#I love everything about queue

[tatteredxsails]

@mvrtogg liked for a starter

Stede held up a bottle of brandy as he stepped out of The Revenge's cabin. They'd had a successful little raid and --

"This calls for a celebration," he said and started across the deck, pouring a bit of the really fucking good brandy for whoever on the crew wanted some. He usually didn't share the really good stuff, but the crew deserved a little recognition for a job well done.

"Fill your cup, Mr. Murtogg?"

[arsenicflame]

Bonus round! Do you use a queue tag?

[tatteredxsails]

"Yeah, super observant of you. Nice," Ed snapped, finally finding his pipe to fiddle with. He picked it up and worried at it, not really cleaning it but taking on the appearance of doing so. If he were Ely's age, he would have shrunk away and disappeared if he'd been talked to like that. He knew that wasn't true even as he thought it. He would have snapped back. Sassed. Made sure that he deserved the inevitable beating.

"Just go, alright? You have better things to do. Obviously."

He didn't yell or raise a hand to them and yet this reaction was somehow so much worse. It made Ely feel like they'd suddenly been thrust out from the ship in a dingy and left stranded in the ocean with a storm rolling in, struggling to stay afloat and work out a way back to shore. They weren't sure what it was they'd said or what exactly the feeling emanating from Ed was but it was... wrong. Cautiously and wide eyed, Ely watched Ed turn away from them. They dug their fingers into the mattress behind them and tried to come up with something- some plan for survival. Anything. "Y-you're upset..." They note, voice flat and audible despite the initial wobble. A younger Ely would have turned tail and ran away, following Eds instruction but, despite their words, Ely is comfortable with Ed. He is the closest thing to a parent they've got and that affords them some flexibility even if they won't admit it out loud. "I've upset you. I'm sorry..."

[tatteredxsails]

Like this for a starter from Izzy. Multis, please specify.

[tatteredxsails]

@neverhangd out here making me not be as lazy as usual for 5 seconds

Stede made an undignified sound when Anne pushed him back against the wall, his hands going up reflexively to hover somewhere in the vicinity of her waist. The impulse was to raise them to his chest, but there wasn't enough space between then and...

He was breathing a little too hard.

"Anne!" he hissed in a stage whisper, well aware of the fact that it was in their best interest not to get caught.

Send me a meme.

[tatteredxsails]

Like this for a starter from Iraia. Multis, please specify.

[tatteredxsails]

"I'm glad you realize that," Ricky gave him a sickly sweet little smile. "I'll be back to take more, of course. I've found that repetition is really one of the best marketing strategies available to a man. And I've a name to make for myself, Mr. Hands. But!"

He patted the man's leg, "You rest. You need it, after that whole ordeal. I'll come back around, soon enough."

Izzy laughed at Ricky, the pain where his hand had been now at the point it was almost numbing. He wasn't scared of Ricky or what he would do him. He wasn't scared of what the others would do or how they would react.

In Izzy's mind, knowing something had happened to their first mate would either make them angrier and more determined to take Ricky down. Or, what a large part of his mind still believed despite everything, they wouldn't care and would just carry on. Unbothered by him being hurt and captured. Unbothered by losing him.

His laugh faded and Izzy set his jaw as he thought about it. He felt like he belonged with them, had started to think of the crew as his family. But despite everything he had done for them since Ed had spiralled, something in his mind still doubted if he meant as much to them as they did to him.

Despite those doubts, Izzy would still do anything to protect them.

"It'll never be over."

[dailyayao]

[graedari]

This was supposed to be me just making a reference for Corvo's scars... I am not immune to Corvo/Jess propaganda <3

[tatteredxsails]

“Look, everyone is just better off without me, okay?” From Stede for Ed

Edward reached out and put his hand on Stede's arm. He could move better than he could articulate the jolt of pain he felt in his chest when Stede said that. How bad was it, that Stede thought this crew would be better off without him? Fuck, the ones that he'd marooned had stayed with the man on his harebrained quest to track Edward across the Caribbean. They'd subjected themselves to all manner of things, to follow Stede when they all could have made the decision to walk away. They hadn't even had a damn ship anymore, and they'd stayed. That was loyalty Edward had only ever inspired in one man. For all the greatness of Blackbeard, he knew that his men would have peeled off one by one if not in whole droves if he'd asked the same of them.

They'd only stayed aboard The Revenge during the worst of his grief spiral because they didn't have any other choice. He'd kept them at sea, away from ports, filling their larders with what they could take from the ships they plundered so that there was little need to head back to land for supplies. When they did need something they couldn't steal, Izzy would go on ahead with a dinghy and enough hands to ferry supplies back to the ship. Izzy would keep them in line, bring them back. There was no escape for them.

"Shut up," Edward's voice stayed quiet. "That's not fucking true and you know it. The moment they find out you left, they're going to organize some kind of half-baked search party. Come on, man, sit down with me and let's... fucking talk it through or some shit."

He pushed some of his hair back with his free hand as he said that, trying to appeal to the way that Stede had run The Revenge before everything. Talk it through.

"Tell me what happened?"

[tatteredxsails]

"Yeah, man, you're the one who... fucking suggested it," Ed gestured with his glass. Maybe he'd misunderstood. He'd never even heard of retirement before Stede had said the word, but Izzy had. That seemed about right. Izzy seemed to know things that Ed didn't. Not because the man was smarter than him or anything like that, but because he spent more time at port. More time rubbing elbows with other people. He didn't have to be the fucking demon like Edward did.

The Mad Devil Pyrate Blackbeard.

Stede had put the book in his hands and Edward had been confronted with how people saw and thought about him. Yeah, they'd built that legend. Having people think of him as some kind of monster helped things along. But he'd felt trapped by the whole thing. Had, for a long time. He'd become a ghost years before he'd met Stede. Stede with his beautiful little boat, knickknacks and ornate candelabras.

Stede had told him what retirement was and Ed had become more and more certain that the man had everything figured out. He knew how to do things. How to just... be comfortable. Find enjoyment in the world, in spite of it all.

He took a drink and muttered into the crystal, "Thought it sounded nice. Don't know."

Stede tried to act nonchalant when he felt Ed’s palm against his knee but he froze. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, far from it in fact; that’s what was so surprising. The instant he felt the other man’s touch, a shock of electricity seemed to run from his knee all the way up his body. He could almost see the sparks emanating from the man’s hand into him. He had never felt like this before. His body had never reacted this way before. The blond didn’t want it to end but he didn’t know what to do with himself. He took another quick sip of his drink, cradling the rock-cut crystal like an infant in his hands.

In an instant, as suddenly as it had started, it was over and Ed had moved his hand away. Stede felt bereft at the loss of touch but he had no idea how to handle it. He didn’t know what to say and he didn’t know how he should feel about it. He didn’t know how to tell Ed not to stop … Ed didn’t draw any attention to it so Stede decided to follow the other man’s lead. Maybe he was imagining things. Maybe Ed was just a affectionate person. He wasn't accustomed to physical affection.

“Ah.” Stede replied with a nod. He thought of his son who was coming up to that age and could not imagine his child at sea as part of a ship’s crew. It was a sobering thought. It was true that Stede was naïve about piracy in many ways, he still wore his rose-tinted glasses; to him it was all one big adventure. However, every day that went by; the blond was starting to see the harsh reality of the situation; multiple attempts on your life would do that to a man. He still wasn’t ready to give up his dream, but thinking of a young Ed making his way in the world all alone at such an age was hard to ignore. It was incredible that the man had survived this long; he really was as talented as Stede had imagined. And yet, despite all this, some part of Stede still envied him. Stede was a bundle of contradictions.

“R-retirement?” Stede said, finally turning his head to make eye contact as he choked on his liquor. He put the glass down as he coughed into his hands and tried to breath. “Bla--Ed, retire?” He asked, incomprehensively. Sure, life at sea was hard but now that Ed was on top surely things were better? No-one to tell you what to do or how you should behave? It was hard for the blond to consider that piracy wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, despite his recent experiences.

[babykittenteach]

You bring it up, and bring it in And we'll get you fixed up in no time

[tatteredxsails]

@izzyeffinhands continued from here

"You don't... rebuild a burnt bridge, man. It'd be... fucking structurally unsound," Ed scoffed, and considered brushing Izzy's hand away. He didn't deserve to try and rebuild anything. He didn't deserve to catch the fucking rope Izzy was throwing to him. Izzy had thrown him so many ropes over the years. Patched holes that would have ensured he'd sink. Bailed water...

Cleaned up every fucking mess he'd made, from the moment they'd met. He didn't deserve to catch the rope, but he couldn't just cut it, either.

He worked his jaw for a moment, then brushed his fingers over the palm of Izzy's hand.

[tatteredxsails]

Ed's eyes were hooded, but he sucked in a breath at the feel of Frenchie's against his thigh. Yeah. This had been the right decision. There had been the briefest moment when Frenchie had paused and Edward had wondered if he'd need to do away with the man after all. Sitting between Ed's thighs was a privilege. Doing so without the barrier of leather was a fucking miracle. He was a man with well guarded secrets.

He brushed his fingers from Frenchie's temple up to the dense curls of his hair, smoothing it back from his brow -- even momentarily.

"I think you know what to do, Frenchie," his voice came out tighter than he'd meant for it to. Fuck, but he did need this. Needed it even more than he wanted it, and he was sure that how much he wanted it was obvious. His cock was aching and hard, and he could feel the wet heat of his own arousal between his thighs.

He spread his legs slightly wider, a demand more than an invitation.

Frenchie went still at Ed's touch, before just slightly leaning into it. It was a strange dichotomy to the violence he was used to seeing, but he supposed if there was ever a time for someone to be soft, it would be in the bedroom.

The order brought things into contrast, reminded him that Ed probably wasn't about to be soft but also stoked his arousal hotter. And Frenchie worked fast, freeing Ed of his clothes, eager and heated. The man looked delicious sprawled out in the captain's chair as he was.

And to his knees Frenchie went, working to tug Ed's tight pants out the way - only a moment's pause when he succeeded in bringing the leather to his knees, before he continued, pulling the other's pants down and away. He could admit that he'd been expecting to choke, but he was perfectly happy to drown instead.

A raised brow, head bowing just low enough for his breath to tease across Ed's inner thighs, the slightest quirk of his lips, voice deep, tone a faux sort of innocence, "And now, Captain?"

[dailyfigures]

[tatteredxsails]

@indestructiblelittlefckr liked for a starter [Izzy]

Ed had seen nice mirrors before, of course he had. But there was something about the captain of the ship they'd take had in his cabin that seemed... clearer. Something that lured Ed into spending time in front of them, staring as if he could see some detail that otherwise escaped him.

Or he'd just make faces.

In that particular moment, he was caught up in his own reflection, gaze tracing over the soft edge of fabric against the roughness of his own skin. Was his skin actually all that rough? Not along his collarbone, surely. He raised a hand to trace a finger over the rise of the bone. Couldn't tell through the fucking callouses on his fingers.

As nice as the mirrors were, he couldn't see what he wanted to in them. There were no revelations to be had, no matter how long he stared at himself. He tilted his head down, reaching back to unfasten the tie that held his hair back. Breaking eye contact with himself in the mirror made him oblivious to the movement behind him and the fact that Izzy was there.