A Canopy of Green: Chapter 3

[aquaseamage]

Here is the next chapter to my Norribeth story. This story is turning out to be a tad longer than I expected so this is NOT the final chapter: there will be more. :)  I have also used "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide" for reference while writing this, mainly for nautical terms dealing with various parts of the ship (ratlines,

Comments

[aquaseamage]

Be assured James will have more adventure in the next chapter. Crawling about in a rain forest is outside his experience, as you say and requires different skills. I've always enjoyed the man vs nature books and movies. They can be very interesting if written/filmed correctly. A few movies that come to mind are "Jaws", "Quest for Fire", "Volcano", various ones about mountain climbing like "Into Thin Air". I've also seen some older or foreign movies set in the tropical environment that were very good.

And I'm a city girl, too. :)

As a very young child I had my arm swell up from a yellow jacket (hornet, wasp) bite/sting. Cold water took it down.

And as for the ships, well, I'm not that familar with them yet. I am learning the parts though. I feel if I'm going to write James aboard his ship I should understand how the ship actually works and know the correct terms. I've always loved tall ships though. Very pretty. Soon our own tall ship should be returning from the Caribbean to spend the summer on the lake. They built it for educational purposes and its with a museum. Perhaps this summer I will see if I can tour it. I do now that thing they turn round and round on the Pearl is the capstan. :)

[wicked_jade]

Ah, I totally understand about the ships. You don't come across many tall ships in Lubbock, TX, I'm afraid, lol. So I know nothing about them; I've only been on a boat a few times.

I'm writing my first Norrington fic right now, and I roped myself into writing a battle. I think it came out alright in the end. I think I got most of the terms correct, between recalling what I read in Patrick O'Brian's novels, and hunting terms down on wikipedia. I know the difference between stays and shrouds now, at any rate. My main problem are strategies and manuevers; I know what clubhauling is, thanks to PotC, but I can hardly use that in every battle scene I write.

[aquaseamage]

Well, I've only been on a small tour ship once when I was a kid in elementary school. We went on a short tour of the city's harbor. The whole thing lasted about an hour. My mom really didn't want to let me go as I can't swim and she's scared of water, but the ship didn't sink or anything. So you've been on boats more than I have!

OOh, a battle, er? Interesting. Makes me think of "Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan". The battle in the movie is actually based on naval fights, as the director was a big fan of old sailing ships/navy ships. They just use modern weapons. I'll have to go read your story later.

Could you look up historic battles for strategies and manuevers? But then, the battles were so long ago... Mainly in POTC is seems whoever has more guns wins, unless they use that mast-breaker like Barbossa did in CotBP. In fights captains must rely on their cleverness, quick thinking, knowledge. Or that's what Kirk does anyway. Battles are like a game of chess, but sometimes its the poker play that wins.

[wicked_jade]

Well, if you read my story, do so at your own risk. It's gone all dark on me, and it's far from happy. I'm exploring James's childhood, and I pretty much destroyed it in the lastest chapter. But I guess that means I get to build him back up. I'm looking forward to writing the parts where he's in the Navy, and then later when he meets Elizabeth on the crossing from England.

I actually do need to go look up manuevers, because I have another battle coming up soon, and I've never really been good at chess, lol.

[aquaseamage]

I've read dark stories before. Maybe not in the POTC universe but with other fandoms. So yes, I will go read your fic. I'm always looking for good fics to read between writing my own story.

With Kirk, it was always poker that helped him win the battles. He liked to do lots of bluffing, tricking his opponent. For example, he'd tell the crew to shut off power throughtout the ship after the ship was hit by the enemy, making it look like it was a crippling blow. Then when the enemy thought Enterprise was helpless, it moved in close. That's when Kirk would restore power and blast them at close range. I'm not sure if you can apply that sort of thing to navy/pirate ships? But that's what I mean by poker. In a way, he (kirk) is similar to Captain Jack Sparrow in that he often lied to his opponents in order to win. But he only did it to save lives. He also lied about super weapons he didn't have but the enemy grew frightened and went away.

Chess would deal with: both ship's speed, mass, weapons, design (possible flaws?), knowledge of the other captain and that captain's reputation - perhaps he always attacks a certain way first?, and any other factors that could affect the battle like weather, location, etc. A ship could hide in fog, behind rocks, islands, etc. Inventing original tactics on the spot could help, too. Chess relies on LOGIC, presuming the enemy will respond in a logical manner (predictable behavior). Poker is more fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants.

Do you want to be my LJ friend?

[wicked_jade]

It's so dark it makes me squirm a bit, and I wrote it. Thankfully, only that one chapter is planned to be that brutal.

That's really interesting about the different types of strategies. I'll have to keep that in mind for future battle scenes. The "poker" strategy would apply to pirates flying false colors, to get closer to their targets.

And I'd be happy if you want to add me to your f-list. Mind if I friend you back?

[aquaseamage]

Although Kirk lived in the 23rd century and had spaceships, he was also a student of history. He studied great battles of the past (even Rome) and would apply those tactics to modern battles in space. Out of the 12 starships that went out on the 5 year missions sactioned by Starfleet, Enterprise was the ONLY ship that survived. He knew how to fight hand-to-hand, he knew how to form gunpowder from raw ingredients + used a hollow log as a cannon + diamonds as bullets. If you want to watch a great naval battle, rent Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. It will be well worth the time. Kirk is a great strategist and James is most likely named after him.

Of course you may friend me back! Because I don't see the point of a one-way friendship, do you? But then, I am new to LJ really.

I should point out Kirk never started battles. Starfleet is akin to the Royal Navy. His fights were to protect innocent citizens of the Federation and to save the lives of his crew. Classic Star Trek (Kirk) really is about exporing. Space has replaced the ocean and planets islands, but the stars are still there. In his heart, Kirk is always a naval commander on a tall ship like Norrington. The original ST series is the best.