He Was My Closest Friend. Lost To A Cheap And Cowardly Shot. @shadowcovcn Edward Teach For Izzy Hands

❝ He was my closest friend. Lost to a cheap and cowardly shot. ❞ 🪐 — @shadowcovcn ▶ edward teach for izzy hands

         AFTER A LIFETIME of battle spent mostly managing to avoid scars, it seemed his luck had finally dried up. he’d had a good run, but now izzy was getting old, his body slower & more mangled by the week. & it was leading to stupid mistakes, unnecessary injuries. it’s a testament to how badly the past months had been for his normally excellent track record that he couldn’t even be certain which shot ed was referring to — the one delivered by his own hand, or the hit the prince had managed to land in their skirmish to escape nassau. ❝ would you stop being so fucking dramatic ? ❞ he grumbles & shifts slightly, restless in the bed. the movement leaves his still healing bullet wound throbbing. science may have told them that there was nothing important on that side of the body, but it still hurt like holy hell. ❝ you never lost me. knew right where i was the whole time. ❞ 

                        but izzy has known ed long enough to be able to hear the muffled note of remorse in his tone, understand the apology hidden in his words. it's hard not to think about the last time ed had appeared at his bedside like this, glowing like a messenger from god himself. as izzy lie damned & dying, he'd half thought ed had come to personally deliver him to his death. but today is entirely different; as if ed has come seeking absolution. but he doesn't need it; izzy has already forgiven him, for everything. ❝ & you're not gonna lose me, ❞ he says, voice quieter but no less rough. ❝ i’m not going anywhere. you don't understand that yet ? ❞

🪐 — spotify wrapped memes : @immobiliter ( silver ) for izzy # 47 ▶ don't let him go by reo speedwagon

THE UNBROKEN HORIZON is an unwelcome sight, izzy's frown deepening as he scans for any sign of approach & finds none. ❝ how can we wait anymore ? ❞ he questions. despite the renewed sense of purpose he had found upon joining the fight against the crown, patience was not a virtue he'd been blessed with. & silver seemed to hold confidence their leader, near as he could tell. but in truth, izzy still wasn't certain what to make of the legendary captain flint & his ever-shifting plans to stoke the war. the uncertainty of it had left him feeling restless, mistrustful. ❝ i'm still wondering what it is we're even waiting for. ❞

COURTNEY EATON as LOTTIE MATTHEWS YELLOWJACKETS | S01E10, Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

🪐 — spotify wrapped memes : @walkpathe ( edward ) for stede # 63 ▶ i love my baby by nina simone

WHEN HE WAS A BOY, stede had always hoped that he would someday marry for love. of course, that not being the case, he had ultimately found marriage to be a rather uncomfortable endeavor. but now, with edward's eyes both shy & hopeful as they wait for his answer, stede knows in his heart that the arrangement he proposes would be nothing like the constricting obligatory institution he'd experienced before.

& so, smiling, he carefully slips a ring from his own finger — the turquoise one they had exchanged on that first day they'd met — & gently onto ed's left hand instead. ❝ just say you love me, & we'll go find a preacher man. ❞ stede was certain that they could find some wayward holy man that was either drunk or poor enough to perform a bastardized wedding between two men. & if not, well, they could always ask a captain to marry them at sea, just as lucius & pete had done. ❝ we'll live our lives together. hand in hand. ❞

❝ you know, i actually thought you’d be dead by now. ❞ 🪐 — @smokedanced ▶ izzy hands for stede bonnet

          ❝ WELL, I'M SORRY TO DISAPPOINT YOU. ❞ stede can't help but puff himself up as he speaks, pride at the single successful raid they had carried out with the new crew configuration causing confidence to bloom in his chest. the crew themselves seemed to be adapting to the arrangement rather nicely ( & clearly there was no love lost between them & edward, given all they had endured these past months ), most of them now scattered across the deck divvying up the loot without complaint. izzy seemed to be the lone holdout, remaining stubbornly bitter & impossible to please — despite surprising stede with by voting along with the rest of the crew for ed to be banished from the ship. the look of perpetual irritation on his face had become almost comforting in its own way, a reliable constant to count on as they found their footing again. 

                            not that he would ever say as much out loud. instead, he turns away from the other man to gaze out at the sea through his spyglass. the horizon stretches unbroken, not another ship nor a speck of land in sight. & even still basking in the glow of of his recent success, stede is starting to feel restless again. the truth is that concern about where ed is & what he might be doing seeps back into his mind the moment the action falls quiet, no matter what he does. but stede pushes the thoughts away with some force — ed simply couldn’t stay here, not when everyone aboard still distrusted him so. he knew that. but he also knew that they would find each other again. & for now, his place was here : with his crew.

yet despite being returned to his station as captain at last, despite a successful raid under his belt, stede finds he has little clue what he should be doing in these quiet moments when the sea is calm. with ed banished & buttons gone, izzy is certainly the most qualified sailor aboard. & loathe as stede was to admit it, the man was rather good at his job. the honest truth was that stede likely couldn’t do this without izzy's help. yet he doesn't know how to ask for such a thing, the man's foul attitude making any conversation challenging to broach. ❝ you know, it’s quite poor form for the first mate to be actively rooting for his captain’s death, don't you think ? ❞ he says, irritated & still unwilling to look at the man beside him. ❝ why even stay aboard if that's how you feel ? just hoping to be around to bear witness to my inevitable failure, is that it ? ❞

🪐 — spotify wrapped memes : @walkpathe ( edward ) for izzy # 44 ▶ my limb by hayley williams

❝ IT'S FUNNY — ❞ izzy speaks the lie with bitter irony in his tone, both of them well aware that there is precious little humor to be found here. ❝ of the two of us, you always were the gentle one. ❞ over his long years spent as blackbeard's sword, izzy had always known that he might one day pay a heavy price for his devotion to the defense of their shared myth. he had accepted the potential cost to himself years ago, the price one he was more than willing to pay to keep them safe. but what he'd never expected was for the worst hurt he had endured by far to come from his captain's own hands. & despite his stubborn desire to ignore the loss, it seemed that a wound took twice as long to heal when it was inflicted by someone you loved. ❝ when we first met, you were like a shy little rabbit, teething on a shotgun. ❞ his phantom limb tingles with an itch that can no longer be scratched.