#got one of 'em to admit it obliquely on twitter once

[redshiftsinger]

I think a lot of it was entrenched before s2 was even confirmed, let alone filmed or released, making it even more weird because at that point Izzy didn't have a queer realization story, wasn't disabled (ok you could make a bit of an argument about his toe but that was not true until the very end and also I never saw anyone going on about how he's such disabled rep until s2 so I know that wasn't a major fandom motivation for latching onto him) and hadn't come around to Stede's way of doing things. He spent the entirety of s1 being a truly horrid little rat bastard to everyone he interacted with -- at best, to those he was actively trying to collaborate with (like Spanish Jackie), a tolerable degree annoying to put up with for the sake of the shared goal. He was randomly both physically and verbally mean to his own underlings, lied and manipulated and was at least verbally rude to Ed constantly, and both encouraged and engaged in verbal and physical abuse toward Stede's crew. He then tried to kill Stede, threw a fit when the duel didn't go his way and he was held to the terms he himself chose to set, then betrayed Ed and put all of them in mortal danger by calling the cops, got put in charge of the crew BY said cops and treated them so horribly they were ready to mutiny in two days, then proceeded to verbally abuse and berate Ed for daring to try to change and find a healthier way to live that he liked better.

I want to be very clear that by no means am I talking about "everyone who likes Izzy" here, since some dipshits love to make that unreasonable assumption every time anyone criticizes ANY Izzy fans, but I honestly think a factor was that there are some people in the world who are just mean, nasty, manipulative, abusive little assholes, and who are actively invested in trying to keep as many people as possible from realizing how shitty they are. And I think some of them they saw their chance to play the victim with Izzy. He's just like them, in s1. A mean, nasty, manipulative, abusive little asshole. And they managed to spin enough meta to convince the gullible to join them in an echo-chamber pit, spread a bunch of shit about how "everyone" "harasses" Izzy fans so if you like Izzy at all you'd better block anyone who ever says anything critical on sight or you'll get doxxed and whatever else, probably fueling that by sending themselves fake anon hate and using sock accounts to pretend to be Izzy haters being horrible, and also definitely blowing ANY instance of someone Izzy-critical being so much as mildly rude in response to a frustrating interaction, let alone actually acting out of line, out of proportion as a huge victimization of Izzy fans, and amping it up for a fear tactic to create a walled garden of people willing to believe that Izzy's abusive behavior in s1 is somehow "romantic" and also willing to immediately cut off all contact with anyone who so much as suggests otherwise.

It's shockingly cultlike and it genuinely worries me for people's safety who are involved in "The Canyon". I'm not trying to be mean, honestly, I am deeply concerned. They're also annoying as fuck on a regular basis, but like, GUYS. Do you want snapewives? Because this is how you get snapewives.

The thing that still absolutely baffles me about that corner of the fandom that are utterly convinced Izzy is not just the main character but also a character he just never was in the show is, like...why Izzy?

Like, I actually like Izzy. I love Con O'Neill as an actor and the things this man says are so fucked up. He compells me. I like Izzy, I even enjoy his s2 arc overall (especially knowing how it ends).

But fanon Izzy over there is not my Izzy. It's just straight-up not the same guy.

So why did Izzy, of all characters, get this huge fan reaction? I literally can't think of many traits that Izzy actually has in canon that are unique to him.

Queer realization story? That's Stede's whole s1 plot.

Disabled? Izzy isn't even the only character with a wooden body part.

Initially reluctant to Stede's way of doing piracy but comes around due to the power of queer community? My man Black Pete is right there.

Even when I'm trying to be charitable, the only thing I can think of for why a portion latched onto Izzy and became so determined to create a whole new character there is because Izzy doesn't commit any of the "crimes" our actual main characters or the other characters he shares traits with do. He's White, he's comfortably masc in a way Stede and Lucius just aren't, he doesn't have a lisp like Pete. Even his queerness is honestly subtextual. So he becomes a very easy slate to fans to add traumatic backstories and sympathetic motivations that weren't in the show onto.

It's just...weird, but in a really predictable way, I think, that a portion of fandom imprinted on this guy.