Snowflake Challenge Day #2

[kingstoken]

Challenge #2

In your own space, write a promo, manifesto or primer for your fave character, ship or fandom.

Alright, I don't think I have the energy to do an entire promo, character analysis, etc., because those things are usually 1000s of words and I don't have time for that, but I will try and explain why I like one of my new favourite characters, if I can.

First off, you should all watch Our Flag Means Death, the first season is on HBO (also on Crave in Canada). If you know of the show then you've probably all heard the common reasons for watching it: gay pirates, comedy, M/M romance between two middle-aged men, A Non-binary/M romance, lots of kooky side characters, and cameo appearances from Leslie Jones among others. But, I'm not here to tell you about all that, I here to talk about this little rat man:



Israel Hands, know on the show as Izzy Hands. He is one of the antagonists of season 1, but not the big bad (that's the British navy). Is he a good guy? No. Is he evil? No. He is a deeply repressed man, that makes all the wrong decisions, but I think in his head they probably all make some sense. He also in love with this guy:



Edward Teach aka Blackbeard (also known as Ed), who probably sees Izzy as nothing more than his First Mate. Although their relationship has all sorts of interesting dynamics to play with.

The main rival for Edward's affections is this man:



Stede Bonnet aka the Gentleman Pirate. Ed and Stede fall in love over the course of the season, Izzy and Stede can't stand each other, so of course I ship them in a OT3! HA!

Now why do I like Izzy? That is probably going to be a little harder to explain. Izzy is all about responsibility, loyalty, and duty, so the fact that Stede's crew does nothing but play all day drives him nuts, which makes for innately funny scenarios, but is also something I relate to. Izzy's back story is basically a clean slate, at least until season 2 airs, even if you use the historical Israel Hands as a model not a whole lot is known about him other than he served with Blackbeard and sometimes used the Blackbeard moniker himself. I've read fic where he is a trans man, Jewish, raised by puritans, a deserter from the Royal Navy, among others, and they all have interesting takes on the character. The power dynamics between Ed and Izzy can be interesting, and Izzy prefers Ed's dark Blackbeard persona, and actually seems to like when Ed is rough with him. This has lead to a lot of fic with hard kinks and BDSM, that's not necessarily my thing, but if you like that Izzy fics will keep you well fed.

When I first started this show I did not expect for this to turn out to be my favourite character, I liked everyone else, thought the show was wonderfully fun, but Izzy is the only character I found myself consistently thinking about after the show ended, and he's only one I really want to write fic about. I think he has the makings of maybe they only truly tragic figures on this feel good comedy show.

Lastly, "Izzy has often been called the only human pirate on a ship full of muppets" and I can't think of a better descriptor for the character.

(One note: Izzy is a divisive character in the fandom, people seem to either love him to death or hate him with a fiery passion, so mind the tags if you go looking in fandom spaces)

Comments

[corvidology]

I've only seen the first episode of this show because MG wasn't into the sense of humour but I have it on my own list to finish. Your post has succeeded in having me bump it up my watchlist!

[kingstoken]

Yay! I like the first episode, I think it's fun, but not really the best episode. I think once Blackbeard comes into the picture the show gets even better.

[sparrow2000]

This is the second post I've come across enthusing about Our Flag Means Death and I'm definitely intrigued.

I also love your enthusiasm for your favourite character. Isn't it funny when a character sneaks up on you when you're not looking and all of a sudden they're the one you're obsessed about. And thank you for the caution about Izzy as a divisive character. I have one of those in my fandom which is the Buffy 'verse - Xander is my favourite character and there are people who absolutely loathe him. To each their own! :)

This was a great read, thank you for sharing the love.

[kingstoken]

Us OFMD fans want everyone else to watch the show too! I'm glad you enjoyed the post.

[dolorosa_12]

Our Flag Means Death is also going to air on the BBC this year in the UK. It's been impossible to watch legally here (and, I believe, in all of Europe), so it's great news that it's going to be available soon, and on free-to-air TV!

[kingstoken]

I'm so happy that you guys can see it legally now! I know a lot of European fans were on Twitter yelling "how can we see the show?" back when it was airing. I hope you enjoy it!

[miscellanium]

i came to my izzy-enjoying status backwards, by witnessing the explosion of porn of him and liking much of it XD but i'm pleased to say i finally started watching the show this past weekend and not only is the show indeed as funny as you all make it out to be, izzy really is an endearing little guy. the fact that he seems a bit less cartoonish helps him stand out from the rest of the crew(s). i didn't know there were so many interpretations of his backstory, that's pretty cool. very curious to get to the later episodes and see what might make him more tragic than other characters. here's to seeing what season two brings us!

[kingstoken]

Well that is one way to attract new fans! I love when fanworks are responsible for fan recruitment.

The one reason I think Izzy might be a tragic figure is because he is in love with Ed (whether he will admit that or not) and it is obvious that Ed and Stede are going to end up together, so he is going to get a broken heart. Also, his relationship with Ed seems be something that he values above all else, but if he can't bring himself to accept who Ed wants to be now their relationship may be over permanently. I don't know, I'm really interested to see how they resolve all this next season.

[miscellanium]

it does sound really interesting! i love how the show seems like a relatively frothy comedy but it still manages to bring a lot of depth to the characters it chooses to focus on.

[obstinatecondolement]

He truly is terrible little rat bastard who I love very much.

[kingstoken]

Yes! An another Izzy fan!

[obstinatecondolement]

I was very surprised when I saw people, like, genuinely hate him and want the character killed off? Like, don't get me wrong, I can find it incredibly funny when he is Suffering™ (see: the swordfighting scene where he thinks Stede and Ed are having sex), but I don't want him to die. I want him to live his best Sam the Eagle life being annoyed by Stede and begrudgingly allowing himself to be loved!

[kingstoken]

Yeah, I was really surprised by the Izzy hate as well. I think it maybe stems from people seeing him as in the way of their OTP, which come on, everyone knows Stede and Ed are going to get back together.

Also, they hate that Izzy is mean to Ed in the last episode, but it's not like Ed doesn't get him back for that (in fact I think Ed goes too far, but that is a whole other discussion).

I love Stede and Izzy being snarky with each other, and hope that continues into season 2. I would really love for Stede and Izzy to develop a begrudging friendship, but that may be asking for too much, we'll see.

[obstinatecondolement]

I also think that Con O'Neill is such a sweetie that it's hard (for me) to get too mad at Izzy.

[kingstoken]

Con is a delight!

[obstinatecondolement]

I hope this isn't impertinent, but I made an Izzy fanvid in April of last year if you wanted to have a look see (no obligation to, obviously)

[kingstoken]

That was great, inspired song choice!

[obstinatecondolement]

I wish I could take credit for the song choice, but my sister was the one who played it for me and was like "This is an Izzy Hands song." And boy was it ever! I'm glad you like the vid, thank you!

[flo_nelja]

Yesss, passing here by the snowflake post and I love Izzy.
I had started the show thinking "your ship is full of barnacles, you really should clean it", so when Izzy started talking about it, I was nodding "you have your priorities straight". He has the energy of someone who thinks the boring work things are important, that makes him seem so totally off-topic emotionally, and I sadly relate to this.

[kingstoken]

Yes! He is they only one thinking about maintaining the ship properly, and the only who actively seems worried about the Spanish catching up to them. He seems like the type of person who thinks the little details are important and should be handled properly (which I relate to).

It has been so nice to find other Izzy fans here!

[delphi]

I love Izzy so much, with a fannish attachment that likewise snuck up on me. It's one of those ensemble casts where I love pretty much everyone, and I finished the first season convinced that it was going to be one of those shows where I wasn't going to have a clear favourite - and was mostly going to be in it for the main canon plots and relationships. Then I started watching it a second time, and as soon as Izzy came back onscreen for the first time in the second episode, in his element in a way that he wouldn't be for the rest of the show, something clicked and I spent that rewatch focusing on his subplot, which completely killed me that time around.

[kingstoken]

It's so nice to be meeting other Izzy fans! Your experience sounds a lot like mine, I enjoyed the show, loved the whole ensemble, but somehow Izzy is one that really clicked with me. Also, what you say about episode 2 is so true, like it is the only time we get to see Izzy being the competent and dreaded pirate Israel Hands, then he spends the rest of the show running around frustrated and anxious, it's such a great contrast when you think about it. I hope in season 2 we get to see at least once a moment of Izzy being fearsome pirate.

[silveradept]

I agree that Izzy is the only human on a ship full of Muppets. (Unfortunately for him, his attempts at srs bzns are always going to be rebuffed, if not by the crew, then but the narrative itself. The sooner he accepts this, the better it will be for everyone.)

As a character, I think he needs to learn how to loosen up, and that he's about to find out how bad an idea it was to encourage Ed at the end of the last season.

[kingstoken]

Very true, it will be interesting to see where they take things next season, if Izzy can find his place among the crew.

[bardsley]

I also really enjoy Izzy and Our Flag Means Death, so I wanted to say, "Hi."

[kingstoken]

Hi, it's been so nice meeting other Izzy fans.

[snowynight]

Izzy sounds like an interesting character. It's sad that the fandom is so divisive

[kingstoken]

I understand people not liking him, it's the fact that some fans feel because they don't like him no one else should either, so they try and make fandom spaces unpleasant for Izzy fans and that is a pain.

[snowynight]

It's awful when people want to force their taste on others.

[barbaratp]

Dude Israel Hands from OFMD is so distinguished that I saw scouring Fanlore that he has a different page just for his representation in the series right? I also like Izzy I think he's so used to cruelty that he doesn't know how to live without it and seeing Ed transform because of Stede rocks his perfect little world. And shipping the three is perfection and I think it's right even though I sometimes fall more on the Stede/Ed side than the OT3 los I think this happens more because I'm very systematic about what I read, my tastes are really boring lol

[kingstoken]

I was part of that decision on Fanlore, we felt that this interpretation of Israel Hands was different enough from the other versions, like treasure island, that he needed his own page.

[barbaratp]

Wow, that's really cool man. By the way, I loved its different icons, especially those from Star Trek and OFMD. Excellent editing job.

[badfalcon]

Oh colour me intrigued. I've been wanting to watch the show for a while and now... yes please!

[kingstoken]

It's really fun, I hope you enjoy it!

[liadt]

Sorry to hear there's Izzy hate. I'm in the middle because he gets in the way of Stede/Ed, but he obviously has major unrequited love for Ed which leads to wonky decision making (i.e getting the British Navy), so I feel sorry for him for that and want a 'disappointed in love' flashback for series 2. Also he does have similarities with Stede which would kill him, but ha.

Izzy's frustration for Stede's crew is understandable as, as loveable as they are, they are the pirate crew rejects(!).

(Just finished watching the series so feel need to talk rubbish;p)

[kingstoken]

Stede and Izzy have a lot in common, but they would really hate if you said that to them! I love Izzy and I hope they do something interesting with him in season 2, I would love if Stede and Izzy have to work together in some capacity and learn to reluctantly see each other as worthy people, because right now I think they see each other as obstacles to overcome or get rid of.

[liadt]

Stede and Izzy have a lot in common, but they would really hate if you said that to them! This is 100% true, I might stick to shouting it from a safe distance though.

I would love if Stede and Izzy have to work together I love that idea! Enemies working together is a favourite trope of mine.