#re:forced relationships i love that cjizzy fic where jack saves izzy from noncon steddyhands in large part because it subverts that

[laceratedlamiaceae]

Steddyhands for that ship ask game?

(ship ask game)

Don’t Ship It

Why don’t you ship it?

I actually used to ship it, I think mostly because for a while it was pretty much the only Izzy ship people were writing fics for, but I fell out of it in part because I genuinely dislike Ed and Stede (they're great characters and they make a great couple, but as people they're both deeply off-putting to me, especially the way they're usually written in fics, whereas I just straightforwardly love Izzy and I unironically believe that he deserves better) and in part because I've read so, so, so many fics where, either explicitly or subtextually, it seems like Izzy is being coerced/forced into being in a relationship with them and I'm incredibly sensitive to any slight hint of possible consent issues, especially in works that aren't about examining the issues involved with them. I'm sure most of them weren't even doing that intentionally; I just read a lot into things and, given the fundamental dynamic of captains/first mate, if authors don't actively try to address it I'll probably have an issue with it.

What would have made you like it?

I think there's still potential for me to ship it after season 2, depending on what happens. I'd need Izzy to learn to be independent from Ed and I'd need Ed and Stede to undergo a lot of character development, but if that happens I think I could get really into steddyhands (in theory; all the issues I mentioned having with fics still stand). I just need Ed and Stede to be less annoying to me and Izzy to be able to meet them as his own person who's actively choosing to be there, not just Ed's first mate.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

I do absolutely see the appeal; you have the canon love story of Ed and Stede, the "long-time married couple on the verge of divorce fixes their relationship" thing with Ed and Izzy, and the enemies-to-lovers of Stede and Izzy, plus the pretty much completely unexplored dynamic of all three of them together. There's a lot of potential there, even if I personally am not that interested in seeing it realized.