#i don't ship steddyhands except for the times that i do you know what i mean

[laceratedlamiaceae]

Stede and Izzy watching the sun rise, drinking tea and discussing the plans for the day while Ed sleeps in.

Izzy and Ed watching the sun set, leaning back and reminiscing over old times while Stede tells the crew their bedtime story.

Ed and Stede stargazing, laying on the foretop and making up stories about the constellations while Izzy gets some well-deserved rest in their bed.

[gydima]

Because I haven't written fic in years and don't know if I will again -- no matter how much I want to -- this is the Steddyhands fic I'd write if I could.

Stede's on the horizon, in a stolen ship, on his way back to Ed.

Ed's like "OH FUCK" because he's a disaster. He hasn't done shit since Stede left. Like, maybe a raid here or there for supplies, but mostly he's just let Izzy badger him into stuff. (The whole Kraken thing didn't last long because it just took too much energy, man.)

But Ed can't let Stede think he's been pining after him or something, so when Stede's about to re-board the Revenge, Edward grabs Izzy and yanks him against his side and pretends to be completely uncaring about Stede's reappearance.

Ed's all, "Great to see you again!" and "Oh, you want to come back on the ship? Well, you can stay in Izzy’s old cabin because he’s got other sleeping arrangements now, wink wink nudge nudge."

Izzy’s like "What the fuck?!" but also Stede’s face is so amazingly horrified that Izzy's like, "Oh yeah, I’m totally bangin’ Ed now!" (Except in words Izzy would actually say.)

Stede’s all, "WHAT, REALLY?"

And all the other people who’ve been on board (Jim, Frenchie, Fang) are like, "WHAT, REALLY?" But also "Huh, I mean, I guess maybe?"

So Izzy has to sleep in Ed’s cabin and Ed’s like, "We have to share a bed for believability." (There was only one bed! Snuggles and morning wood ensue!)

So Ed enacts much PDA with Izzy in front of Stede, and Izzy’s so touch starved it’s like the best torture. And Ed kinda likes it too, ngl.

Well, Stede keeps trying to make up with Ed anyway, but he feels sorta guilty about wanting to steal him from Izzy. But Edizzy is kind of weird, isn't it? There are times Ed and Izzy seem verrrry awkward around each other. Stede wonders, "Is it possible this is a fuckery?"

Stede tries to catch them in the lie, grilling Izzy maybe, but it becomes very clear very quickly that Izzy definitely loves Ed. So, Stede wonders, does Ed love Izzy?

Paying close attention to their interactions, Stede realizes that holy crap, Ed DOES love Izzy. What to DOOOOO?

Stede still wants Ed, obviously, but would it be doing Ed a disservice to woo him away from Izzy? Maybe there’s another way?

Lucius seems to think so, and he makes some VERY interesting suggestions about Izzy that make Stede super confused but also SUPER hard.

Something something, things happen, not sure how to work them out, but eventually Steddyhands FTW!

IDK how they get there, what am I, a writer? LOL yeah right. Not anymore! 😭😭😭

[internerdionality]

Can I ask if there is anything percolating in the Suffer a Sea Change series? That "pre-ship" tag is haunting me.

I am also equally haunted by the I'm Not Ready for Whatever This Is series. The impending poly situations. help.

Yes, you absolutely can, thank you for asking, and yes, there is! The latter will be out well before the former, but both are very much in the works.

I am kind of a classic case of ADD “takes on too many fics” kinda writer. Right now my top priorities/fics I feel driven to write are:

My winter exchange fic for the Sprizzy server (currently untitled, about halfway done, will be posted third week of January come hell or high water)

The next Stizzy installment for I’m Not Ready for Whatever This Is, which is going to be titled "Add a Flourish" (I was hoping for this next part to plunge into the SteddyHands but Stede wasn’t done wallowing in angst. Almost done, will be posted second or fourth week of January depending on how progress on the exchange fic goes)

Finishing Fuck it Through as a Crew (draft of the chapter is done but needs some heavy editing, also January)

Final chapter of Paid with Sighs and Rubies (about half done, aiming for late January/early February)

Always another chapter of my “Batman becomes a cat” fic, whenever I have time

Past that, things get hazier. I really want to get back to my Marvel time travel fix-it but I’ve been a bit blocked on the next chapter. I have a T4T4T modern GentleScribed that I keep meaning to finish but have barely touched since Season 2 came out. The next chapter of Burning Like Embers, Falling Tender is actually about half done but every chapter of that thing is a monster, now, so it still has a lot of writing before it'll be ready to post.

Annddd yes, the sequel to Soaked to the Skin, which is titled Cut to the Bone and explores Izzy and Lucius settling into Stede's crew and figuring out what Lucius being polyam actually means for them, while Ed wrestles with having lost Stede and Izzy! I have about 35K written for it, but most of that was drafted in late 2022 and very early 2023. I haven't had the motivation to work seriously on it for a while, I'm afraid, but I do really want to get back to it.

To be honest, I have some insecurities about it being not as good as Soaked to the Skin—I don't want to follow my baby with something that'll disappoint readers! But I'm hoping once I clear the decks from some of my top numbered priorities above (assuming they don't immediately get replaced with new plot bunnies, lol), I'll find the energy to focus on it again. I've had some beta readers go through the current in-progress chapters recently and they have been giving me some more hype about it!

(Although if it's the Ed/Izzy pre-ship tag that's haunting you, that plot thread isn't going to pick back up until the third — and final? maybe? unless I turn in into a quartet? — installment for that series, tentatively titled Struck to the Heart. Except for how, you know, his devotion to Ed is always driving Izzy's character and motivations. But they're not going to be in the same zip code at any point during Cut to the Bone. I'm so, so sorry. )

And then finally, down here in my purgatory, I have my "I swear I haven't abandoned you" fics like Unmoored (next chapter started, at least?), Dining is Pageantry, my three Good Omens WIPs, the sequel to Learning at the Foot of One of the Greats, the next chapter of What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor (I swear I'm gonna finish that fic one day, I swear), Praying on the Height, and that Rizzy cannibalism fic I keep promising HopelessScribe I'll finish :D

And below that I have my graveyard fics that I haven't worked on in months but really do want to go back to one day—the DC/Slayerverse crossover, the insane Dragonriders of Pern OFMD AU, my winter piece (from last year, oy) for Dragonmuse's Leda House series, and all my poor abandoned SuperBat wips!

[laceratedlamiaceae]

Stede/Izzy is yaoi and Ed/Izzy is yuri and only by uniting them into steddyhands can we achieve peace