Izzy/Ed reclist
May. 31st, 2022 08:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flo_neljaSo, I've spent a few weeks reading a lot of Izzy/Ed fic on AO3 and I will put this to good use by reccing my faves.
My biases: I don't like any kind of non-pirate AUs, it's hard to sell to me Izzy's feelings not staying one-sided (and it's very hard to sell me Stede/Ed/Izzy but I'm open to recs), I love kink and I love darkfic.
I usually rec more Izzy PoV, because well, as I see it as one-sided, the ship is more visible from his end. It's not a preference, though. Just a fact.
I don't copy all the warnings tag, so please, heed them. There are very dark themes here.
Part One - Pre-canon, backstory for Izzy and Ed
Though some of them end up when they reach canon.
Pirate stories
nothing as painful as the truth by morian (OS, 2999 words)
Six months in, he leans his elbows on the railing and looks at you thoughtfully. “What do you think of Grimshaw?”
You know to be honest with him by now so you say, “He’s a useless twat.”
He hums. A moment’s silence. Then he says, “Izzy, Izzy,” in that slightly comical sing-song he sometimes does when he is in one of his strange moods. “Will you get rid of him for me?”
You will.
One of the first fics for the ship, and one of the most popular ones, for good reason.
to have and to hold by FortinbrasFTW (OS, 6581 words)
“What are you doing?” Izzy manages, his voice is very strange in his ears, like it’s coming from someone miles and miles away.
“Marrying you!” Ed laughs. Like it’s nothing. Like it’s a great bloody joke. “Don’t worry," he winks, "can divorce me soon as we get the discount on this fucking room."
Or how Edward Teach gave Izzy Hands a ring that he still hasn't managed to take off.
It seems like the classic tropes: sharing a bed, pretending to be married, except it's only pain; also it's so beautifully written.
How Not To Drown by DisasterShipBlonde (WIP, ch5, 19643 words)
Young and bored, Ed is a deckhand - the lowest of the low amongst Benjamin Hornigold's crew. When one Israel Hands signs his name on the roster, Ed finds his boredom quickly dissipates.
"You want to play a game with me, Izzy?”
Awful folie à deux shenanigans ensue.
This one has an interesting structure, where every chapter could be read separately, which means that despite the torture and the whippings and the murders it has a slice of life quality. It's an odd mix that I love a lot. I also loved to see Ed's depression from his PoV.
i'd talk with the devil but i wouldn't know what to say by anirondack (OS, 15403 words)
Blackbeard inclines his head. Go on, then.
Izzy inclines his own back. Yes sir.
In the dark, the cut of the blade feels like consecration.
Character study on Izzy Hands, and what it takes to create the legend of Blackbeard.
A life of pirating, well-written, and once again there are tags that explain a lot: "Corporal Punishment But Make It Cooperative" and "Two Men Make Each Other Worse" and "When Doing Anything For Someone Includes Destroying Yourself"
traitor by GoldStarGrl (Complete, ch5/5, 8830 words)
It's killing him. Ed's killing him.
The one where Izzy starts as a weirdly cute teenager with a crush.
a series of inspired follies by tediousdelusion (OS, 15829 words)
They begin when Blackbeard is more of an idea than a person. When Edward Teach shoves Israel Hands into the store closet and lights a match between them.
Hands has seen more than enough of Teach before, prancing about the deck and demanding more of Hornigold’s regard than he deserves. He should find it desperate, this kind of peacocking, if it wasn’t so fucking effective. Teach has barely been on the ship for six months and already he has the Captain’s ear and the crew’s good favor. Hands has taken twice as long just to get their begrudging respect.
Because where Hands is constant, assured, dependable, Teach is... Exciting. Combustible. Illuminating.
Or, a series of vignettes in the life of Izzy Hands, featuring the tattoo, intricate rituals, and the conflation of love and violence.
I really love the fuckeries in this one, I love how the non-chronological narrative enhances the drama even though of course we know how it ends.
Well, that's that. by TheParable (OS, 9847 words)
Israel Hands has been set on becoming Edward Teach's first mate since he was sixteen. He shot and maimed people for him, for Blackbeard, he did unspeakable fuckin' things for him. Like join the English navy. More of his life has been spent with Edward than it hasn't been, and there was noone he could trust more than him.
You'd think someone who's been your closest confidante for years upon years would be met with more than a "Well, that's that.", when you’re tossed aside like a fuckin’ rag.
-
My take on Izzy's backstory and character.
I thought to myself ah i could give Izzy a backstory for the ring seperate from Edward. But i could also not and make Ed chosing Stede in a heartbeat that much more devastating the longer Izzy's been pining <3
The one where Izzy was in a pirate ship with Ed as a teen but he also was in the Navy at one point and the writer has a quite romantic way to combine two popular headcanons. I loved it.
Wrapped In My Pelt, My Heart by Anonymous (WIP, ch1/4, 1876 words)
Izzy is a selkie who believes in no human. This changes when Blackbeard enters his life.
I have a weakness for magical alternate universes, and Selkie!Izzy is interesting, though the first chapter is mostly a pirating story where the selkie fic doesn't play a big role (still a first encounter I like)
Smut (angst+porn+character study but no plot)
Break him by chaos_monkey (OS, 2654 words)
For the OFMD kinkmeme prompt: I just want to see Izzy mating pressed and creampied. Any warnings go as long as Izzy is on the bottom.
aka: The one where Izzy gets himself fucking ruined.
Ed/Calico Jack/Izzy very hot threesome with very dubious consent.
Surrender Without A Fight by Slow_Burn_Sally (OS, 5948 words)
Izzy consoles Ed in a moment of grief and they end up getting far closer than intended. Izzy is a pine tree. Ed is a mess. They are both messes. God I love them.
Pre-canon one night stand and Izzy ruins everything because he's too afraid Ed will do it before otherwise.
Destructive interference (two waves maligned) by Leu (Karaii) (OS, 8957 words)
“Do you think I’m gross, Izzy?” Ed murmurs against Izzy’s lips, brushing beard against beard. “Do I disgust you?”
“Never, Captain,” Izzy breathes.
“Liar,” Blackbeard whispers.
The one where they fuck the cabin boy together and then Izzy kills him. It's dark and unhealthy and I love it.
Other fics without plot or smut (just UST and angst)
marks the spot by doomcountry (OS, 2030 words)
He fears for Edward, sometimes. Worries what his crew would do to him if they saw the way he acts sometimes, when he isn’t quite Blackbeard anymore. Only Izzy ever gets to see him like that. He doesn’t know if that’s a privilege or a burden.
One of the fics about Izzy's tattoo, an old one, before the headcanon that Ed did it became common. I love how the relationships between Ed and Izzy almost domestic and still always on the edge and hurtful.
th'uncertaine sicklie by dissembler (OS, 2156 words)
Izzy's holding it together.
Sad fic about Izzy trying to take care of Ed's wounds, and Ed in a place where he's not very interested in not dying.
What Do The Waves Have to Say Now? by SaintMalone (Complete, ch20/20, 7981 words)
A cautionary tale inspired by the Fool's journey through the tarot.
Each card in the major arcana represents stage, phase, trial, or journey that one will face in life.
These cards are for Israel Hands.
Slow burn horror esoterica featuring Israel Hands and Edward Teach/Blackbeard.
Each chapter can be read as a vignette - together, one after the other, or stand alone.
19 chapters, some cards are paired with others.
It's a collection of ficlets, some no more than one sentence, and I really love the work on the symbolism, and also, the long ones are very good dark/slice of life/UST by themselves. Very good.
Part Two - Post episode 10
Smut
Yes, Blackbeard by TheGlintOfTheRail (OS, 1952 words)
Izzy had no idea what would happen now. Blackbeard might give his forehead one more slam against the bulkhead and tell him to get the fuck out, or he might throw him to the floor and give him a kick in the side and walk away.
Or he might not.
Izzy was certain that Blackbeard didn’t know, himself, what he would do; the balance might tip in any direction, at any moment. He watched a drop of blood fall from the tip of his nose and spatter on the floor. He tried not to tremble, and failed.
Then the hand tightened in his hair again, so hard that he gasped, and Blackbeard wordlessly shoved him to his knees.
The first fic I read where Ed was fucking Izzy post-canon. I'm not sure if it's the best, but I sure still have a weakness for it, and the rest of the fandom too, given the number of Kudos.
Trigger Discipline by rowenablade (OS, 3296 words)
“Shh. Shh.” The hand on Izzy’s shoulder turns to iron, fingers bruising through his jacket. “Relax, mate. You trust me, don’t you?”
Izzy does. He trusts Blackbeard, he has to trust Blackbeard, because the other option is a life where he can trust no one and there’s still a small, sickly part of him that isn’t prepared for that. Blackbeard doesn’t feel fear, but Israel Hands does. Every day of his life, he’s felt fear.
--
Izzy tries to manipulate Blackbeard, and it goes wrong in exactly the way he hopes for.
Gunplay, tense and unsafe, kinky, well-written and very hot.
shiver and sing by focusfixated (OS, 1539 words)
Izzy kneels in supplication to a man who loathes him. Edward is a smoking shadow of grief and rage. It’s who they are. Devil men with blood in their wake.
Or: Stede is gone, but his spectre lingers.
Dark and poetic.
Knowing by kindkit (OS, 3094 words)
Izzy is known. And learns to know himself.
Oh, this one is dark, dubcon, deep, and I love it. With Izzy who's so strong in denial that any truth hurts.
desire 'til there's nothing left of me by whaleoil (OS, 2017 words)
Blackbeard lays a claim on Izzy Hands.
An alternate version, more kinky and more sexual, of the toe cutting scene. Damn, it's hot. Or maybe it just indulges my kinks. But I love it.
Other fics without plot or smut
Living On Your Breath by DisasterShipBlonde (OS, 1981 words)
Of all their rituals, this is the most intimate.
Sometime after The Breakup, Izzy helps his captain prepare his pipe.
It's dark and sad and I love the writing.
Post-s1 stories
waves break by brawlite (OS, 3525 words)
Edward copes. Barely.
Izzy takes care of Edward after Edward has anonymous sex to cope with losing Stede. Some tags are "izzy may not be good but he is a good right hand man" and "literally no one has a good time except anonymous man" and yes. This. I really loved the angst.
My Fucking Resignation by prince_doomed (OS, 1759 words)
When Izzy was drowning, blood tasted just the same as water
A look into the mind and attachemnts of Israel Hands, and what it takes to let go.
A weird fic about drowning, also, about Izzy having to arrange Ed and Stede's wedding, and it's just the same, isn't it? It's far darker and less in the tone of the series than the usual take on this trope, and it's a bit confuse sometimes, but it worked for me, and I loved Buttons in it.
Sliced Palms by HauntedGarden (OS, 1189 words)
Stede sighed, “Tell me, Izzy, how has he been without me here? Has it been as it was before? The terrifying Blackbeard and his infamous first mate. Terrorising the seas, bathed in riches and horrific glory?”
It was Izzy’s turn to flinch, “You know it fucking hasn’t been.”
Stede took a step forward. It was stupidly confident. Treading the line of a suicide wish.
“So, what do you have to lose?”
The one where Izzy has the opportunity to kill Stede and doesn't do it because he accepts Ed is even worse without him, and it's the closest to Stede/Ed/Izzy that I will rec here, but also, it's so rare to find fics where Stede canon-typically has contempt for Izzy but that aren't fics where we're meant to be like "it's funny because it's true" (it's tragic because it's true is harder to find)
Mercy by Lydia_Eve (WIP, ch12, 28545 words)
Izzy gets everything he wanted.
It's hard to make me believe in romantic Izzy/Ed post-canon, but this one works very well. It's slow, and there's violence, and there's lot of turning back, but it might go to a happy ending for them? Or not. Or the summary is terribly ironic. I'm not sure but I'm enjoying it.
Like A Whetted Knife by zythepsary (OS, 21766 words)
When he wasn't readying the crew to battle or planning their next move, Blackbeard hid away in his cabin. He drank too much, hardly spoke, and forgot to eat—so Izzy had to stay with him until he got his wits back. He'd done it before, years before they met Bonnet. He could do it again.
Post-finale. Izzy tries to keep Blackbeard distracted.
Post-canon Izzy/Ed romance. It has good interactions with Jim and Lucius, and some scenes that are surprisingly soft for post-canon but the writer makes them work, specifically regarding Izzy's uneasy feelings about it.
My biases: I don't like any kind of non-pirate AUs, it's hard to sell to me Izzy's feelings not staying one-sided (and it's very hard to sell me Stede/Ed/Izzy but I'm open to recs), I love kink and I love darkfic.
I usually rec more Izzy PoV, because well, as I see it as one-sided, the ship is more visible from his end. It's not a preference, though. Just a fact.
I don't copy all the warnings tag, so please, heed them. There are very dark themes here.
Part One - Pre-canon, backstory for Izzy and Ed
Though some of them end up when they reach canon.
Pirate stories
nothing as painful as the truth by morian (OS, 2999 words)
Six months in, he leans his elbows on the railing and looks at you thoughtfully. “What do you think of Grimshaw?”
You know to be honest with him by now so you say, “He’s a useless twat.”
He hums. A moment’s silence. Then he says, “Izzy, Izzy,” in that slightly comical sing-song he sometimes does when he is in one of his strange moods. “Will you get rid of him for me?”
You will.
One of the first fics for the ship, and one of the most popular ones, for good reason.
to have and to hold by FortinbrasFTW (OS, 6581 words)
“What are you doing?” Izzy manages, his voice is very strange in his ears, like it’s coming from someone miles and miles away.
“Marrying you!” Ed laughs. Like it’s nothing. Like it’s a great bloody joke. “Don’t worry," he winks, "can divorce me soon as we get the discount on this fucking room."
Or how Edward Teach gave Izzy Hands a ring that he still hasn't managed to take off.
It seems like the classic tropes: sharing a bed, pretending to be married, except it's only pain; also it's so beautifully written.
How Not To Drown by DisasterShipBlonde (WIP, ch5, 19643 words)
Young and bored, Ed is a deckhand - the lowest of the low amongst Benjamin Hornigold's crew. When one Israel Hands signs his name on the roster, Ed finds his boredom quickly dissipates.
"You want to play a game with me, Izzy?”
Awful folie à deux shenanigans ensue.
This one has an interesting structure, where every chapter could be read separately, which means that despite the torture and the whippings and the murders it has a slice of life quality. It's an odd mix that I love a lot. I also loved to see Ed's depression from his PoV.
i'd talk with the devil but i wouldn't know what to say by anirondack (OS, 15403 words)
Blackbeard inclines his head. Go on, then.
Izzy inclines his own back. Yes sir.
In the dark, the cut of the blade feels like consecration.
Character study on Izzy Hands, and what it takes to create the legend of Blackbeard.
A life of pirating, well-written, and once again there are tags that explain a lot: "Corporal Punishment But Make It Cooperative" and "Two Men Make Each Other Worse" and "When Doing Anything For Someone Includes Destroying Yourself"
traitor by GoldStarGrl (Complete, ch5/5, 8830 words)
It's killing him. Ed's killing him.
The one where Izzy starts as a weirdly cute teenager with a crush.
a series of inspired follies by tediousdelusion (OS, 15829 words)
They begin when Blackbeard is more of an idea than a person. When Edward Teach shoves Israel Hands into the store closet and lights a match between them.
Hands has seen more than enough of Teach before, prancing about the deck and demanding more of Hornigold’s regard than he deserves. He should find it desperate, this kind of peacocking, if it wasn’t so fucking effective. Teach has barely been on the ship for six months and already he has the Captain’s ear and the crew’s good favor. Hands has taken twice as long just to get their begrudging respect.
Because where Hands is constant, assured, dependable, Teach is... Exciting. Combustible. Illuminating.
Or, a series of vignettes in the life of Izzy Hands, featuring the tattoo, intricate rituals, and the conflation of love and violence.
I really love the fuckeries in this one, I love how the non-chronological narrative enhances the drama even though of course we know how it ends.
Well, that's that. by TheParable (OS, 9847 words)
Israel Hands has been set on becoming Edward Teach's first mate since he was sixteen. He shot and maimed people for him, for Blackbeard, he did unspeakable fuckin' things for him. Like join the English navy. More of his life has been spent with Edward than it hasn't been, and there was noone he could trust more than him.
You'd think someone who's been your closest confidante for years upon years would be met with more than a "Well, that's that.", when you’re tossed aside like a fuckin’ rag.
-
My take on Izzy's backstory and character.
I thought to myself ah i could give Izzy a backstory for the ring seperate from Edward. But i could also not and make Ed chosing Stede in a heartbeat that much more devastating the longer Izzy's been pining <3
The one where Izzy was in a pirate ship with Ed as a teen but he also was in the Navy at one point and the writer has a quite romantic way to combine two popular headcanons. I loved it.
Wrapped In My Pelt, My Heart by Anonymous (WIP, ch1/4, 1876 words)
Izzy is a selkie who believes in no human. This changes when Blackbeard enters his life.
I have a weakness for magical alternate universes, and Selkie!Izzy is interesting, though the first chapter is mostly a pirating story where the selkie fic doesn't play a big role (still a first encounter I like)
Smut (angst+porn+character study but no plot)
Break him by chaos_monkey (OS, 2654 words)
For the OFMD kinkmeme prompt: I just want to see Izzy mating pressed and creampied. Any warnings go as long as Izzy is on the bottom.
aka: The one where Izzy gets himself fucking ruined.
Ed/Calico Jack/Izzy very hot threesome with very dubious consent.
Surrender Without A Fight by Slow_Burn_Sally (OS, 5948 words)
Izzy consoles Ed in a moment of grief and they end up getting far closer than intended. Izzy is a pine tree. Ed is a mess. They are both messes. God I love them.
Pre-canon one night stand and Izzy ruins everything because he's too afraid Ed will do it before otherwise.
Destructive interference (two waves maligned) by Leu (Karaii) (OS, 8957 words)
“Do you think I’m gross, Izzy?” Ed murmurs against Izzy’s lips, brushing beard against beard. “Do I disgust you?”
“Never, Captain,” Izzy breathes.
“Liar,” Blackbeard whispers.
The one where they fuck the cabin boy together and then Izzy kills him. It's dark and unhealthy and I love it.
Other fics without plot or smut (just UST and angst)
marks the spot by doomcountry (OS, 2030 words)
He fears for Edward, sometimes. Worries what his crew would do to him if they saw the way he acts sometimes, when he isn’t quite Blackbeard anymore. Only Izzy ever gets to see him like that. He doesn’t know if that’s a privilege or a burden.
One of the fics about Izzy's tattoo, an old one, before the headcanon that Ed did it became common. I love how the relationships between Ed and Izzy almost domestic and still always on the edge and hurtful.
th'uncertaine sicklie by dissembler (OS, 2156 words)
Izzy's holding it together.
Sad fic about Izzy trying to take care of Ed's wounds, and Ed in a place where he's not very interested in not dying.
What Do The Waves Have to Say Now? by SaintMalone (Complete, ch20/20, 7981 words)
A cautionary tale inspired by the Fool's journey through the tarot.
Each card in the major arcana represents stage, phase, trial, or journey that one will face in life.
These cards are for Israel Hands.
Slow burn horror esoterica featuring Israel Hands and Edward Teach/Blackbeard.
Each chapter can be read as a vignette - together, one after the other, or stand alone.
19 chapters, some cards are paired with others.
It's a collection of ficlets, some no more than one sentence, and I really love the work on the symbolism, and also, the long ones are very good dark/slice of life/UST by themselves. Very good.
Part Two - Post episode 10
Smut
Yes, Blackbeard by TheGlintOfTheRail (OS, 1952 words)
Izzy had no idea what would happen now. Blackbeard might give his forehead one more slam against the bulkhead and tell him to get the fuck out, or he might throw him to the floor and give him a kick in the side and walk away.
Or he might not.
Izzy was certain that Blackbeard didn’t know, himself, what he would do; the balance might tip in any direction, at any moment. He watched a drop of blood fall from the tip of his nose and spatter on the floor. He tried not to tremble, and failed.
Then the hand tightened in his hair again, so hard that he gasped, and Blackbeard wordlessly shoved him to his knees.
The first fic I read where Ed was fucking Izzy post-canon. I'm not sure if it's the best, but I sure still have a weakness for it, and the rest of the fandom too, given the number of Kudos.
Trigger Discipline by rowenablade (OS, 3296 words)
“Shh. Shh.” The hand on Izzy’s shoulder turns to iron, fingers bruising through his jacket. “Relax, mate. You trust me, don’t you?”
Izzy does. He trusts Blackbeard, he has to trust Blackbeard, because the other option is a life where he can trust no one and there’s still a small, sickly part of him that isn’t prepared for that. Blackbeard doesn’t feel fear, but Israel Hands does. Every day of his life, he’s felt fear.
--
Izzy tries to manipulate Blackbeard, and it goes wrong in exactly the way he hopes for.
Gunplay, tense and unsafe, kinky, well-written and very hot.
shiver and sing by focusfixated (OS, 1539 words)
Izzy kneels in supplication to a man who loathes him. Edward is a smoking shadow of grief and rage. It’s who they are. Devil men with blood in their wake.
Or: Stede is gone, but his spectre lingers.
Dark and poetic.
Knowing by kindkit (OS, 3094 words)
Izzy is known. And learns to know himself.
Oh, this one is dark, dubcon, deep, and I love it. With Izzy who's so strong in denial that any truth hurts.
desire 'til there's nothing left of me by whaleoil (OS, 2017 words)
Blackbeard lays a claim on Izzy Hands.
An alternate version, more kinky and more sexual, of the toe cutting scene. Damn, it's hot. Or maybe it just indulges my kinks. But I love it.
Other fics without plot or smut
Living On Your Breath by DisasterShipBlonde (OS, 1981 words)
Of all their rituals, this is the most intimate.
Sometime after The Breakup, Izzy helps his captain prepare his pipe.
It's dark and sad and I love the writing.
Post-s1 stories
waves break by brawlite (OS, 3525 words)
Edward copes. Barely.
Izzy takes care of Edward after Edward has anonymous sex to cope with losing Stede. Some tags are "izzy may not be good but he is a good right hand man" and "literally no one has a good time except anonymous man" and yes. This. I really loved the angst.
My Fucking Resignation by prince_doomed (OS, 1759 words)
When Izzy was drowning, blood tasted just the same as water
A look into the mind and attachemnts of Israel Hands, and what it takes to let go.
A weird fic about drowning, also, about Izzy having to arrange Ed and Stede's wedding, and it's just the same, isn't it? It's far darker and less in the tone of the series than the usual take on this trope, and it's a bit confuse sometimes, but it worked for me, and I loved Buttons in it.
Sliced Palms by HauntedGarden (OS, 1189 words)
Stede sighed, “Tell me, Izzy, how has he been without me here? Has it been as it was before? The terrifying Blackbeard and his infamous first mate. Terrorising the seas, bathed in riches and horrific glory?”
It was Izzy’s turn to flinch, “You know it fucking hasn’t been.”
Stede took a step forward. It was stupidly confident. Treading the line of a suicide wish.
“So, what do you have to lose?”
The one where Izzy has the opportunity to kill Stede and doesn't do it because he accepts Ed is even worse without him, and it's the closest to Stede/Ed/Izzy that I will rec here, but also, it's so rare to find fics where Stede canon-typically has contempt for Izzy but that aren't fics where we're meant to be like "it's funny because it's true" (it's tragic because it's true is harder to find)
Mercy by Lydia_Eve (WIP, ch12, 28545 words)
Izzy gets everything he wanted.
It's hard to make me believe in romantic Izzy/Ed post-canon, but this one works very well. It's slow, and there's violence, and there's lot of turning back, but it might go to a happy ending for them? Or not. Or the summary is terribly ironic. I'm not sure but I'm enjoying it.
Like A Whetted Knife by zythepsary (OS, 21766 words)
When he wasn't readying the crew to battle or planning their next move, Blackbeard hid away in his cabin. He drank too much, hardly spoke, and forgot to eat—so Izzy had to stay with him until he got his wits back. He'd done it before, years before they met Bonnet. He could do it again.
Post-finale. Izzy tries to keep Blackbeard distracted.
Post-canon Izzy/Ed romance. It has good interactions with Jim and Lucius, and some scenes that are surprisingly soft for post-canon but the writer makes them work, specifically regarding Izzy's uneasy feelings about it.
