Three points, in hopes that my two faves POTC slash writers will be comforted enough by them to put fingers to keyboard.
1) So much of Jack's personality is about performance. He flounces about always trying to convince someone that he's the opposite of their expectations of him, no matter what those expectations may be. To the authorities, he pretends to be a baffoon. To Will, he pretends to be nonchalant. To Elizabeth, a lecher and a coward. He's always got something else going on beneath the surface. This is one of the reasons why he is perhaps the wiliest character to grace the screen in years. To him, to be pinned down as any one thing is to be boxed in, even by those he does actually care about and seeks to protect. He takes the notion of freedom to that extreme. Thus, I don't think we can take too much stock in some of the more frivolous exchanges in the film as representative of Jack's true feelings. Certainly they are a part of his personality, since no one can be that bumbling and swishy merely by design, but he rarely gives us a true glimpse of his heart.
2) For Jack to be sexually interested in Will at this point in the cannon is still IMO entirely plausible. Of course, Jack and Will share much less screen time, most of which is rather more life or death than in the first film (given what eventually does happen at that cliffhanger ending), which doesn't exactly lead to flirtatious banter. But for him to love Will more than fraternally and physically has always been a stretch within the bounds of the cannon we know. Indeed, both of your stories have them involved in all sorts of adventure before love, er, blooms. Also, Jack's terrified for his own life, for his own soul. That is far weightier than physical attraction. Lastly, he is still obsessed with Will's genitalia. That has to count for something.
3) I wanted to make a point about how Jack can't get the compass to go where he wants it to, thinking that maybe it could be construed as leading him to Will, but I think I'm going to have to pay more attention the next time I see it to be sure of my bearings. Anyway, point is that he can't get it to work any more than Elizabeth, which begs the question, where does his heart really want it to go?
Thanks for all the plot for thought, I love reading your musings!
no subject
1) So much of Jack's personality is about performance. He flounces about always trying to convince someone that he's the opposite of their expectations of him, no matter what those expectations may be. To the authorities, he pretends to be a baffoon. To Will, he pretends to be nonchalant. To Elizabeth, a lecher and a coward. He's always got something else going on beneath the surface. This is one of the reasons why he is perhaps the wiliest character to grace the screen in years. To him, to be pinned down as any one thing is to be boxed in, even by those he does actually care about and seeks to protect. He takes the notion of freedom to that extreme. Thus, I don't think we can take too much stock in some of the more frivolous exchanges in the film as representative of Jack's true feelings. Certainly they are a part of his personality, since no one can be that bumbling and swishy merely by design, but he rarely gives us a true glimpse of his heart.
2) For Jack to be sexually interested in Will at this point in the cannon is still IMO entirely plausible. Of course, Jack and Will share much less screen time, most of which is rather more life or death than in the first film (given what eventually does happen at that cliffhanger ending), which doesn't exactly lead to flirtatious banter. But for him to love Will more than fraternally and physically has always been a stretch within the bounds of the cannon we know. Indeed, both of your stories have them involved in all sorts of adventure before love, er, blooms. Also, Jack's terrified for his own life, for his own soul. That is far weightier than physical attraction. Lastly, he is still obsessed with Will's genitalia. That has to count for something.
3) I wanted to make a point about how Jack can't get the compass to go where he wants it to, thinking that maybe it could be construed as leading him to Will, but I think I'm going to have to pay more attention the next time I see it to be sure of my bearings. Anyway, point is that he can't get it to work any more than Elizabeth, which begs the question, where does his heart really want it to go?
Thanks for all the plot for thought, I love reading your musings!
-G. ;D