A closer look at Sparrington after DMC
While I'm not a fanfiction writer, I'm an avid fanfiction reader and occasional beta reader. Particulary, in the POTC I've read a lot of stories over time, had many delightful discussions with webcrowmancer when she was writing "Mercy" and did some betawork.
Today I've been mulling over the question how DMC will change Sparrington stories. After all, both Jack and James have gained more depths and are definitely more controversial than before.
- During CotBP you see that Jack has heard of Norrington who appears to have a reputation as a successful pirate hunter - he recognizes him on their first meeting. He is understandably wary of him, but despite the danger Jack is in at several times, I never had the feeling that he was truly afraid of Norrington.
Yet when Norrington makes his first appearance in DMC, Jack recognizes him by his voice alone and reacts by trying to escape while hiding behind some leaves. He appears to be afraid.
So I would say that Jack has become a lot more cautious of Norrington.
Because of this or despite this, Norrington is among the people who accompany Jack to collect the chest. Perhaps Jack is wary of leaving James aboard his ship when he's not there: James might just commandeer the Black Pearl in order to make up for the loss of the Dauntless. :-) Perhaps Jack also believes that Norrington will be someone who *won't* steal the chest. After all, he remembers James as a man who tries hard to do the right thing and upholds the law.
- James is no longer bound by the rank of Commodore. He's no longer in the Navy. Like Elizabeth he's suddenly free of society's expectations. Due to everything he's lost and due to the freedom that comes with losing everything, he has become wild and reckless.
We no longer need to speculate that Norrington hides a lot of passion behind his controlled facade, we actually get to see the passion behind the facade. (He does enjoy getting into a bar fight, he also doesn't seem to mind to get into a lengthy sword fight to burn off some energy. :-))
- James' feelings for Elizabeth have changed since CotBP: A part of him is still in love with
her, but not only can he clearly see that she loves Will, he also is wary of the way she uses her charms to get what she wants.
He no longer tiptoes around her, but gives her some cutting remarks and some amused and knowing glances a la 'I know what you're up to, Lizzie.'
There are parallels between Elizabeth and Jack, between Elizabeth and James and between Jack and James. They all use subterfuge to achieve their goals, they all have an inner desire to be free.
However, Elizabeth is still fairly young. She attempt to play power games and even fools Jack, but nevertheless she is still an innocent at heart. She makes an immoral choice when trapping Jack and she can't live with that decision.
IMO, Jack and James are much more of an equal pair. Both make do some dishonest things over the course of the movie. Unlike Elizabeth, this doesn't break them, however. They both look out for themselves first this time around - despite this, they both can be good men.
The changed dynamics between the characters are bound to influence fanfiction:
In the past, one frequent scenarios of fanfiction writers was Jack seducing James and/or Jack trying to show James a good time. Another favorite was Jack rescuing James from a difficult situation.
After DMC, these scenarios no longer work for me:
Jack would be too wary of James to come onto him. Right now, James is a wild card. Jack already has so
many problems on his plate during DMC that he wouldn't be keen on testing how far he can push James. This means that it's more likely that James would try to rile up Jack or that a passionate sword fight would change into passion of another nature. :-)
As for the "Jack rescues James" scenario: DMC-James appears to be able to rescue himself just fine, thank you very much. This time around it's Jack who needs some rescuing - preferably by James. :-)(E.g. one scenario I could see happening is Beckett using the heart to call the kraken and force him to release Jack. After all, he still wants to acquire Jack's compass. Norrington witnesses Jack's temporary
rescue and decides to assist with a permanent rescue...)
Another challenge for post-DMC Sparrington fiction is that by the end of the movie Jack is gone. So any story has to be either set during the movie when Norrington is aboard the Pearl or find a way to bring Jack back into the play.
On the plus side for fanfiction, James has become more approachable. He is no longer endangering his career when interacting with Sparrow. After all, he has already lost his commission anyway.
And he and Sparrow are actually spending time on the same ship! - Of course, if you show them falling madly in love while on the ship, Norrington stealing Davy Jones' heart from Jack becomes a much bigger betrayal. So there's another obstacle for fanfiction writers. :-)
Despite this, Sparrington still looks very good to me:
The characters still share the snark between them. Whenever Norrington is sarcastic to Jack, Jack tries to be sarcastic right back.
They share at least one moment of perfect silent understanding when Elizabeth kisses Will and they just look at one another.
There's Sparrow looking at Norrington across Davy Jones' box - and yes, for Sparrington shippers this look is filled with subtextual promise. :-)
There's Jack's flirtatious line "I'd knew you'd warm up to me, mate". (*)
When Norrington does have the chance to kill Sparrow during the swordfight, he doesn't go through with it. You can easily reinterpret the scene in a Sparrington light: Jack tells James that it was Will's fault all along and James takes it - not because he falls for Jack distraction, but because he's glad he has an excuse to not harm Sparrow. (*)
There's a nice moment where Norrington realises that Jack has said the truth and is openly surprised about it. I see it as Norrington reevaluating Jack in that moment. (**)
We also have learned that the compass points to your heart's desire. When Norrington held the compass in CotBP it pointed at Sparrow. (Of course, this scene can also be interpreted as Norrington really wanting to hang Sparrow and hunt down all pirates in general. Even though, the compass does not point to Elizabeth when in Norrington's hand...)
Jack still claims to be rooting for Norrington. :-) Of course, that's before he has to suspect that Norrington stole the heart.
I'm looking forward to post-DMC fanfiction. It would be nice if some longer stories were amongst it as well. I hope that a lot of writers are inspired even if setting up longer stories will be more complex due to Jack's fate.
ETA: Added two new points (marked with *) to the "Why Sparrington still works" list inspired by a drabble from elskegaderian. The story can be found here. Go read it, it's lovely!
Added another point (marked with **) after mentally going through the movie once more.
Today I've been mulling over the question how DMC will change Sparrington stories. After all, both Jack and James have gained more depths and are definitely more controversial than before.
- During CotBP you see that Jack has heard of Norrington who appears to have a reputation as a successful pirate hunter - he recognizes him on their first meeting. He is understandably wary of him, but despite the danger Jack is in at several times, I never had the feeling that he was truly afraid of Norrington.
Yet when Norrington makes his first appearance in DMC, Jack recognizes him by his voice alone and reacts by trying to escape while hiding behind some leaves. He appears to be afraid.
So I would say that Jack has become a lot more cautious of Norrington.
Because of this or despite this, Norrington is among the people who accompany Jack to collect the chest. Perhaps Jack is wary of leaving James aboard his ship when he's not there: James might just commandeer the Black Pearl in order to make up for the loss of the Dauntless. :-) Perhaps Jack also believes that Norrington will be someone who *won't* steal the chest. After all, he remembers James as a man who tries hard to do the right thing and upholds the law.
- James is no longer bound by the rank of Commodore. He's no longer in the Navy. Like Elizabeth he's suddenly free of society's expectations. Due to everything he's lost and due to the freedom that comes with losing everything, he has become wild and reckless.
We no longer need to speculate that Norrington hides a lot of passion behind his controlled facade, we actually get to see the passion behind the facade. (He does enjoy getting into a bar fight, he also doesn't seem to mind to get into a lengthy sword fight to burn off some energy. :-))
- James' feelings for Elizabeth have changed since CotBP: A part of him is still in love with
her, but not only can he clearly see that she loves Will, he also is wary of the way she uses her charms to get what she wants.
He no longer tiptoes around her, but gives her some cutting remarks and some amused and knowing glances a la 'I know what you're up to, Lizzie.'
There are parallels between Elizabeth and Jack, between Elizabeth and James and between Jack and James. They all use subterfuge to achieve their goals, they all have an inner desire to be free.
However, Elizabeth is still fairly young. She attempt to play power games and even fools Jack, but nevertheless she is still an innocent at heart. She makes an immoral choice when trapping Jack and she can't live with that decision.
IMO, Jack and James are much more of an equal pair. Both make do some dishonest things over the course of the movie. Unlike Elizabeth, this doesn't break them, however. They both look out for themselves first this time around - despite this, they both can be good men.
The changed dynamics between the characters are bound to influence fanfiction:
In the past, one frequent scenarios of fanfiction writers was Jack seducing James and/or Jack trying to show James a good time. Another favorite was Jack rescuing James from a difficult situation.
After DMC, these scenarios no longer work for me:
Jack would be too wary of James to come onto him. Right now, James is a wild card. Jack already has so
many problems on his plate during DMC that he wouldn't be keen on testing how far he can push James. This means that it's more likely that James would try to rile up Jack or that a passionate sword fight would change into passion of another nature. :-)
As for the "Jack rescues James" scenario: DMC-James appears to be able to rescue himself just fine, thank you very much. This time around it's Jack who needs some rescuing - preferably by James. :-)(E.g. one scenario I could see happening is Beckett using the heart to call the kraken and force him to release Jack. After all, he still wants to acquire Jack's compass. Norrington witnesses Jack's temporary
rescue and decides to assist with a permanent rescue...)
Another challenge for post-DMC Sparrington fiction is that by the end of the movie Jack is gone. So any story has to be either set during the movie when Norrington is aboard the Pearl or find a way to bring Jack back into the play.
On the plus side for fanfiction, James has become more approachable. He is no longer endangering his career when interacting with Sparrow. After all, he has already lost his commission anyway.
And he and Sparrow are actually spending time on the same ship! - Of course, if you show them falling madly in love while on the ship, Norrington stealing Davy Jones' heart from Jack becomes a much bigger betrayal. So there's another obstacle for fanfiction writers. :-)
Despite this, Sparrington still looks very good to me:
The characters still share the snark between them. Whenever Norrington is sarcastic to Jack, Jack tries to be sarcastic right back.
They share at least one moment of perfect silent understanding when Elizabeth kisses Will and they just look at one another.
There's Sparrow looking at Norrington across Davy Jones' box - and yes, for Sparrington shippers this look is filled with subtextual promise. :-)
There's Jack's flirtatious line "I'd knew you'd warm up to me, mate". (*)
When Norrington does have the chance to kill Sparrow during the swordfight, he doesn't go through with it. You can easily reinterpret the scene in a Sparrington light: Jack tells James that it was Will's fault all along and James takes it - not because he falls for Jack distraction, but because he's glad he has an excuse to not harm Sparrow. (*)
There's a nice moment where Norrington realises that Jack has said the truth and is openly surprised about it. I see it as Norrington reevaluating Jack in that moment. (**)
We also have learned that the compass points to your heart's desire. When Norrington held the compass in CotBP it pointed at Sparrow. (Of course, this scene can also be interpreted as Norrington really wanting to hang Sparrow and hunt down all pirates in general. Even though, the compass does not point to Elizabeth when in Norrington's hand...)
Jack still claims to be rooting for Norrington. :-) Of course, that's before he has to suspect that Norrington stole the heart.
I'm looking forward to post-DMC fanfiction. It would be nice if some longer stories were amongst it as well. I hope that a lot of writers are inspired even if setting up longer stories will be more complex due to Jack's fate.
ETA: Added two new points (marked with *) to the "Why Sparrington still works" list inspired by a drabble from elskegaderian. The story can be found here. Go read it, it's lovely!
Added another point (marked with **) after mentally going through the movie once more.