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fantasy-au-askblog · 2 years

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Isaac Beamer and the Realm of Fantasy

IBVS by onebizarrekai

Chapter 3 – The Arrival of Royalty

Well this certainly wasn’t where he had originally fallen asleep... or somewhere he would willing fall asleep. Didn’t even look like his room one bit. Wait. This wasn’t his room! Where was his luxuriously large bedroom!? The large chest of draws where he stored all his valuable goods and treasures, the dark oaked desk and chair where he would write and scribble his plans for the future for hours on ends, and the metallic knee-high bucket where he stored his weapons by the door (just in case of an attack)!

Cream coloured walls instead of red. White coloured sheets instead of red sheets with the irritating tufts off fur on the end. A singular window that stood just above his head, a pathetic possible recreation of his grand windowed doors that led out to the balcony where he would spend the first few minutes of the morning gazing at the hillside and wondering what he hadn’t explored.

This definitely wasn’t his home. Let alone his castle.

So where was he?

His tired eyes wandered around the room, barely being able to focus on the ceiling. Itching. An irritating feeling lingered around his head and right arm. Tilting his head down towards his arm he noticed a bandage wrapped around it, must have been changed fairly recently, a faint pink blotch in the centre.

Shutting his eyes once more, he attempted to piece together the possible events that led him here.

Yet all he could recall was the day of his 16th birthday. Easily reminiscing the morning, the afternoon, the evening and the start of the ball. How it ended, however… evaded him. Last thing he could remember was bringing himself and his most trustworthy friend up to the tower…their tower.

Mustering up as much strength as possible, he turned to face the bedside table. Opening strained eyes once more an empty glass bottle stood towering before him. Attached to the cork at the top of the bottle, a slightly crumpled tan piece of paper had unfamiliar writing across it. Forcing himself to sit up, a quiet whimper broke the silence.

Once somewhat comfortable he picked up the glass bottle with much haste. The writing was small, smudged in a numerous amount of places, and rather difficult to understand what it said. But focusing all his efforts onto deciphering the text he could make out:

‘Hi, so just a quick reminder to dab loads of the kindness potion onto a rag and gently press it against the wounds. Though I’m sure you’ve mastered it. Anyway, remember! If you need me I’m just in the room down the hall.

-AJ’

Rereading the final sentence once more, he decided that he would go on ahead and check the room down the hall. Longing for some answers. Whether or not he would believe said answers, would depend on who spoke to him. This mysterious AJ was someone he had never heard of before…

Where they a possible friend? A future ally?

Swinging his legs to the side of the bed and keeping a tight hold of the cabinet, he felt his whole body shaking from his own weight. How long had he been out for? He could only dread the amount of time.

Wandering his way towards the door and pulling down the handle with a creak he immediately felt himself lean forward and tumble. Losing his footing as soon as he left the small space of the room. Tumbling and rolling down the stairs as fast as he could before he thudded against the front door of the bite size home.

“OW!-” he exclaimed. Swiftly bringing a hand to his head in order to rub it gently. “…Who put a door right in front of the stairs?!” He couldn’t help but angrily shout. Soon gasping in surprise at how loud he was being…yet how dry his throat felt… how wrong it felt to hear his own voice.

Picking himself back up to glance around the rather lifeless place. While it was obvious someone lived here, the place felt uninhabited. A ghost home. Even with the numerous amount of boots, coats and capes that were littered around the home.

“Hello?” He coughed out the singular word.

Grabbing a hold of the stair railing and walking towards what appeared to be the kitchen, the only noise he could hear, was the creaking floorboards under his own feet. Entering the kitchen the place was immaculately clean. He was beginning to think that this was a safe place.

Still.

He couldn’t be sure.

Was in a strange location that was extremely unfamiliar, with no recollection of what happened.

And was still the young heir to the throne of an extremely prosperous kingdom. Whatever had happened…it couldn’t be good.

Isolated from all he knew the instinct to protect himself grew stronger, especially as his eyes wandered to the kitchen side. A singular knife on the side.

Appearing as though he was alone and possibly vulnerable he didn’t spare a second thought upon grabbing the weapon. A warm handle. Someone had recently used this. Perhaps those who had taken him here had left for a long period.

Exhaling a staggered breath, his grip tightened as he straightened his composure. He must not look weak. He represents his kingdom. Strong and adventurous. Qualities he has always had. Tilting his head forward and straightening his back, he turned as fast as lightning proceeding to march his way to hide behind the back door.

With nerves of steel.

He was prepared to do anything for answers.

Barry couldn’t help but immediately pause what he was doing.

His voice. It was his voice. His prince had finally awoken, finally spoken after what had felt like months. Dropping whatever irrelevant item was in his hand and bursting past Nevin to stand in the kitchen doorway. Eyes widening in relief and joy at the sight he saw in front of him.

Well… he was overjoyed to see his face, him moving around without much difficulty. What he wasn’t so happy about was the possible escalation that he had caused.

“Hey put me down!” Isaac exclaimed immediately trying to kick his strange attacker in the knee’s, or, elbow him in the chest.

The attacker then pressing the knife harsher. “Once you tell me where I am and who you are, I may consider it.” They hissed into his ear. A cool whistle rippled into his ear…and the words felt like an empty threat. Devoiding Isaac of any reason to fear his current predicament.

“Hey look, I’m not sure where I am either.” Isaac began attempting to be calm. “But there’s no need for.” He grabbed a hold of the weapon.

His attacker blinked for just a brief moment and before they knew it, the freckled teenage had escaped his grasp and taken the knife with him. Pointing the knife at the other’s direction.

“This.”

“…How’d you do that?” A look of bewilderment dawned their face. Eyes hyper focused on what could only be smudges of ink now on the knife and along the floor.

“None-“ From the corner of his eye Isaac spotted a blue blur coming at him, pinning him up against the wall and restraining the hand where the weapon was tightly secured. “What the heck is wrong with you?!” Isaac shouted in Barry’s face, glaring at him as sharp as the blade could cut.

But that blue eyed look in his eyes…it could have killed 20 people without hesitation.

Swiftly disarming Isaac and throwing the knife to the ground. “You pointed a knife at his majesty.”

“His whatjesty?”

“I BEG YOUR PARDON?!” Nevin suddenly emerged from the doorway of the kitchen, having heard the commotion. “HIS MAJESTY?” He stared at the person who he and Drew had seen unconscious for the past week.

Barry then picked up Isaac and threw him across the room. “Yes.” He looked back over at Nevin, his whole demeanour completely changed. Soon glancing over at the other seemingly requesting permission whether or not he may reveal his identity. A swift nod was all he needed.

“May I present to you, Prince Edward of the Foxfield Kingdom.”

Nevin’s jaw basically dropped to the floor. Unsure of whether to scream, cry, beg for forgiveness or drop to the floor and pay some form of respect. “I uh, uh-“

“What the hell is a Prince and why has he suddenly turned extremely violent.” Isaac sat himself up against the wall, rubbing his head.

“…You don’t know what a prince is?” Nevin turned around, looking at him absolutely baffled at the question he was now asking a thief. “Surely multiple princes must want you dead by now.” He muttered to himself.

Isaac scoffed slightly. “You get caught once and all of a sudden people think I’m a failure of a thief.” Standing himself back up into the corner he eyed Barry cautiously. An aura of danger lingered around him… wasn’t the same snarky commenter that he once was, now he was as sharp as a blade.

Spotting the Prince and his accomplish in the corner, they were seemingly mumbling to themselves. A worrying and alarming conversation taking place.

“Barry what’s going on?” Ed’s attention was fully on the other. Watching his every move, his expression anything that gave him some form of answer to his previous question.

Yet his face was blank and his stature firm. “We were attacked in the evening-“

“Attacked?!” A look of confusion and panic soon merged into one. “Since when-“ Edward stammered. “How, how long have I been out for?!” He placed a firm grip on Barry’s shoulder, pleading for some form of answer.

Avoiding eye contact and taking a deep breath, “Over two weeks…” Barry replied, though his words were a combination of glee and heartbreak. Those two weeks had been the two worst weeks of his life…

“Two…weeks?” A mutter of disbelief. The young prince glanced across the room once more, looking intently at the unfamiliar individuals in his presence. “…Please, Barry please tell me everyone’s alive-“ His knuckles began getting pale from the tight grip he had on Barry’s shirt. The only thing that was giving him some form of stability, as he felt his knee’s begin to shake.

“Last I saw… was Cody and Geno…and that was two weeks ago.” Goodness knows what has happened since then.

Edward’s face fell ever so slightly. “…So there’s hope? That they’re alright.”

“That’s what you always say.” Barry gave a brief smile at Edward. Hope was all they currently had… aside from one another.

Soon Barry was trapped in an extremely warm and comforting embrace. Finally he could somewhat relax, resting his head on Edward’s shoulder as he shut his eye’s. He enjoyed the brief moment as Edward then pulled away from him. A determined gleam in his eye.

“Well what are we waiting for?! We must find them as soon as possible!”

“Understood your highness.” Barry bowed his head. Soon glancing over at the gobsmacked twins (Drew having now entered the scene, with Nevin briefly whispering to him what had unfolded) he quickly made his way over and extended his hand.

“I must thank you for your kindness.” He looked at Drew in particular. The one who for the first week of their stay was working non-stop to make sure Edward’s state was stable, and originally let them into their home no questions asked.

“It’s not a problem…” Drew responded just happy that he could help.

“And I must thank you for the hospitality.” Barry then proceeded to shake Nevin’s hand. “I will now unfortunately be leaving your company and accompanying my Prince.” Nevin appeared to have stiffened at the statement.

Especially when Edward himself came over. “…Thank you for taking care of me.” He spoke to both of the twins. “May I ask for your names?” He wondered, planning on sending some form of letter to the two once things settled down back in the kingdom, and he couldn’t exactly do that without names.

“Andrew Jovel and Nevin Jovel.” Drew spoke.

Edward quickly mumbled those names back to himself. “Well I certainly won’t forget either of you.” He stated boldly. “Thank you again.” He saw as Barry returned with a small amount of supplies which where neatly placed in a straw basket…

Nevin finding it strange how quickly he had accumulated those supplies. Had they already been previously stored for this occasion? Was he planning on taking them without permission from the start? Perhaps…royalty where no different to those of thieves.

“…Are you already leaving?” The room was stunned when the quite voice of Chris emerged. “But we all just started working together-“

“Then parting ways is for the better.” Barry gave a shy smile for the other. “Edward, are we going?” An applaud expression soon was plain to see on Barry’s face. “Edward!” He exclaimed in embarrassment, upon seeing the other by the doorway rummaging through a potion sack.

Holding up two potions of orange and light blue a pure look of glee and fascination dawned his face. “Are you seeing this?!” Ed turns slightly and shakes the orange potion in his hand. “It’s so, uh…Oh what’s the word-“

“Magical?” Drew suggested.

Soon jumping in alarm as Ed accidentally dropped a bottle, snapping his fingers together and pointing at Drew. “Exactly!” He stares into the potion once more. “…ever so magical…”

Yet the atmosphere around him shifted from magical wonder, to sudden fear and anxiety. A sinking feeling buried itself into his stomach as he felt as though he had disturbed some sacred ground. Something dark and mysterious looming over his shoulder.

Before anyone could react, Nevin had grabbed a hold of Edward’s collar and shoved him against the wall. “…What have you done.”

“…Dropped a bottle on the floor?”

Thud. Nevin had thumped Edward against the wall and caused certain objects to fall on the ground.

“Dropped a bottle on the floor.” Inhaling sharply as Nevin repeated what he had been told. “Dropped a bottle on the floor.” He continued, his eyes flashing teal. Despising how this ‘Prince’ treated the bottle as though it wasn’t a huge deal.

Subconsciously humming in his head about Chris’ ‘Noble King’ quest. Dreams of being a knight…how silly.

“I can get you a new one. An even better one if you want.” Edward didn’t seem phased from the display, starring at Barry instead. “Just…how’d you do that?” He shifted his attention back to Nevin. Relaxing slightly that Barry had placed the weapon back down.

“…Do what?” Nevin starred up in utter confusion.

“Your eyes.” A brief mumble came from the Prince. “They change colour.” Ed grabbed Nevin’s face and looked at them closely, observing as the teal colour in his eyes had quickly evaporated back to purple. “...How’d you change them back?”

“I don’t know!” Quickly shoving himself away, Nevin brought his arms to his chest and hid them within his coat. “I…just, just get me a new bottle or something.”

Soon feeling tender pats on his shoulder. “I mean I can just make one? Just gotta get some glass from the blacksmith is all.” Drew reassured his twin. “Or even better!” He opened up the satchel situated on his hip and crouched down next to the broken glass bottle, beginning to pick up the pieces. “I’ll just melt them back together, no biggie.” He smiles.

“Yeah, yeah…” Nevin said, barely audibly. “…Drew, you can handle this…right?”

A determined nod came from the other. “Of course.”

“Ok, I’m heading up for a bit…” He pulled out the necklace tucked under his petticoat…

Chris spotting that it seemed to gleam more vibrantly than it had the first time he saw it. But perhaps that was the evening glow of the sun…

“If you need me give me a shout.” Placing the necklace back where it belonged he spoke to Drew, before he ascended up the stairs without another word. Panicked footsteps all the way and the door shutting with the faint sound of a slam.

Drew awkwardly looked around the room once more. No that he was supposedly ‘in charge’ he wondered what he was supposed to now do. But he knew one thing.

“Barry, maybe you and the Prince should stay for a while longer.” He suggested to the other. Seeing a disgruntled look he added “I personally think it wouldn’t be wise of him to travel after just waking up, especially considering how confusing all the carriages and the timings can be.”

“I can figure that out, besides-“

“I like that idea good sir!” Barry’s eyes flashed in surprise at Ed’s sudden butting in off the idea. “I mean, I must admit my head still hurts and my body still feels weak. So, as you say it’s not wise.” He briefly continued.

“My head is starting to hurt from your mere presence!” The trio turned to look at the long haired blonde in the corner. Clearly he was still but hurt about being thrown into a wall.

“Maybe it’s cause you hit your head.” Drew responded while reaching back inside of his bag, dodging the broken glass, and retrieving a small glass bottle with the familiar green substance. Proceeding to approach the moody teen. “Here.” He hands over the small bottle. “It’ll help with the pain.”

Isaac gave a sceptical look at the bottle, snatching it from the other and quickly downing whatever it was. Instantly feeling some form of pain relief as his head instantly felt lighter…better even. Soon turning the bottle in his hand trying to figure out what it actually was.

“…Huh…” He mumbled out after a while. “Guess it did.” He smugly smiled.

Drew held his hand out back for the bottle, looking at Isaac curiously as he placed it in his shirt pocket. Clearly attempting to make some form of point.

“Thank you.” Drew thanked.

“Not a problem.” But Isaac still had one problem that he wanted to deal with. “So, question.” His eyes flickered between Drew to Barry. “Can’t you say sorry?”

“Apologise for what?”

A scoff followed. “You know exactly what.”

“And will you apologise for pointing a knife at his majesty?” The sceptical brow of Barry was raised.

“Apologise?!” Almost shrieking in confusion from what he was hearing. “Didn’t he pull the knife on me first? You two should both be apologising to me-“

Ow. “Isaac can’t you drop it?” Chris asked, having just elbowed the thief in the shoulder. “I’m extremely sorry for the trouble he’s caused-“

“No, no.” Waving his hand dismissively. “He does have a point.” Edward couldn’t help but look somewhat irritated. “…I apologise for the actions that I have taken towards you, it was a poor first impression.” Now he was about to make an even poorer first impression.

Especially as he seemingly teleported beside Isaac and picked the other up with simple ease. Instantly getting kicked in the chest.

“OI! STOP-!” Isaac shouted in his face, repeatedly kicking him in the chest like a rabbit would do if it was in a moody mood.

Ed’s face spelt disaster. Feeling every bruise in his body being targeted by the sharp precise kicks. Immense discomfort, a shooting pain was enough for him to drop the other. Chris darting to catch the thief so there hopefully would be no more conflict.

“Edward-“ Barry placed a supportive hand on his shoulder. “Did he hurt you?”

“Unintentionally…” His face contorted in pain, looking back over at Isaac.

Strange energy formed around everyone in the room. The one in monotone clothes had some faint energy…extremely faint, like he didn’t have a clue that it was there or how to access such potential. Andrew Jovel appeared in tune with whatever magical atmosphere that surrounded him. It felt calm…peaceful even.

The most powerful in the room (at the moment) was between him and purple boy.

Edward was extremely familiar with the gift that he has had for as long as he could remember. He felt extremely in control of it. However, when he glanced at Isaac…he was the complete opposite. His opposite.

“…What’s his name?” Edward then asked.

“Isaac Beamer the third.” Barry responded, a hint of scepticism in his voice. Never heard of an Isaac Beamer the first.

“…Isaac Beamer.” Repeating softly to himself. Soon turning to Barry and wrapping an arm around his shoulder, walking off to another corner so that the others would not hear him speak. “…Do you sense that?”

“Sense what?” Barry instantly began scanning the room for any signs of danger. Which he immediately stopped doing at the sound of a sigh and a squeeze on his shoulder.

“…Nevermind.” Surely it was obvious to spot. “…Let’s just stay here for a while. I do need to get better, my body feels weak…and I would like to try and convince them to come with us.”

“We cannot trust them your highness.”

“…Yes we can. Trust me on this. I know what I’m doing.” Edward quickly said. “…Just what has life been like here?”

“…Tiring. But good hard work. Nevin will allow us to stay here as long as we earn our keep and help him pay off of his debts to the Madame that runs this place.” Barry gave a quick summary.

“A Madame?” An idea conjured up in his head. “…We can use this little town to figure out where we are! Surely if she’s in our kingdom it’ll have her name written down in the book.”

“And if she’s not? Then what?”

“I’ll figure something out, don’t worry about it.” Barry couldn’t help but feeling bubbling hatred in his chest as Edward patted his head like he was a small child.

How could he not be worried?! His majesty could be so immature at times and trust his gut far too much. Acted based on feelings rather than rational thought. Watching as the other walked away and once again apologised to the thief and chose to indulge in conversation with the three that remained. How he hated it. Yet all he showed to the outside world was a hundred yard stare, seemingly no thoughts. Standing against the wall like an armour stand. Not exactly focusing on what was going on around him…

Especially as he jumped in alarm when Drew suddenly popped up next to him.

“I’m sorry to bother you Barry.” Drew awkwardly began. “…But are you still okay to help me with making dinner?”

Forcing a soft smile. “Of course.” Swiftly walking back to where he previously was...

Once again being of assistance to whoever asked.

#IBRF #Isaac Beamer and the Realm of Fantasy #Edward Quinton #Isaac Beamer #Barry Price #Nevin Jovel #Drew Jovel #Chris Jackson #Ibvs au #Chapter update #not my best chapter #but hey ho #Ed's here now

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gaypiratepropaganda · 4 months

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Izzy's apology in the finale seems to have taken some people by surprise. During the break between seasons, I tried a few times to politely bring up the fact that Izzy was technically abusing Ed. Not because I wanted anyone to stop liking him (you can like a character who's doing abuse! it's not real. who cares), but because I was worried about the reaction when season two came out. I love this show very much and I know how tumblr can get. Most importantly, I love fucked up fictional relationships and cannot abide people making these two boring. So here we go. (I also love lists)

First. Emotional abuse can occur in intimate relationships, family relationships like father and son, or in the workplace (Ed/Izzy triple threat!). Second, it has to be an ongoing thing. Someone doing one of these things once is not abuse. Abuse is a pattern of cruel and frightening behavior in order to control the victim.

(Don't feel bad if you didn't notice this stuff! It's relatively subtle and we're kind of trained to ignore and forgive it, especially from characters like Izzy. I wasn't 100% sure I was right about this either until season two confirmed it. I think a lot of people don't even know what emotional abuse is, at least where I live.)

Below are some pretty solid warning signs (this said "criteria" before but I changed it to be more accurate) for emotional abuse, followed by examples:

•Monitoring and controlling a person’s behavior, such as who they spend time with or how they spend money.

One of Izzy's main motivations in season one was trying to force Ed to act more like his image of Blackbeard. To achieve that, he bullied, belittled, and threatened Ed. He attempted to kill Stede because Ed was spending too much time with him and he felt that Stede was a bad influence.

• Threats to a person’s safety, property, or loved ones

He tried to kill Stede (Ed's loved one) or get him killed several times. Once trying to get Ed to do it himself with the doggy heaven situation, once directly with the duel, and once by calling in the navy.

He didn't directly threaten Ed's safety until episode ten, but he did seem to have Ed convinced that the crew would kill him if Izzy wasn't there to protect him and then when Ed did things he didn't like, Izzy threatened to leave. It's indirect, but has the same result: Ed felt he was unsafe unless he did what Izzy wanted.

• Isolating a person from family, friends, and acquaintances

Izzy seemed to keep Ed isolated from the crew, act as a go-between, and control their perceptions of each other to a certain extent. In the first few episodes, Ed was always shown alone in his goth cabin with Izzy as his only contact. When he started to make new friends Izzy tried to make him kill them.

After Izzy was banished, he secretly sent Ed's ex in to manipulate him and get him away from his new community. Then he got them all arrested, culminating in the deal he made with the English that would have made Ed his prisoner. Not sure that was on purpose, but it was so fucked up I had to mention it.

The bit that really got me, for some reason, was when Frenchie asked after Ed and Izzy told the crew he was sick.

• Demeaning, shaming, or humiliating a person

Izzy is often shown berating Ed and yelling at him. The way Ed reacts suggests to me that he may be used to this kind of treatment from people in general, or from Izzy in particular. He never leaves or asks him to stop, he just takes it.

• Extreme jealousy, accusations, and paranoia

He was so jealous of Ed's relationship with Stede that he got the literal military involved. His explanation to for why Ed enjoys spending time with Stede was that he has "done something to [Ed's] brain." Like, what magic powers do you think he has, Izzy?

• Making acceptance or care conditional on a person’s choices

Izzy made it very clear that he would only support Ed if he conformed to the Blackbeard persona. He also seemed to have Ed convinced that there was no way he could survive without Izzy's support.

I just realized that if you subscribe to the headcanon that Izzy acts as a sort of caretaker to Ed (I do not) then all of this is way more fucked up.

• Constant criticism, ridicule, or teasing.

In season one he criticized everything Ed did, all his plans, even while telling him to come up with more plans. He ridiculed Ed and called him names pretty often: "twat, namby-pamby, insane." Even in season two when he's doing better, most of their interactions consist of Izzy teasing and making fun of Ed for being mopey or in love.

• Refusing to allow a person to spend time alone

I didn't think of this until now, but Izzy is often around when Ed thinks he's alone. He knows about things that happen in scenes he isn't in. Izzy's always sort of lurking, though? And he does it to everyone. So I'm not sure if we should count this one.

• Thwarting a person’s professional or personal goals

He's ok about piracy related goals, but as soon as Ed tried to do something other than that he got so weird about it. "This crew is so talented, why are we even being pirates?" is what got Izzy to threaten Ed. Which is interesting because he was fine with the retirement idea before, when he thought he'd get to be captain.

• Instilling feelings of self-doubt and worthlessness

"insane unpleasant shell of a man merely posing as blackbeard." "I should have let the English kill you. This... whatever it is you've become is a fate worse than death."

• Gaslighting: making a person question their competence and even their basic perceptual experiences.

He called Ed insane and implied that the crew would mutiny if he wasn't there to stop them. This is clearly untrue, as we were already shown that his method of "massaging the crew" consisted of calling Ed half insane and pulling Fang's beard even though Fang hates that. The fact that he calls Ed insane more than once while at the same time trying to get him to act more insane seems like basic gaslighting to me. Then again, Izzy's definition of "insanity" may be like, depression, crying, showing emotions, loneliness, and enjoying softness.

[can't find a gif of this so just imagine Ed in the gravy basket with Hornigold saying "you're worried you're insane."]

Something that wasn't on this specific list but is generally considered part of emotional abuse is manipulation: the use of indirect tactics to change someone's thoughts, feelings, or behaviors in an attempt to influence them for personal gain.

I think Izzy often tries to be manipulative. He's not the greatest at it, but it's the thought that counts. He manages to be surprisingly successful through persistence and repetition.

He's got Ed convinced from the first time we see them that he is useless as a captain without Izzy. That's why Ed feels like he needs him. He tells him that the only thing standing between Ed and a crew constantly on the brink of mutiny is Izzy. Then he tells him that he will leave if he can't live up to his expectations.

He has a pattern of lying to Ed or not telling him the whole truth. He threatens him directly and indirectly in an attempt to influence him and control his behavior. He wants power, whether he gets it by becoming a captain when Ed retires or by making sure Ed remains powerful by any means necessary.

this is what he was apologizing for, along with the years of being terrible to Ed before Stede came into the picture. I never expected him to admit it so clearly like that. He fed Ed's "darkness," poked at his trauma for so long because he needed Blackbeard. It was something they did together, and he enjoyed Blackbeard's dominance and cruelty.

Of course there are other things that can be part of this kind of abuse, like infantilization, silence, and harassment. There are more examples of abusive behavior from Izzy at the start of season two, especially in the scene where Ed's asking Izzy to kill him. but I am not ready to get into that right now.

Anyway, Ed and Izzy's storylines in season two only make sense to me with this in mind. Ed is recovering from not only the suicide attempts but also this fucked up situation he was in, whether he realizes it or not. Izzy learns to stop being such a shitboy and admits he was wrong. ~growth~

if you interpret their relationship differently that's obviously fine. but I think this is the most interesting interpretation, as well as what was intended. It's no fun for me when people make them both equally awful to each other. I like it better as it is in the show: Ed fighting back against Izzy's emotional abuse with physical violence, which only ends up traumatizing him further. It's such a unique and fascinating story.

#our flag means death #Ed Teach #izzy hands #ed/izzy #blackbeard #ed/stede #tw abuse #abuse cw #@piratecaptainscaptainpirates #I should have posted this a long time ago but #I was kind of afraid you guys would kill me lmao #I think we're good now #we can talk about this #if you think of anything else I'll add it #one more thing I didn't know how to fit in here #is the way Izzy really wants Ed to be violent #to other people but also to him #when Ed doesn't want to do that #and is specifically triggered by being violent #also the first thing that really made me go #hey wait a minute #about Izzy was when he apologized to Ed for calling him a 'shell of a man' while he was 'leaving'#Ed said 'no. you were right. about all of it.'#and then Izzy immediately went back to being a dick to him two episodes later #reminds me so much of what one of my friends went through #wow this is so long

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