach #stede bonnet #lucius spriggs #seriously tho we're not doing the 'izzy isn't canonically gay' shit.#if you're still peddling that at this point you're basically saying that your opinion is only worth dismissal #because you don't know how to listen or pay attention to anything that isn't spelled out for you in a goddamn picture book #and MAN have we been given practically kindergarten level reading comprehension tests by the cast/david #it's okay to admit you were wrong about this by the way #you're not going to be forgiven for the constant and consistent harassment you've engaged in towards people who were saying the right things #from the beginning (izzy is gay and none of what he does is motivated by homophobia) but you're at least not digging yourself deeper for #when your INSISTING on it being true doesn't pay off

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