2. Sins of the Fathers by "Rob Kidd" (And if that's not a pen name, I'll eat my shoe.)

Yes, the second book I read this year was a young Jack Sparrow adventure.  I know that I made lots of loud and indignant noise when I saw that Disney was starting to publish these appropriate-for-kids books about younger Jack, but I've had this particular installment (the 10th, I think) on my shelf for going on a year now, and my recent visit to Disneyland made me crave some brain-fluff.

Now, when I want PotC fiction, I can usually find all kinds of it online, but I was promised that someone with the surname Norrington would be making an appearance, and I thought that in a worst case scenario, I could at least mock Disney's attempts to make anything related to Jack kid-friendly.

( Hits and misses. Spoilers dead ahead.  )

So, while I will probably always prefer my personal canon to anything Disney can come up with, the grasp of the characters wasn't half bad.  I may just have to get my hands on the others. (Already bought both of the Brethren Court novels.  They actually look like they have potential.)

Title: Truce
Disclaimer: Pirates? Not mine.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,144
Author's Note: Written as part of the Secret Santa exchange over at blackpearlsails for mpstigers, who wanted "anyone and anything." Given the opportunity to write anything I wanted, what did I come up with? A story with no Navy, and no Jack (well, no corporeal Jack, at least...) Crossposted various places.


( Hector Barbossa scowled at the apple in his hand. Not, mind you, that he had anything against the piece of fruit, for it was as red and as perfect as any he could have wished for.  )

I had almost forgotten that yesterday was the day of AWE's release until I dropped by Borders to look for a Christmas CD and saw huge PotC displays everywhere.  I vaguely remembered either estelofimladris or lady_entropy17 telling me that Best Buy was a cheap place to get it, and that 1st day (or early?) buyers got something special, I drove across the street to check it out and to look for my Christmas CD, which Best Buy didn't have either.  *sigh*

Resisted the Special edition + Teague action figure set.  I don't need a Teague action figure.  I don't do anything with the action figures I DO have.  What I did get were the 2-disk Special edition and a free disk of extra special features that were exclusive to Best Buy.  They've got one about the Endeavor (blowing it up, that is... kind of like the one on the Lost Disk about the Interceptor.  *sobs*), one about the Dutchman, and one about the premieres.  There are a couple of others, too, but I can't remember them off the top of my head. 

I haven't watched the movie again yet, but I can already say this: while AWE may not be my favorite of the trilogy...

( Its blooper reel wins hands down.  )

( On the deleted scenes. )

Since AWE came out, I’ve been immersing myself in the fandom, reading fics, joining discussions, and having a generally fannish time.

On Monday, I even got to meet hippediva, which was an absolute blast. Rei and I drove out to her apartment and we chatted and went out for Indian food since I’d never had Vindaloo before in my life and really wanted to try it. Exchanging theories and character squee and writing processes with a fan author I respect so very much (and who, as it turns out, is a marvelous lady all around) was simply wonderful.

I know I don’t do recs very often, but in the aftermath of AWE, here are some things that I think are particularly fine and worth your time.

“And a Bucket of Rum”, being the first chapter of “Never Say Die” by hippediva and elessil. Post-AWE, brilliant, snarky, plotty Jack/James. The first chapter is the epilogue I wish we’d gotten. I think they’re up to Chapter 4 by now.

“By Blood Undone” by erinya. An alternate version of the events at World’s End. Dark, well-characterized, and beautiful. It’s Jack/Liz, which I am usually leery of, but this fic is amazing.

And, on the humorous side, this comic of Davy Jones and a Sue makes me crack up every time I look at it.

And speaking of Sues, check out last Sunday’s “Unshelved”. Sure to make mockers of badfic everywhere grin.

And finally, a fun, well-timed music video devoted to Jack, James, Will, and all of the times they're angry at each other.

( Drabble recs and squee crossposted from potc_dogwatch )

( Gems I Skipped the First Time Around )

I’ve spent most of the day drinking lots of water, taking vitamins, and reading/responding to AWE-related posts. People are coming up with brilliant plot bunnies and interesting observations left and right. I love my fandom.

So, here are some things I’ve been thinking about that didn’t seem to fit anywhere in my first post. Spoilers abound, of course.

( I thought the writers had fooled us all for a moment. )

( Fight Scene Love )

( Little Character Observations )

( Things that bothered me a little )

( Something that bothered me a lot )

( The Other Navy Man )

This is the second year in a row I’ve done the Disneyland Pirates Premiere madness. I have to say that last year, the waiting was a lot more pleasant, but the actors I got to see and meet this year made up for it completely.

( The Waiting )

( The Payoff )

( Final Thoughts )

And now... my best news ever.  I had been planning to go to the Disneyland Pirates premiere, just because it was so fun last year, and this is most likely going to be the last big Pirates shindig at the park for a while.  But, I wasn't nearly as into it as I was before DMC.  Then, I got on my fancommunities filter and found out that EVERYONE is going to be at the premiere.  And by EVERYONE, I mean Jack Davenport is going to be there.  And, according to the list I read, not only is he going to be there, but so are a whole bunch of the other British cast members, including Jonathan Pryce and Greg Ellis. (If you have no idea who that last one is, he plays Lieutenant Groves, a minor character with one really awesome line who somehow ended up owning a large portion of my PotC-loving soul.)  And, if things go as planned, I am going to get to meet both of them and get their autographs.  I have my autograph book from last year, and I always joked that I was saving places for Navy boys and AnaMaria, but I never thought I'd actually GET some of them... *OMGFLAIL*  

When I look at all of this, I suppose the good outweighs the bad by a great deal.  The bad is small and relatively easy to handle, and the good brings me such joy and fulfillment... my life is rich and blessed (and full of Pirates, just the way I like it).

1. I got two three-unit classes at LA Mission College last night. No interview, no nothing. They just called me up, asked, "What hours are you available?" I tell them, they tell me two classes that fit that time frame, and I ask, "Can I have them both?" And they say, "Sure!"

So, I'm teaching two sections of English 21, which is basic paragraph construction and grammar. Should be a learning experience. This brings my total course load to 11 units. This is good for my financial situation, but it's going to kill my social life.

2. I was planning to wait to buy the DMC DVD because I saw it five times in theaters, I'd already seen the blooper reel, and I had heard that there weren't any deleted scenes, so I thought I'd wait and see if I could get it for Christmas. This was before estelofimladris bought DMC, watched the extra about the premiere, and saw that there are really good shots of all of us who went on it. I had to go out and buy it then. Ended up buying it twice at Walmart. Once to get the two-disk special edition, and once to get the CD of pirate songs that Walmart had bundled with the regular release. I figure I'll give my extra DVD to my Orlando-obsessed cousin for Christmas and hope her parents haven't already bought it for her.

Just watched the extra for the first time. And you CAN see us really well! We're in the shot with Marty, and very soon after that we're in the shot with Lee Arenberg (Pintel) where he's posing for the camera.

3. I just watched the first two epdisodes of BBC's new Robin Hood series with the room mates and xxdreamwaterxx. I love it. Robin and Much's banter is sparkly and witty, Much reminds me of Wash, the Sheriff is delightfully evil and hilarious to boot, Alan is exactly my kind of rogue, Little John is a big, gruff, soft-hearted fellow, and Sir Guy is walking sex. As has been pointed out, the man is my classic type. Dark hair, pale skin, light eyes, arrogant, with a voice like dark, smooth chocolate. He even seems to have shades of moral ambiguity in these initial episodes. He didn't seem overly thrilled with the Sheriff's cruel approach to justice, and from his conversation with Marian, it sounds as if he's trying to get some family honor back. *coughshadesofWilliamcough*

Title: One Night's Rest
Disclaimer: Pirates? Not mine.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,400
Author's Note: Written for the 2006 James Norrington Ficathon for gentilhomme, who wanted between-movies-Norrington, hurricane aftermath, and Gillette.

( The whispers began the very moment the four sea-worn men stepped off the Ariadne, lately arrived from Lisbon, and onto docks in Port Royal. )

Nearly another whole year remains before the release of Pirates 3, and already I am having to go into serious spoiler-avoidance mode. And it is killing me. The temptation to click on the link that appeared so tantalizingly on my friends page is almost unbearable. And it gets worse. Not only is does this particular spoiler pertain to Pirates 3, it apparently offers information about the role that one of my darling naval lieutenants who went missing in DMC is going to play in it. If you know the PotC fandom at all, you surely must realize how very rare and special and amazing it is that info is getting leaked so early about people who aren't Jack, Will, or Liz.

Knowing that it's out there and I shouldn't look is almost worse than getting spoiled. But not quite. I am zealously dedicated to remaining spoiler free, with the exception of the trailer and official promo shots, until the movie's release. I'm not going to be looking at pictures for costume references this time, because I'm not making a new costume for the premiere. (<-- when the following statement turns out to be horribly false, feel free to laugh at me) I kicked myself a thousand times for letting myself know as much as I did about DMC before I saw it. I cry for the shock I never had at Jack's death, at Norrington handing the heart over to Beckett. I want to give myself those kinds of moments for the final movie, and that means staying away from spoilers. I'm doing ok so far... it's been about fifteen minutes since I found the link of Groves-related spoileriness, and I've not yet given in. I intend to distance myself from the computer as soon as I'm done with this post in order to keep it that way.

Note: If people (all of whom know who they are) happen to find out said piece(s) of information, or anything else that may come up, tell me and die. I don't want to know. Yes, I know that I was going on happily the other day about a certain other picture of certain other minor characters that got posted, but that was a moment of weakness. From this moment on, I'm going cold turkey. I don't care how trivial or meaningless it seems, it's a slippery slope, and I don't want to slide down it so far I end up finding out that Elizabeth runs off with Beckett, Jack and Norrington convert the Pearl into a traveling casino, and Will makes a fortune parading Bootstrap around as a sideshow attraction. (Note: NOT REAL SPOILERS.)

It’s a bit surreal sitting here writing this review.  After almost three years of waiting, speculating, trying my hardest to avoid spoilers and failing miserably, falling headlong in fandom, learning to sew for the sake of a Pirates costume, and working myself up into a PotC-induced state of ecstatic excitement, Dead Man’s Chest is out now.  And I’ve seen it. Twice in the first twenty-four hours of its release.  I saw it at the El Capitan at midnight, and I saw it again at 4 PM the next day in order to catch all of the little things that I missed the first time due to screaming fans and an inability to quickly recover from massive shock.

Whatever else I may say later on, I would like to state for the record that I loved Dead Man’s Chest.  All of my nitpicks, rantings, and any other negativity that may ensue should be read in light of this fact.

At last, on the night before I leave for AX... the long promised picture-post from the PotC:DMC premiere!

And other costume-related joy.

Rei and I are now planning to go to Disneyland on Saturday and camp out on Main Street since that’s going to be the day of the premiere.  Hopefully, we’ll be close enough to see people (and they’ll let people who are in the park stay and watch people walk down the red carpet), and if I get my act together I really want to make a “We Love Commodore Norrington” sign (in navy and gold, of course) so I can hold it up and scream if Jack Davenport comes within a hundred feet of me.  It promises to be a great day, full of sitting and waiting and cheering and meeting fun people from online pirates comms.. I can’t wait!

Wow… I get back from two days of not really paying attention to the internet and find that my comms have exploded with wonderful new stories that I haven’t read yet, and FIVE new chapters of the hot, plotty Sparrington story I’m reading have gone up since I last checked.  Oh, how I wish I didn’t have another student right now and that I could grab a cool drink and read all of the pretty… but I must go and console myself with the fact that there’s a humungous Joann’s Superstore right down the block from my student’s house.  I’m betting on them having the gold trim I need… Yes, in the end, everything does come back to the coat.

Title: Besotted
Disclaimer: Pirates? Not mine.
Rating: PG
Characters: All three Navy boys.
Notes: Written for the "Navy" prompt at potc_dogwatch.  Set several years before CotBP.

Any weekend that I get to go to Ren Faire is a good weekend. A weekend where I get to go to Faire in my Pirates costume with a whole bunch of other people dressed in their Pirates costumes? That’s what I call a GREAT weekend.

( Cut for Length, pictures, and one very small PotC:DMC Norrington-related spoiler )

Title: We Have Heard the Mermaids Singing
Disclaimer: Pirates? Not mine.
Rating: PG
Characters: The esteemed Lieutenants Gillette and Groves
Author's note: Many thanks to gaelic_bohemian for pointing out an obvious solution to my problem with the ending.

( On to the story )

Title: Five Things that Never Happened to James Norrington
Disclaimer: Pirates? Not mine.
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Well, James, obviously... As for pairings, there be het, slash and gen in this story, and that's all I'm saying.
Author's Note: Many thanks to gaelic_bohemian, ghettopeach and sir_snarksalot for suggestions and support throughout the writing process.



( The path of a man's life can be traced through the choices that he makes, each decision revealing new roads and closing others off forever. These are five of James Norrington's paths not taken. )