REC: Untitled Ed/Izzy Gifset by rita (Our Flag Means Death, Izzy Hands/Edward Teach)

[delphi]

Fandom 50 #8

Untitled Ed/Izzy Gifset by cbsjaneeyre
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
Relationship: Izzy Hands/Edward Teach
Medium: Graphic/Gifset
Length: 3 gifs
Rating: SFW
My Bookmark Tags: angst, unhappy ending, declarations, heartbreak, loss
Artist's Caption: love shouldn't hurt like this.

Description:

The first gif shows Izzy fighting both tears and comfort as Fang tries to hug him in the 2x01 scene where Jim, Fang, Frenchie and Archie try to stage an intervention about his relationship with Ed. The second shows Izzy struggling to declare his love to Ed later in that episode (caption: "I have...love for you, Edward"). The third is from 2x03 and shows Izzy in the brig, leaning back and silently weeping as he sits with the belief that he not only helped kill the man he loved to save the crew, but that the crew will now die all the same because of his choices.

I love (and hate, in the best of ways) the painful triptych created here through the scene choice, positioning, and colours. In the middle is the moment of Izzy finally getting the words out, golden light coming in through the papered-over windows behind him. On either side is the before and after, both of them less saturated, nearly greyscale. Before: Izzy struggling not to let his feelings out, fighting against those who are trying to help him. After: the tears coming freely and with awful resignation as Izzy bears the full weight of not having been able to help anyone in return. His love couldn't save Ed, couldn't save the people he felt responsible for, and ultimately won't be able to save him. Still, for whatever it's worth, his relationship to the pain and to himself is changed.