PotC fic -- Outlaws and Inlaws

[artaxastra]

I'm afraid djarum99 and I are sharing one brain! Though it's not the same story at all, really! *waves*

Last week I posted Swan in Flight, a story with Elizabeth and Teague. Several people asked for more, so here's the next bit, Outlaws and Inlaws. Jack/Elizabeth, kind of, with a lot of Teague on the side.

Comments

[artaxastra]

I'm happy you like it!

both of them at their worst and not caring,

It hasn't been an easy few months for either of them. But that's really ok. Nobody needs to impress anybody here.

And I caught that thread of fidelity and unfaithfulnesss--Teague and his woman, Elizabeth's dream--and Elizabeth's reaction: anger, shame, perhaps resentment. Very interesting, what's going on under the surface here.

I'm glad you brought that up! Elizabeth resents Teague's woman for Jack, and Jack would resent her, though he knows it's unreasonable. After all, Jack's mother has literally been dead for thirty years! The woman in question is probably fifteen years older than Elizabeth. Jack is not nine years old. Though somehow in his interactions with Teague, he's always about nine.

And her dream and resentment. Only she's not entirely sure who she resents.

As far as I'm concerned, the boy is James. Credits be damned.

*nods* His name is James.

That line says so much. This whole scene is amazing--the intimacy of it is so lovely, even though they're only sleeping together and not sleeping together.

I'm happy that works! They understand each other. And where is the line of fidelity? They haven't made love. There's nothing more than a hug between them. But is this infidelity? When would it be?

“Flipper Turner,” Jack says, waving his fingers about. “Little webby feet. Chip off the old barnacle.”

LOL...I think this will have me giggling for the rest of the day.

*g* I've been waiting to use that line!

And yes, there will be more!

[erinya]

Elizabeth resents Teague's woman for Jack, and Jack would resent her, though he knows it's unreasonable. After all, Jack's mother has literally been dead for thirty years!

I actually read her resentment as being on her own account as well--she's faithful, so Teague should have to be, too--or something subconscious like that.

And where is the line of fidelity? They haven't made love. There's nothing more than a hug between them. But is this infidelity?

This is such an interesting question in relationship to that curse info (and I wasn't sure if you were using that for canon here or not)--if she's faithful in act but not in heart/thought/desire, does she blow it? If not, what is a faithless act and what is still okay physical contact? What if she loves someone else besides Will, without loving Will any less? I expect and hope to see lots more fics playing with these restrictions...

[artaxastra]

I actually read her resentment as being on her own account as well--she's faithful, so Teague should have to be, too

Yeah, some of that in there too! And her father never remarried, and that's very much how she's seeing Teague. Of course, I have my doubts about whether or not Weatherby was entirely celibate for ten or fifteen years, but they have never crossed Elizabeth's mind.

This is such an interesting question in relationship to that curse info (and I wasn't sure if you were using that for canon here or not)--if she's faithful in act but not in heart/thought/desire, does she blow it? If not, what is a faithless act and what is still okay physical contact? What if she loves someone else besides Will, without loving Will any less?

I'm not sure yet where I'm going with that. Right now Elizabeth thinks that Will is gone permanently. And she's assumed she'd be permanently faithful. Only what does that mean, exactly? From not sharing a hug to never forgetting him and stopping loving him?

I'm really curious to know if people think she's crossed a line yet or not.

[erinya]

I don't think she has. I think crossing the line must at least require a choice and a lustful act--her dream is involuntary, doesn't count, and the night she spends with Jack is very chaste. But there's a difference between what the curse "thinks" is crossing the line and what I do--I would say that if she still loves Will and is there to meet him in ten years, that's good enough whether she has other lovers or not, but what the magic counts as faithful might be a different matter. If it was really cruel, loving Jack might screw it up even if they didn't do anything about it.

[artaxastra]

I agree that crossing the line requires intention, not just accident.

I'm not certain that there's a way to end it, other than Will's death, in this version -- I'm not sure yet whether or not I'm taking T and T as canon or not, or just what we see onscreen.

And then there's the question of Will's fidelity. Jack made a joke about it, but was there something between Jack and Will? (The playing Will's organ crack.)

[erinya]

You know, I caught that, and it occurred to me that he wasn't entirely kidding...And it's Jack. He would have affairs with both of them if he could manage it.