#interactions: izzy

[wildxhayes]

It had been awhile since Wilder had time for a shift, and sure, this one was to use the bear strength to push a log up a hill, but who said you couldn’t kill two birds with one stone? So he was doing just that, rolling a log up a hill, while in his bear form. It felt good to be able to shift whenever he wanted, and usually he stuck to his own property, but when he saw this log, he just had to have it. There was a good chainsaw on sale at the hardware store, and he wanted to carve the log into a cool looking bench. So up to the trail he slowly pushed the log before he finally got it there. When he was done he plopped down, scratching behind his ear as he took a break. he absentmindedly scratched at the log as he looked at it, it would be perfect for his new patio, maybe he should even make one bear sized, that was a fun project idea. As he thought about that, he didn’t even notice the other person coming up the trail- he was so used to just being on his own property he hadn’t even considered how a random bear in the middle of a very public walking trail would look to others until he got back on all fours and looked up, pausing when he saw the other person looking at him. 

@slavexisabel​

[blakbonnet]

actual scene from the show that was cut

[transfagged]

i actually love that stede refused to give izzy the time of day. fandom can have their izzy redemption but its really important that at least at this point, stedes inherent kindness does not extend to someone who tried over and over again to completely ruin his life. stede doesnt owe someone who went above and beyond bullying (turning him in to the AUTHORITIES) anything at all actually, especially when it was to get in the way of not just his happiness but also to try to control ed

[sketchy-scribs-n-doods]

actually i am never ever going to get over this sheer Look shared between two men in love with the same (very complicated) man

they way they both know that the other innately understands what's it's like to fall in love with edward teach and know the dizzying freefall that is having a relationship with him

just. the understanding that passes between them. i could write a damn book about this one Look

[johnnyspells]

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

Okay but the scene where Izzy confesses his ""love"" to Ed is really fucking funny though

Izzy, stressed beyond belief: what are we (looks like he is about to throw up)

*long pause*

Ed: ??????????????? wtf????

Izzy: I have love for you

Ed: I'm literally your boss??

[finngualart]

im gonna write my thoughts about this in the tags

[goayda]

Izzy looking at Stede completely failing at rope swinging and thinking: He IS an idiot... but that's my idiot now *resigned sigh*

[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.

[tevanbuckley]

If we're talking about ofmd s2 takes that caused the most psychic damage, I need to put a word in for "actually it's progressive that they killed izzy because his death represents the death of queerbaiting and leaves the good canon gays alive to be in love", because I really did feel my soul leave my body.

[bougiebutchbinch]

bear with me for 1 sec

Ed giving up on pirating despite having JUST gotten back into it so he could stay close to Izzy (and follow Izzy's last advice for him & his support of Ed's choices to leave piracy behind)... What if this is also why he buried him on land - so he could keep him close by?

That whole burial scene goes from... kinda disrespectful to... well, still disrespectful, but with an added flavour of MY FAVOURITE 'kinda fucked up and grossly codependent possessive toxic boyfriends' shit.

Just. Ed keeping him. Even in death. Like: that man is mine. He's my dog. He's my first mate. He's my victim. He's my bully. He's my oldest, closest friend. He's my family. And he's never going to be separated from me again.

I'm gnawing on the fucking walls

[asknerdizzy]

"IZZY," Heisberg wad intensely excited about whatever he had to say. [poorly-drawn-akira]

She jumped at the very sudden shout of her name as she turned around to face him.

Why was he excited? Oh please be something actually good.” “Yes?” She tentatively addressed him

@poorly-drawn-akira

[neurosiscocktail]

Season finale spoilers-

Thoughts on why Izzy’s death didn’t really sit right with me.

I really and truly do not like either the “kill your redeemed antagonists” or the “kill your mentors because the mentee has ‘nothing’ left to learn from them” troupes. Now that we have confirmation that the later is what he was going for, it adds an extra layer to the death, and that’s that

Izzy was right

Izzy admits in his death speech, and we as the viewer see that part of what drove Izzy to act the way he did in trying to encourage Ed to be Blackbeard is that he was scared of losing Ed, scared he would outlive his usefulness, scared that if he wasn’t helping Blackbeard Ed wouldn’t need him, and with the life he lived, to not be needed is to be dead. Those who outlive their usefulness get sent to doggy heaven. It felt like his arc this season was about proving this wrong. That he didn’t need to useful to Ed to deserve to live. That he can find meaning and friendship, if only he lets go of this fear.

And then the writer killed him because he… outlived his usefulness to Ed. To kill a character because you love the “mentor dies when they have nothing left to teach” troupe feels bad when the mentors arc was largely about ‘what do you do when you feel like you aren’t useful anymore in the same way you were. How do you find purpose?’

Maybe some people love this and think it adds to the drama of the death, but it’s really not for me.

[sunnibits]

ok but why haven’t I seen a gifset of izzy getting his ass slapped by stede in the duel vs izzy slapping stede’s ass in the trailer. someone get on that. I need to see it. pretty please.

[themistymountainscold]

GUYS THEY DID IT (they are literally just standing next to each other)

[something-about-sunflowers]

So. Anyway.

I think if you're making a habit of jumping into a tag to talk about how much you hate the character the tag is for and the way other people interpret the character and their relationships with other characters, well, that probably says more about you than it does the people in the tag talking about their enjoyment of the character and how they interpret them and their relationships with other characters.

Maybe get a different hobby. You sound miserable with the current one.