Drabble: 'Rope's End'

[dwgm]

100 words of unbetaed, end-of-CotBP drabble for the current prompt at blackpearlsails...



~ Rope's End ~

Choking, wide-eyed, scrabbling for purchase, for balance, for breath, he's only half aware of the surrounding tumult, the seconds stretching slow and harsh as the rough hemp tearing at his neck.

Then a thunk! and he's falling, standing, on solid ground. The sword's stuck fast, thanks to Will's trick, but Jack frees his wrists, frees the only other weapon to hand, and runs.

Should be some needle-witted saying about nooses turning to lifelines, he muses, but his friend's there, catching the tossed end, and as they begin to bowl over lobsterbacks only one maxim occurs: Time is of the essence.

~.~

Comments

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

WTF did that ever happen?

Not sure why the filmmakers thought that would be a good idea. Maybe they just wanted to go in an opposite direction from any of the fanfic out there. Idiots. Not the brightest idea ever.

Thank you for commenting here -- I'm so glad you liked the drabble.

[sharklady35.livejournal.com]

> Not sure why the filmmakers thought that would be a good idea. <

I think it was meant to underscore how desperate Jack was to escape his situation (which is kinna understandable- being eaten by the krakken must've been a singularly unpleasant death.)

Personally, I think Jack was lying when he said "Yeah, I'm good with it." I think it was always his intent to rescue Will, once he'd obtained the heart.

[peladonww.livejournal.com]

Personally, I think Jack was lying when he said "Yeah, I'm good with it."

I think they said as much didn't they? Isn't that what the 'soiled and unusual' line to Gibbs is about?

> Not sure why the filmmakers thought that would be a good idea. <

They were faced with a problem if they wanted to keep Will and Elizabeth in it, having closed their arc so firmly at the end of CotBP. It had to be something dark and disastrous to explain Elizabeth going back to sea and amongst pirates.

I think it was meant to underscore how desperate Jack was to escape his situation

I'd agree with that explanation as it ties in with Jack's remark to Bootstrap about what a man will do to escape his final judgment. In fact it's an adequate explanation of much of what happens in the two sequels, at least in terms of the reality of human motivation. It's true too, people will do extreme things in extreme situations.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Isn't that what the 'soiled and unusual' line to Gibbs is about?

I've never heard that. Did you read that somewhere?

It had to be something dark and disastrous to explain Elizabeth going back to sea and amongst pirates.

I have to disagree. There were hundreds of fanfic stories created, three years worth of very imaginative sequelish adventures in which the three weren't betraying each other all over the place. I think the plot they came up with for DMC/AWE had far more to do with pushing the spectacular special effects Bruckheimer wanted than creating a human story about the characters we'd come to love. In CotBP, the special effects served the plot. In DMC/AWE it was the other way around. And I have to say I hoped that wouldn't happen, but I expected it, given the people involved, so though I was disappointed, I wasn't surprised.

On the other hand, there is a lot I like about the sequels. I just think they would have done better to go in another direction with the story and relationships.

[peladonww.livejournal.com]

I've never heard that. Did you read that somewhere?

Not that I'm aware of, but I interpreted the scene that way from first viewing as there is no other reason for the remark. My reading has always been that Jack thinks he can get Will back from Jones by playing on Jones history,is floored when he doesn't, then goes along with the bargain because the only alternative he can see is that he gives himself up. I think that Sharklady is right and that after that failure he assumes that he can free Will once he has the heart, and so control over Jones.

I have to disagree. There were hundreds of fanfic stories created, three years worth of very imaginative sequelish adventures in which the three weren't betraying each other all over the place.

But with all due respect to fanwriters (and being one I'm all in favour of getting us due respect) there is a world of difference between what the fanwriter community will probably like and what a worldwide audience from 8 to 80 would pay to see. Even within the fanwriter community it seems that there are only a proportion who write adventure and an even smaller proportion who write straight adventure without romance or slash or much angst, and I suspect that our reading figures reflect that fact too. The screenwriters had to write for a much larger spread of people and make it work to some degree for most of them.

On the other hand, there is a lot I like about the sequels. I just think they would have done better to go in another direction with the story and relationships.

With Elizabeth happy in Port Royale and married to her childhood sweetheart it's hard to see how they could have taken her back to Jack and co without some catastrophe, at least not acceptably to that widespread audience. The way they chose was far fetched but it had the desperation that made it work to some degree. It's also probably the case that a lot of the target audience didn't care much about the relationships as such, at least not in the way, or to the same degree, that many fanwriters do.
As for the SX a lot of the audience want it and so it has to be a key part, and the story has to make that possible. In DMC they are a surprisingly small part and then only to support characters (DJ) or plot (the Kraken) and while the battle in AWE is huge (love it!)it is plot related. Me I like them, particularly sword fights and big sea battles, so I might be biased in my reading of the situation of course.Personally I don't think it needed to be so dark, and I can think of other ways it could have gone, but keeping it mainstream without something similar to what we got might have been hard. Maybe we should have a challenge and see what the fanwriters can come up with when set the same requirements and constraints as the screenwriters sometime. Could be fun.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

there is no other reason for the remark

A matter of opinion. I interpreted it as loathing for Jones. He's pretty loathsome.

is floored when he doesn't

I don't think he expected to succeed, but thought it worth a shot. He doesn't seem too discouraged by the failure of the tactic. He needed Will on the Dutchman, to get the key.

The screenwriters had to write for a much larger spread of people and make it work to some degree for most of them.

In spite of the monetary success of the sequels, they weren't a critical success, nor as generally popular as CotBP, which did appeal to everyone. I've spoken to many RL friends who thoroughly enjoyed CotBP, but disliked DMC and AWE (if they even saw the latter).

It's also probably the case that a lot of the target audience didn't care much about the relationships as such, at least not in the way, or to the same degree, that many fanwriters do.

Again, I think it was CotBP's human story, the relationships, the romance, adventure, and upbeat ending that appealed to audiences across the board and kept the movie in the theater for months rather than a few weeks, as was the case with DMC and AWE.

keeping it mainstream without something similar to what we got might have been hard.

The story TnT came up with for the sequels was not designed to appeal to the mainstream, as was the case with CotBP. The filmmakers felt they had no need to do so, obviously, and indulged their individual agendas to the greatest extent Disney would allow, warping the characters and tone established in CotBP that had created the enormous PotC fan base. This is hardly an unusual scenario -- sequels have failed time after time through movie history because of this kind of self-indulgence. When it was announced that they were making the sequels, there was a great deal of discussion among the members of Black Pearl Sails (the Yahoo group) about this very possibility, and we were all hoping madly the filmmakers were studying where movie sequels had gone wrong in the past and would avoid those pitfalls. Unfortunately, our hopes were not realized. Apparently there is something about making a successful movie that leads to a sort of blindness, because it's almost laughable how often this happens.

Maybe we should have a challenge and see what the fanwriters can come up with when set the same requirements and constraints as the screenwriters sometime. Could be fun.

What exactly were their requirements and constraints? Piraty comedy-drama-adventure-romance with a side of the supernatural and special effects, and keep it PG-13. That gave them a lot of leeway, too much apparently.

But yes, a challenge of that sort might be interesting, if the fandom's interest could be piqued enough to participate.

[peladonww.livejournal.com]

I interpreted it as loathing for Jones.

Yes, that is possible. But it was the addition of the 'unusual' to 'soiled' that made me think otherwise. While the loathsomeness of Jones might make him feel soiled the use of the word unusual is more active and personal, it seemed to me to suggest that he felt that he had done something unlike himself, outside his usual parameters.

I don't think he expected to succeed,

No he may just have been going through the motions, but then again Jack is an optimist. But yes you are right he does need the key, which also means he has to think he can get Will off the Dutchman again.

In spite of the monetary success of the sequels, they weren't a critical success, nor as generally popular as CotBP, which did appeal to everyone.

I didn't come to CotBP until 2007 so I have no feeling for how it was received, but I can imagine it had more enduring appeal being much closer to the Disney classic format. That format does enduring appeal quite well. As for critical acclaim I don't really think that it matters, critics are largely irrelevant when you need to recoup that amount of money. If the output is fit for its purpose, i.e. hit the required audience, and then anything else doesn't really matter. DMC made a huge amount of money, which must have meant repeat viewings. Personally I don't like DMC in many ways, though its grown on me in the n number of times I have seen it. At first Jack and Will seemed so OOC, and its taken hopping between the two to see that’s not really the case. But I too liked the 'feel' of the first much more.

and we were all hoping madly the filmmakers were studying where movie sequels had gone wrong in the past and would avoid those pitfalls.

Oh the sequels are self indulgent right enough, but so was everything they were competing against, so it was possibly the mood in the industry at the time. Classic boom time angst fest in fact. As you say making sequels is risky business and a trilogy even more so, and they made some of the classic mistakes. But they were also between a rock and a hard place simply because CotBP has been so successful, if they went with something similar then they would be accused of coasting and making just more of the same, if they went with something different (which they did) then they risked what happened. But within the model they had I doubt that they could have produced something that would have met all needs, certainly not all the wishes of the fanwriter community.


The story TnT came up with for the sequels was not designed to appeal to the mainstream, as was the case with CotBP.

I honestly can't see that they or Disney thought that, not when so much money was involved. They must have believed it would hit the target audience, which was wide demographic, for the production to have continued and the cheques get signed. The returns, which are I think greater for DMC than for CotBP would suggest that they were, though I don't know much about such stuff so I might be wrong.

What exactly were their requirements and constraints?
Well for a start they had to have all the previous character set back to one degree or another. Jack, his crew and Norrington are easy enough given how CotBP is ended but Will is harder as he is a blacksmith not a sailor or a military man. But he can probably be accommodated without too much of a distortion of the format. Elizabeth however is much harder, as mentioned previously and having Barbossa immediately brings you into much more spooky waters as he has to be returned from the dead somehow and for some reason. Then it can't just be another rush for treasure, there must be a hook from the previous storyline, and it must carry through character relationships but not in exactly the same format as there has been passage of time and it needs a least some different character motivations and plot devices. Oh and it must also have some big action set pieces and a good villain. That work as a challenge do you think?

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I think it was always his intent to rescue Will, once he'd obtained the heart.

I think so, too, of course, else his characterization in CotBP makes no sense.