#blackhands fic

[jupitermelichios]

Fandom: Our Flag Means Death (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Edward Teach/Israel Hands, Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet Additional Tags: sadly Stede is not present in this one but he is mentioned, Unhealthy Relationships, Stabbing, Asphyxiation, Violence, all of that is eroticized btw, despite that it’s not actually very explicit lol, Dom/sub Undertones, BDSM, Sort Of, Under-negotiated Kink, there is plot also, Character Study, Post-Season/Series 01, some moments of unreality, my working title for this was “fucked up izzy”, Masochism

Then Jim says, flatly, “You’re the reason he’s like this now, aren’t you.”

Izzy glares at them. “He’s always been ‘like this,’” he spits. “You wouldn’t know, you never saw him before.”

Jim shakes their head. “You woke something up,” they say. “In him.” They look him up and down pointedly. The bandages on his foot, his shoulder, his side; the red mark around his neck. “And now it’s going to kill you.”

Izzy gets what he wanted. And then, he gets a whole lot more

. Bookmarker's Notes:

this is so dark and so bleak and i don't like how it makes me feel but also i cannot stop thinking about it because the characterisation is so painfully grotesquely perfect. i am in a love-hate relationship with this fic. read it immediately, it'll ruin your life.

[super-who-locked-me-in-here]

Pieces of media my mom has seen and the popular MLM ships in them that she doesn't think are gay:

MCU - Stucky (note that she does get a kick out of Stony stuff and she believes wholeheartedly that those two hate fucked in a not-filmed scene of Avengers 2012 so this is not about her thinking "oh Captain America is so straight-laced because he's the ideal American man" or anything)

MCU - Poolverine (she's fully aware and accepting of the fact that both Logan and Wade are canonically queer characters but she thinks all the flirting Wade did with Logan in the newest movie didn't necessarily mean anything because "he talks like that to everyone". Side note though: while she believes Wade should be with Vanessa, she does think that Logan can and should shoot his shot with Wade after Vanessa inevitably dies since he and Wade are both immortal. It's just that she thinks Wade should get his happy ending with Vanessa first.)

MCU - Lokius ("Mama have you ever seen a man fix another man's tie like that" "No but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen! I wouldn't know though; it's been like 15 years since I worked a corporate job.")

Sonyverse/Marvel - Symbrock ("They literally have a symbiotic relationship. That doesn't make them gay." So I showed her the comics where Eddie calls Venom "love" and gives birth to Venom's babies and she said "Fine you win but please never show me alien man birth ever again."

Supernatural - Destiel ("They're like Steve and Bucky! They're brothers in arms! They've been through hell and back together!" Note that she only watched through season 5 but she does know about a lot of their later interactions because I told her about them)

House M.D. - Hilson ("Dot I watched that whole show and they were never anything more than good friends" "What about when House admitted to thinking about Wilson during sex? What about that whole episode where they pretended to be gay for each other to prove a point to a neighbor and Wilson proposed? What about that whole episode where Wilson had to furnish the apartment and House told him not to let a woman tell him what to do but Wilson let House tell him what to do? What about the whole ending?" "Why can't two men just be close enough friends to joke about that stuff with each other?"

Real life - Me and my best friend of the same gender orientation who I've kissed multiple times and have had a requited crush on for years that neither of us have ever persued for logistical reasons (I literally used me and this friend to try and prove my mom wrong about Stucky and Destiel. I asked her if she thought me and this friend were like brothers and she said yes with a straight face)

Sherlock - Johnlock (to be fair this is the BBC ship name, but she doesn't think any iteration of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are the slightest bit gay. "They're business partners and roommates.")

Our Flag Means Death - BlackHands (Should go ahead and say that I'm not really a BlackHands shipper myself; we both really enjoyed Stede and Ed's romance in the show. BUT it takes so much away from Izzy's character and his development if you don't acknowledge that he was jealous of Stede and in love with Ed, at least a little. My mom thought Izzy was just an extremely loyal first mate.)

Also, for the record, I'm not trying to call my mom out as homophobic. I'm queer and so are two of my siblings and she's very supportive of us. There are gay romcoms she enjoys like Our Flag Means Death and Red, White, and Royal Blue. The reason I'm making this list is because I think it's really funny how she doesn't understand the concept of queerbaiting (not that all of the above listed ships are queerbaiting). She thinks things are either explicitly straight or explicitly queer (whether it's gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc) and cannot comprehend the idea that some character relationships are deliberately pushing the boundaries of straight friendships into queer relationships to get more minority viewers and I think her explanations are funny.

[lunar-system]

Izzy Hands: The Moon.

Re-imagined from the traditional Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, this version of the Moon shows Izzy taking the shape of a lone Lover, longing for what he cannot reach.

Longer exploration of the card's symbolism under the cut.

Symbolism of the card

I initially meant this card to be specifically Izzy's, but he is once again unseparable from Ed. Though the moon itself is depicted as Ed, it is through Izzy that I interpret the journey of the card. Feel free to invent your own interpretation as well!

In the original version of the Moon we see a dog, a wolf, and a crayfish. Izzy takes the place of the wolf, marking him as wild and untameable. He is accompanied by a dog, symbolizing his loyalty. The crayfish has retreated, and we can see a monster lurking in the depths of the water, reminding us of the beasts that lie within.

Rachel Pollack (2011) writes: "The Moon signifies the dangerous time between the end of one world structure and the beginning of another. On the emotional level it can indicate the strange state when something powerful has ended and you find yourself thrown back on your instincts."

In the card Izzy already has his wooden leg. He his stepping into his role as the Unicorn, marking a shift in his loyalty and his place in the world. His reign as Blackbeard's first mate is ending, and a whole new world order is being imagined.

Ed is also seen in a new light. With his short beard, he is at the end of his captaincy, possibly even at the end of his piracy. He as the Moon is illuminated by the light of the Sun, personified by Stede in another card, The Sun.

Izzy bears witness to their combined light, unreachable to him on the ground. He teeters at the edge of the water illuminated by that very light, and is faced with a choice. Will he turn, follow the path and try to reach the unreachable? Or will he explore the unknown waters in front of him?

In tarot, water symbolizes emotions, intuition and subconscious. Pollack writes: "Here in the unknown territory our animal selves take over. We cannot suppress the wild emotions but only travel through them." The message of the Moon beckons Izzy to step into the water and face his emotions.

However, there are also dangers in the murky waters of the subconscious. Pollack continues: "The Moon card calls forth powerful dreams, visions, and the power of the feminine." In tarot water is a feminine element. Izzy, a beacon of masculinity, has in the past confused the feminine with the monstrous. He is now dared to invite the feminine within him to the surface. His posture already mirrors that of the feminine lover from the Lovers-card. It also calls back to the Fool, to someone at the beginning of their self-discovery.

Tl;dr: Izzy, the Fool and the Lover, is on a journey from one world to another. Will he follow the path and try to reach the unreachable, or will he find the courage to plunge into unknown waters?

A comparison between the original Rider-Waite-Smith card from 1909 and the re-imagined version

Izzy's pose mirrors the feminine Lover

Sources

Image source: Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, republished as Tarot of A. E. Waite, 2016, AGM-Urania, Germany

Text source: Rachel Pollack, A Journey of 78 Steps, 2011, as cited in the booklet for instruction and guidance of Tarot of A. E. Waite, 2016, AGM-Urania, Germany

[izzyspussy]

headcanon that during the kraken era ed had brief periods of not wanting to make himself feel worse, and during those times he would sleep in izzy's room, in izzy's bed, beside izzy instead of alone in the awful gutted out captain's cabin

accompanying headcanon that izzy never once even considered trying to turn him away even though he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep - partly out of hypervigilance, of course, but also because when ed is clean-faced and stubbly and asleep he looks exactly like the man he used to be back when izzy was certain they were in love

[arsenicflame]

steddyhands modern au inspired by this post:

(1828 words, themes of kink but nothing explicit, established blackhands & gentlebeard-centric. Happy Pride!)

Stede picks up leatherworking in the wake of his divorce. He's not exactly sure how it ended up being such an important hobby for him, only that he had always admired the intricate designs on his horse's best bridles, and with little else to do with his time, he decides to give it a go.

It's rocky going at first, but he's having fun working with his hands for the first time in his life, and there's a sense of satisfaction in seeing the design come to life as he works. With practice, his skills improve, and he learns how to make things that are truly one of a kind.

He starts off posting his pieces online, as a way to reach fellow enthusiasts, but quickly finds himself with a rather large audience. Stede’s style is unique, and, after many requests from his followers, Lucius encourages him to make some more basic pieces he can sell. It's not about making money for Stede, but another way to meet new people who share his interests- as Lucius keeps telling him, it's sad that his personal assistant is the main person he talks to these days. 

So Stede sets out on a new adventure, and has quite the time designing a new range of patterns for the market. He makes purses, belts, bracelets, and, most importantly, dog collars- all still with his unique designs embossed into them, of course. He rents a booth at his towns monthly craft fair, and very quickly finds himself with a new group of friends in the other regulars- Pete, his usual neighbour, who sells an array of wooden figures he carves, Roach, who runs a stand for his bakery, and Frenchie, who isn't actually a stallholder, but is almost always busking near his friend Wee John’s stand of knitted goods, bringing life to the market even in the pouring rain. There's also Buttons, another regular at the market. Nobody is exactly sure what he does there- he doesn't sell things, or seem to buy anything either, but rain or shine, he's there with the birds.

Stede’s been doing this a few months by the time June rolls around. As he's setting up his stand, he notices that the area is much busier than it’d normally be at this time of morning. Lucius, who got roped into helping run Stede’s stall somewhere down the line (despite his protests that this is not what personal assistant means… But hey, he got a boyfriend out of it, at least), reminds him that there's the parade today, too- not realising that Stede had no clue there was a parade today, and especially not that it was pride. Stede immediately jumps to fretting about the amount of stock he’s brought, and Lucius takes the cue to escape, saying he’ll go and grab them coffee (but really, he's off to flirt with Pete)

Lucius is still missing when Ed stumbles across the little leather stall. Stede’s just ran back to his car to fetch his last boxes of inventory, and by the time he returns, Ed’s already begun to narrow down his choices. Stede greets him, starting to tell him that they're not actually open yet, but before he gets more than a couple of words out, Ed’s exclaiming “You're a Kiwi!!!”

The two of them smile at the shared recognition, and Stede says he’ll make an exception, just for Ed, and asks him what exactly he was interested in. Ed tells him that he's looking for a collar “for his boy”, and points out the particular design he was looking at. It happens to be one of Stede’s favourites from this latest run of work, a fact he mentions to Ed. It leads them into a discussion about Stede’s craft, and Ed’s Izzy, and then everything in between. Ed’s listening intently to the things Stede’s telling him, completely drawn in by the process, and by Stede himself. He watches as Stede stamps Izzy's name into the collar, and Stede even lets him have a go at one of the stamps. 

Lucius reappears sometime in the middle of this- only to immediately retreat again, seeing Stede engrossed with Ed. He sets up camp at Pete's booth opposite, watching this man flirt intensely with his boss- and Stede flirt back just as hard. Does Stede even realise he’s doing it? Lucius had known Stede was gay since before Stede even admitted it to himself, but this is on a whole other level.

The pair stand there so long that Izzy comes to look for Ed- the two of them are manning a float on the parade with their crew, and it's past time for them to get geared up. He's already worked up, frustrated to have been left to set up everything alone, when Ed had just gone to see if he could get them both coffee. So maybe he's a bit of a prick, approaching with a brash “where the fuck have you been, Edward”, to which Stede brings the same energy, giving a bitchy “Ed! Do you know this guy?” Izzy tenses, ready to snap, but then Ed cuts in, excitedly telling Stede that this is “his Izzy!” Which confuses the hell out of Stede. 

Forgetting his earlier attitude, he asks Ed if he “really named his dog after his friend”, only to be met with confusion right back from Ed at where the hell Stede got the idea he had a dog from. Stede gestures at the bag with the collar in it, to which Ed has to tell him, “oh, no, that's for him.” Ed tells Stede that they're here to run a float for their local leather society, and while Stede is certainly shocked by what Ed’s saying, he's not finding himself… uninterested. It's simply that he’s never even considered any of this before, especially not that people would use the things that he made for this, but Ed sounds so enthusiastic about it all. He tells him about how his friends would love to see Stede’s work, about how classic leather gear is always so fucking boring- but not Stede’s stuff, no, Stede’s stuff is “fresh” and “fascinating” and unlike anything Ed’s ever seen before. 

Ed's enthusiasm is incredibly infectious, so when he invites Stede to come back to see their float, he readily agrees. It’s a concept Izzy’s less than enthusiastic about. He doesn’t really want to bring this man who’s dressed like he just walked out of a HOA board meeting to their kinky little corner of the world, but he is having a lot of fun watching Stede squirm, so decides not to raise a protest. He does demand he gets his long-overdue coffee first, though (Stede pays for it- as “compensation for him distracting Ed from his job”, he says, not giving Izzy a second to process before he's tapping his card)

By the time they return to the float, Fang, Ivan & Jim are waiting for them, all already geared up. Stede is stunned silent at the sight for about 5 seconds, before he starts actually looking at the quality of Jim’s harness, and proceeds to go off about the poor quality of the craftsmanship, about how the hardware is tacky and completely the wrong choice with this leather, how his “ten year old daughter could do a better job!!!” 

There's complete silence from the group, until Izzy, of all people, bursts into laughter at Stede’s audacity (and, the fact he was staring at Jim's tits completely unabashedly, like he hadn't even noticed them in the first place). Izzy's laughter sets Ed off as he tells the group about Stede’s misunderstanding- “you didn't say he was a person!” “I mean, he's my dog”- and soon everyone's having a friendly giggle at Stede’s mistake.

It's somewhere in the middle of the retelling that Ed remembers that this whole thing happened because he was buying Izzy a gift. After a moments fumbling, he presents Izzy with the collar-  It's a rich, deep black, embossed with a rolling pattern that resembles waves. It’s made from a firm enough leather to take the tooling, and to remind Izzy that he’s owned while he’s wearing it, yet still soft enough for long term comfort. Izzy's eyes immediately lock on to it, an unreadable expression coming over his face, and Ed turns it; first so he can really see the design and Izzy’s name embossed into it, and then so he can see the small “Ed ♥” on the inside of the collar, right over his swallow tattoo. 

“I did the heart,” Ed says to him softly, intended only for Izzy’s ears. Izzy's eyes flick up to Ed’s, and he raises his chin to give Ed the room to put it on. Ed buckles the collar around his neck almost reverently, a test of the tightness turning into a caress of Izzy's neck. It's a perfect fit.

It's as though something comes over Izzy; so twitchy and abrasive earlier, now silent, staring at Ed with a look akin to worship in his eyes. He obediently tilts his head for a kiss as Ed's fingers move to his chin- It's a sight to behold, and one that has Stede intrigued. He wants to know more about this lifestyle, and these men in particular. He wants to be the one to put that expression on Izzy's face.

The moment breaks as Ed and Izzy pull apart, and Ed calls for the crew to finish the last bits of set up. Izzy shakes himself a little before running off to bark orders again, but even still, there remains a softness to him that wasn't there before. 

Ed turns back to Stede with an apologetic smile, already obvious that he has to get going. Before he can speak, however, Stede jumps in -“My business numbers on the card in the box… I'll be around all day”- Ed’s smile turns more genuine at that, promising to stop by if he gets a moment, and that he’ll send his friend's Stede’s way- “if he wants that kind of business.” Stede says that he does, actually- that he's seen a whole new world already today, and, while he was a little taken aback at first, he can feel the passion Ed and his friends have for this life. If there's one thing that's ever mattered to Stede, it's other people's enthusiasm. Maybe he doesn't completely understand yet, but he would like to try.

One year later, Stede’s back at the market on pride weekend again, far better stocked for the crowds this time around. Lucius is finally free to spend the day flirting with Fang & Pete to his heart's content, now that Stede’s roped his own boyfriends into helping him run the stall- and into modelling the merchandise. Ed loves that part, while Izzy needs a lot more convincing, but the puppy eyes Stede & Ed weaponise against him make a very good argument.

[fairfowl]

As promised! Izzy-centric fic recs!

These are all gonna be pre S2 (and all Steddyhands because I was obsessed for like a year)

@crabgrave

Starting off strong with

1) Battle of the Boyfriends

This fic makes you laugh before it makes you cry. A steddyhands centric dramady mostly from Izzy's point of view, and I love this Izzy very much.

Isn't he precious? They absolutely hurt his feelings

2) Doldrums

This one is a two part series that starts with Izzy leaving the Revenge as Stede and Ed reunite post S1. He recruits Calico Jack and becomes captain of his own ship while he and Jack have a lot of sex (I actually enjoy Jack in this one lol) Ed and Izzy eventually partially work things out

The second part involves Izzy back on the ship in the beginning stages of steddyhands

I think the real strength of this series is Izzy's interactions with everyone, but especially Stede and Oluwande

3) The Nook is for Talking Shit

This is a Calico Jack hate!fic and I'm here for it. Also steddyhands because I've got a problem

In this fic Stede and Izzy bond offer a mutual enemy, and Izzy teaches Stede how to craft the perfect insult

I like that they laugh together, and I really like it when Stede stands up for Izzy ♡ (I also like that Izzy has a very good reason to hate Jack that involves him having been injured very badly)

4) Navigating By the Light of Your Stars

A delicious sandwich of a trilogy where the bread is BlackHands and Stizzy relationship studies, and the meat is steddyhands smut.

Featuring: GrayAce!Izzy, whump, Stede’s introduction to BDSM, and discussions of mortality ♡

5) A Pirate Triptych

Another steddyhands trilogy!

This is one I've seen on many recommendation lists and it is worth it. These men and their guilt I swear ♡

Post S1 Izzy schemes to get Stede back into Ed's good graces at his own expense.

If you like Izzy whump this is the fic for you

6) More Vivid than Sunsets, Brighter than Stars

On a shorter and sweeter note this little steddyhands bdsm fic explores Izzy running his mouth and Stede and Ed going a little too far in order to punish him. Everyone gets their feelings hurt ♡

Everyone is characterized well here but Ed is kind of the star of the show, he has to mediate this incident and he's hilarious

7) House of Mirrors

This one is pure Izzy whump with steddyhands caretaking. Izzy is sick, Ed spirals, Stede is Exhausted (tm)

I reread this one often

anyway I think this is what I have for now, I might post another list at some point because there are a couple of longfics that are very near and dear to my heart, plus S2 is not gonna stop me from reading new fic. I look forward to seeing more amputee!Izzy

[bougiebutchbinch]

okay but

Izzy being like 'Bonnet wouldn't understand the nasty filthy BDSM thing I've got going on with Edward. He's too vanilla. Too soft. Prude richboy loser, lmao. Hey, Eddie, you should totally fuck me rough in front of him because that'll freak him out and scare him off lololol'

Ed being like '...buddy I think you have may have misunderstood this situation but. Okay?? This'll be fucking hilarious'

Then cut to Stede being a total freak mid-scene and telling Ed exactly what to do to Izzy, and it getting so fucking nasty that Izzy's like. Amber light. Amber light, fuck. Yeah, I'm enjoying this, I just need another fifty years to process the fact that Stede fucking Bonnet is an even bigger hardcore kinkster than I am

[artsyhamster]

Hello, I wrote a lot this month! And illustrated it lol. So there you have illustrations from 4 different stories

If you're into angsty Edizzy stories, here you go: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59520157

Please read the tags/warnings carefully tho, they're angsty after all.

[sketchy-scribs-n-doods]

steddyhands has me so ruined for any individual izzy ship bc every time i try reading long stizzy fic where ed disappears i inevitably go 'but where's ed? :('

and whenever i read long edizzy fic where stede never pops up i'm inevitably going 'but where stede?? :('

and even when i read ouizzy or sprizzy or fang/ivan/izzy fics etc where izzy is happy while stede and ed are doing their own thing, i'm always a little sad in the back of my mind like 'ed and stede... they don't know?? they don't know the love of izzy?? no kissing first mate??? :((('

(don't get me started on how difficult straight up stede/ed fics are to dig through sometimes, i love the ship to death truly i do, she's the main girlie, but forget crying over where izzy is in their dynamic, i gotta go Entire Work and CTRL+F search izzy's name throughout the fic just to make sure his character isn't getting massacred disney villain style before i get invested in a 50k+ fic at 2am)

my ideal world is one where stede/ed/izzy have sorted their shit out, izzy and frenchie are music boyfriends, izzy shacks up with lucius and pete sometimes for some kissing bitching and gossiping sessions, and izzy and fang have cuddle sessions on the regular

all this ofc alongside archie/jim/olu/zheng's whole thing, whatever frenchie and wee john have going on, lucius' thing with fang, and jackie's continuing recruitment of new husbands to join the swede

in my heart polycrew is real and thriving, we could have had it all dammit

[cononeillbreastingboobily]

Steddyhands

Tired: Blackbonnet + Izzy is just sort of there

Wired: Stizzy + Ed is just sort of there

Inspired: Edizzy + Stede is just sort of there

[bloomeng]

In the early onset of their relationship, Stede and Ed had a tendency to lay awake, giggling into the night, still giddy at the notion of their togetherness. Ed lay on his back, with Stede nestled against his side tracing the worn lines of his tattoos, attempting to map out the landscape of a previous lifetime. Quietly he would inquire as to the origin of each; what was their meaning, where was he when he got it, how old was he?

Most of the tattoos, Ed says, he barely remembers getting. If he does remember they rarely have interesting stories.

“Got this one because I thought it would look cool.”

“This one’s from a dare against Jack.”

“This one is a reminder.”

Stede was surprised to find that Izzy had done many of them. Most of the smaller ones at least, Ed had said, the larger ones—they both decided— were best handled by more qualified artists. According to Ed, Izzy was fairly good with a needle, and shockingly good at eyeballing symmetry. Stede could agree, especially next to the shaky linework of Jack’s masterfully illustrated…

“Think it’s supposed to be a dolphin? I don’t know mate, we were fucking wasted.”

They laugh together, and when it settles Stede resumes his journey across Ed’s skin. He gets to a small tattoo located high on his thigh, faded but still clearly visible, two swords crossed.

“And this one?” Stede suspects it to be another of the ornamental ones, but Ed pauses.

“One of the first tattoos I ever got. Might actually be the first.” Ed traces over it idly as he speaks. “I got it for Iz. It’s my matching tattoo to his.” He laughs nervously. “Not a one-for-one match, but he did let me mark him— my north star.” He taps his cheek just below his right eye. “And I got his swords.”

Stede hums to himself thoughtfully. Just like all the others he asks, “How old were you?”

“Fuck, had to be only twenty at the time. Remember being sorta nervous about the pain, but Jack already had at least ten, so he kept telling me the thigh wouldn’t hurt much at all. But honestly, the pain wasn’t actually going to stop me, cause I wanted it so badly. I was so set on the swords. I even stole Iz’s sword to show to the artist because I needed it to be accurate.” Ed had a far-off look in his eye. “He was right pissed at me for that, but showing him the tattoo afterward softened the blow.”

“And Izzy?” Stede’s voice is softer than before.

“Izzy? He was closer to thirty, but he didn’t get his at the same time. Wasn’t until we mutinied that I gave him his star. It was my idea. I was still hanging onto the idea of matching. Originally, I was gonna go for something more dangerous looking, put it on his thigh, so we could be a proper pair, but he stopped me. It ended up being his idea to do the star. Was shocked when he told me where he wanted it.”

Ed's hand lingers over the swords, with unspoken words caught in his throat. When he finally opens his mouth to speak again, Stede expects him to elaborate but instead, he simply moves on to the next tattoo without prompting. Stede half listens, pondering privately, trying to picture a world in which Ed was chasing after Izzy.

[sensationseekng]

izzy as the eight of cups - giving up and moving on, courage and loss, letting go of friends, lovers, and old ways of being

(that's the inn in the distance)

eight of cups description from Little Red Tarot:

[cannebady]

But imagine established steddyhands. They've not been together long enough for it to be anything close to routine, but long enough that they know the lay of the land they're traversing.

Ed and Izzy have always been more to each other, though they'll both admit (Ed more willingly than Izzy, of course) that they've only come to understand it and voice it recently.

Ed and Stede, once they worked through their respective abandonment and abandoning issues, fell right back into an easy, passionate connection that has them both feeling young and reckless and alive.

Izzy and Stede, though, well-

That's a more difficult story. While Ed would argue that they both were more to each other from the beginning (Izzy rarely took an interest, positive or negative, in anyone outside of Ed and the crew and Stede was consummately polite to everyone save for Izzy and Ed always found it interesting), and Stede and Izzy disagree out of what Ed approximates is sheer stubbornness alone. They spent the first few months of Them, all together, saying they were there for Ed and comfortable sharing and Ed had to sit there and watch them throw furtive glances at each other, sometimes over Ed's actual fucking body, until they finally gave in and started reaching out for the other. Stopped trying to touch each other through Ed. Not that Ed minded the attention, though.

It took another month for them to kiss. Another three for them to be intimate without Ed.

But after that they started to fall into their own rhythms and Ed felt happiness on a scale he'd never imagined he could. He woke up tangled with his two favorite people and he got heaping loads of love and devotion thrown at him daily and fuck if it wasn't a dream come true. And now that Stede and Izzy were also realizing what they could be to each other, Ed's lucky enough to watch the two loves of his life fall a little in love with each other too.

Once they'd defined their whole, Thing, Izzy had become much more tactile with Ed. Openly seeking and providing cuddles, tucking Ed's hair behind an ear, and, implementing his morning ritual of dropping a kiss onto Ed's forehead before heading up on deck. Each morning, Izzy woke with the dawn, Ed following a short time later, and Stede resolutely refusing to wake up until he had no choice to. So when Izzy finished dressing he'd drop a kiss to Ed's forehead and that was the official start to the day. It had been that way for months and Ed came to look forward to it.

He also couldn't help to notice that he never did the same to Stede. Ed pushed it from his mind for the most part. A key strategy for loving the two most stubborn and downright bitchy men on the high seas was to know when to push and when to retreat. They seemed to be figuring it out, so Ed let it go. Well, maybe not let it go, but at least didn't bring it up.

Then there was a storm. Fun and loud and the type of thing Ed used to love. Now, he loves people and that's a far more dangerous game. Stede has learned to sail enough to be helpful, and as Co-Captain of the vessel resolutely refused to stay below deck. Ed was equal parts nervous and proud, but ultimately trusted Stede to know his limits. Izzy, though, seemed anxious and, Ed noticed, almost always had an eye turned toward Stede as the storm truly set in and the chaos started. As the rain and wind pelted against the hull and soaked the ship tip to stern, Izzy's laser focus turned to a look of horror and Ed almost missed it, focused as he was on the color draining from Izzy's face.

A strike of lightning illuminates the sky and there's a deafening crack and one of the lines breaks, looping the rope Stede is lashed too and sending both over the side of the ship.

Ed screams, but he barely hears it over the violence of the storm and his own pounding heart. He turns to Izzy to bark an order only to find Izzy stripping out of his vest and climbing over the side to grab Stede's rope and start hauling him up.

Ed sees Stede break the surface. He's still attached, thank something, but he's limp as Izzy, and a few of the crew, bring him back aboard and Ed's happy world starts to shatter around the edges. All he can think, desperately, is no.

Izzy's a flurry of movement as he tries to sit Stede up and get him to wake up, and Ed's crying so hard he can feel the tears even with the rain pouring down, and the crew is looking on, horrified, and Ed's about ready to fall to actual pieces when Stede's eyes open and he coughs up a worrisome amount of water. As soon as the worst of it passes, he looks over at Ed, smiles a little, then turns to Izzy and reaches a shaky hand up to his cheek before turning his head and coughing more water up onto the deck.

Ed remembers that he has arms, and legs, and a voice, and thirty years of experience sailing through storms, and gets the crew back to work getting them through this. Then he and Izzy get Stede back to their quarters, warm him up and put him in dry clothes before doing the same for each other and getting situated in bed. They'll address the damage, physical and emotional, tomorrow. Tonight is for rest and for Ed to cling to them both like a limpet.

He doesn't sleep a wink. Stede is out quickly, followed by Izzy, both exhausted he's sure, and Ed just stays up staring at Izzy, the fucking hero of the day and Stede, his love that he almost lost. He decides not to look away and if he sneakily checks a pulse here and there, or stokes blonde or salt and pepper locks occasionally, no one needs to know.

When Izzy wakes, early with the sun as always, he does something a little different. Before getting out of bed he kisses Ed twice, then takes a deep breath and brushes Stede's golden curls from his forehead. There's a complicated expression on his face, and it's raw and gorgeous but Ed doesn't want to ruin the moment so he keeps the thought to himself. Izzy drags his hand down Stede's cheek, gentle as can be, and leans forward to press a long, firm kiss right on his cheekbone.

Stede's eyes open but he says nothing. Just looks at Izzy for a long time before he turns his head and kisses Izzy's palm, soft and reverent. Izzy's eyes are bright when he pulls away, but he turns around quickly, resolute to begin the day, and Ed curls himself back around Stede knowing he won't be leaving his side today and basking in the overwhelming warmth of what he just saw.

Stede falls back to sleep quickly, especially with Ed's fingers running through his hair, but there's a soft smile on his face that Ed can't wait to see more of. He's also very interested for Izzy to see it and to know he put it there.

There's more love here, he thinks, than any of them thought possible and for once, he's very, very glad to have been wrong.

[izzyspussy]

The Burden Easy: Crew & Izzy + Omegaverse (5/15)

Summary:

Bitching is one of the worst things a person can do to a fellow human being, tantamount to rape even if they don't force a mating bond while they're at it. The transition is painful, the dominance of the act humiliating, but beyond that an alpha who is forced to become an omega will almost always succumb to dysphoria and despair and, unless prevented, will take their own life.

But Izzy's always been a fucking contrarian. He's gonna be just fine.

CONTENT WARNINGS TYPICAL TO THE GENRE APPLY

Excerpt:

The Captain of the Revenge is a specter, a poltergeist, the leftover impression of the monster he still professes himself to be and to have always been. Most of the time the only evidence of his presence on board is the fear of the men thick in the air as they wait for him to make his next physical appearance. There's no guarantee he will or won't show himself, except for the daily raid. Izzy himself grudgingly obeys Frenchie's order to hang back until his transition finishes and he can stand for more than twenty minutes without bursting into tears or vomiting over the rail. As such, he's cursed to watch Edward stand completely still in the middle of every battle, weapons down at his sides if not completely holstered, finishing off any man who falls already defeated into his range with dull, dead-eyed indifference. Porcelain and pearls crunch under Izzy's weight as he finds the best of the vantage points he can still reach, gun out, hoping the way his hands shake now won't have him shoot through the wrong skull if someone goes for Ed like it almost seems he wants them to. When Edward haunts the deck off-raid, Izzy is a ghost to him too. A shadow. A dead thing lingering, invisible, desperate, and pathetic, past the ending of its life. Izzy continues to live and change, whether Edward deigns to see him or not. His own altered scent frequently chokes him - a strange lightened up and sweetened doppelganger of his old scent with hints of the same twisted mirror of Ed's, the alpha who injected part of his body into Izzy's to change it on his fucking whim. Who made Izzy his bitch and then didn't even claim him even though Izzy immediately went into fucking heat for him. Now Izzy stinks of that, will be identifiable forever by how Edward doesn't respect him and doesn't want him either.

Read on AO3 ->

@saphoblin @bazjack @izzyspinkytoe @thorasreblogpile @izzyhandsdefender

@someoneiwasnt @thecryofthegulls @orangesandunicorns @astralwashboard @thewhovianspirit

@kookykey @sky-fire-forever @usedtobeaduchess @ndanddnd

Sign up here to be tagged when I post OFMD fic.

[justsalpals]

well one silver lining from this whole mess

the spite fics will be delicious

[carrymelikeimcute]

I need an alternate reality version of Izzy to land on the Revenge just to see the dynamic with Ed play out when there's an Izzy there who is fiercely loyal to a DIFFERENT Edward. Or a different captain altogether.

I need to see the first time he orders 'other Izzy' to do something and gets a spriggs-esque 'fuck off, you're not my captain, I don't owe you shit'.

(Bonus points if no one realises the difference between the new/regular Izzy until 'other Izzy' is consoling Stede and an 'I know baby, I know' just sort of...slips out. LIVE ED REACTION INCOMING.)