colourless green ideas sleep furiously

Cross-posting a couple of recent-ish recs from my journal:


Until It Doesn't Hurt by CATastrophy
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Characters/Relationships: Izzy Hands + Ed/Izzy breakup and background Ed/Stede + elements of Izzy/Lucius
Medium: Vid
Length: 2:49
Rating: SFW (some scenes of violence, including a non-fatal self-inflicted gunshot)
My Bookmark Tags: angst, ambiguous ending, former relationship, fights & breakups, injury, heartbreak, self-harm
Song: "Until It Doesn't Hurt" by Mother Mother
Note: Contains some flickering and flashing lights.

Excerpt:

I want to fight, I want to bite / I want to swallow all the light

This is just a gorgeous three minutes of angst that perfectly captures Izzy's s1 and s2 journey away from Ed, with the way he swings between wanting to lash out and ruin lives but always coming back to just having to bear being left and being hurt. It's a great choice of song paired with crisp editing, making perfect use of moments of fire and self-isolation from the show without ever being too on the nose.


Legacy by SpaceCadetGlow
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Ship: Izzy Hands/Benjamin Hornigold
Medium: Fic
Length: 2184 words
Rating: Explicit
My Bookmark Tags: PWP, happy ending, established relationship, backstory, fantasies, genderplay, breeding, foot fetish
Summary: Captain Hornigold has a habit of fucking Izzy before raids. This time, though, he seems overly concerned about his legacy, if anything should go awry.

Excerpt:

"Nothing in this life is guaranteed. Do you ever think about legacy, my dear?"

Izzy shakes his head. He'd been twelve when he'd joined up with the Navy, or so he'd told them. That'd put him around twenty-four now – less than half of Captain’s age, he'd guess, and without any of the status in society that makes a man inclined to worry about things too far down the road.

"The mark we leave on the world," Captain continues. "The proof that we were here." He steps out of his boots and trousers. "For many men, it’s children. But I have not been so blessed."

Izzy has a feeling he knows why, as he perches naked on the edge of the Captain's bed.

This is a scorching-hot and wryly funny story about Hornigold springing some new kinks on Izzy, who's a little more preoccupied with the fact that they're about to go into battle. It's the kind of character-driven PWP I love, where Izzy's pragmatism and lack of an imagination leave him fundamentally unable to get on board with the elaborate narrative Hornigold's weaving, up until something physically clicks for him and his horizons expand. Izzy's point of view is wielded masterfully here, painting a vivid picture of Hornigold's psychology both through what Izzy is capable of understanding and what he isn't. This one left me snickering and swooning in equal measure.