A closer look at Sparrington after DMC

[thalia_seawood]

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.

Comments

[cupiscent.livejournal.com]

IMO, Jack and James are much more of an equal pair. -- YUP!

I don't really have anything else to add, other than a lot of pointing and nodding. DMC really does bring out the equality that was under the surface in CotBP.

I've had a dabble at fic, and intend to dabble some more, but really, I'm saving the great wallowing glee of Sparrington fic for the third movie, when Jack will, of course, come back, and then it will all be grand. *G*

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

The one thing I regret about DMC is that it takes so long until Norrington makes an appearance. But then his first scene is more powerful than Jack's first scene in DMC, at least in my totally objective opinion. :-)
Yes, more Norrington would have been lovely, but at least all his scenes are *good*.


Yay for more fiction by you!
I expect that after the third part comes out we will get a lot of nice Sparrington novels. Because I for one do not believe the rumours regarding Norrington's fate.

[crossroadsangel.livejournal.com]

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

I totally missed that! *face palms* I just saw Norrington's hurt look...and I can only imagine Sparrow trying to get his attention. ;-) I do wonder if Jack was initially afraid of DMC Norrington due to the fact that Norrington was relentless in hunting him in the Dauntless.

Bravo on all your points! It's refreshing to hear some great possibilities for DMC/post-DMC Sparrington.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

I totally missed that!

And now I hope I didn't imagine that look. ;-) I have tickets again for Sunday evening so I will double check. But I'm pretty sure we see both Jack's and James' reaction to Elizabeth kissing Will. James is definitely wincing and Jack doesn't look too pleased either. And then, if I'm correct, they do briefly check the others reaction and it's a "I *was* rooting for you." moment or a "See, she isn't meant for either of us." moment.

I do wonder if Jack was initially afraid of DMC Norrington due to the fact that Norrington was relentless in hunting him in the Dauntless.
Yes, of course, that's it!! Before CotBP, Jack may have *heard* from Norrington, but he never was hunted by him before. And for several months now he must have been followed by him. - There are marvelous story possibilities here as well.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

I was a little saddened that the loosening up mr. uptight dynamic is now gone

That was how I felt briefly. By now, I love that Norrington goes way beyond Mr Uptight especially since we got glimpses of that in CotBP already. E.g. did you notice that in CotBP when he holds the compass, his hands don't look as if he never did any rough work? His hands are beautiful, but his nails are very short and not ultra squeaky clean. His shirt my be frilly, but he himself is not. :-)

We now get a reversed dynamic with Jack saying 'You can't do that.' and James saying 'Watch me do it anyway!' :-)

Pass on the plot bunny to whoever wants it! I'd love to read this story, too...

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

If you scroll through this delightful LJ entry by mimesere, you'll find a closeup of the handshake between Sparrow and Norrington in CotBP.

http://mimesere.livejournal.com/342950.html

And you can find even more screenshots of Norrington here:

http://mimesere.livejournal.com/345407.html

As for writing fanfiction, I've never managed to write any yet. I get writer's block when I try to do so. It's analysing things that I'm good at and where I can't stop writing. :-)

[coldryuuza.livejournal.com]

this clears up many things for me, so thanks! u summed it up pretty good. :D

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :-)

[aurora-knight.livejournal.com]

Very good analysis! I like the points you've brought up.

The only problem I spotted was with the "rescuing Jack from the Kraken" thing; the only reason Beckett wanted the compass was so he could find the heart. Now that Beckett has had the heart delivered straight to him, there's no reason he would need the compass, so I don't think he'd care if he ever saw Jack again.

One thing that really interested me: do you know for sure that the compass was pointing to Jack when Norrington held it in CotBP? I mean, did one of the writers say so? Because that could mean all sorts of juicy things...XD

[(Anonymous)]

It´s being discussed over here - including a screencap:

http://community.livejournal.com/sparrington/286004.html#cutid1

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

I really need to watch the movie a second time around: I wasn't sure if Beckett only wanted to get the compass in order to track the heart or whether he would also love to have it because it might be useful beyond finding the heart.

Regarding your other question: Yup, I'm certain. I've seen somebody already pointed you to a screenshot.

[cassyl.livejournal.com]

One thing that really interests me about DMC James is that he's suddenly a pivotal character. As you point out, he's a member of the expedition Jack takes to recover Davy Jones' heart (something I hadn't really considered before), but more importantly, he's the one who ultimately subjerts Jack's most important plan. In CotBP, Norrington is always sort of hemmed in, not necessarily incapable, just restrained--Gillette literally pulls him back from jumping off the fort to rescue Elizabeth, he's taken by surprise by Barbossa's attack, and Jack's sneaky machinations, as well as Barbossa's, cause him to be outfoxed at the Isla de Muerta (although he and his men eventually trounce them once the curse is lifted). In short, someone's always a step ahead of Norrington in CotBP, but in DMC, he's the one who's a step ahead of everyone else. It's not just his honor and personal hygiene that are affected by his "fall from grace." Without all those pesky mores of civilized society, Norrington is finally allowed to exercise his cunning, much like Elizabeth is, and he, unlike Elizabeth, comes out the winner. Although I have to say, I do hope that in Pirates 3 we get to see him maybe regretting his actions a little.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Without all those pesky mores of civilized society, Norrington is finally allowed to exercise his cunning, much like Elizabeth is, and he, unlike Elizabeth, comes out the winner.

Yes, that's it exactly!

You can argue that Elizabeth also comes out as a winner if you take into account that Jack did endanger Will repeatedly and Jack's presence was a danger to them all. Elizabeth may believe that getting rid of Jack is the best way to solve all their problems. However, the price she pays is way to high. She throws her morality overboard by punishing Jack in the exact same moment he actually does the right thing!! And she knows what she did is wrong-
So, yes, where Norrington feels victorious in the end Elizabeth feels guilt.

I've seen some people arguing that Norrington isn't much better than Elizabeth since he abandons Jack, Will and Elizabeth. Totally don't get that view. He certainly doesn't owe anything to Jack. (Some people seem to think that because Jack is the main character everyone who goes against him is evil.) And Will and Elizabeth haven't done much for Norrington in turn either.
Even more importantly: Norrington doesn't lie to achieve his goals, he just doesn't tell anyone what he is planning.
He never pretends to be fond of Sparrow either.
And he does give Jack, Will and Elizabeth a chance to escape when he runs away with the chest. (Love it, by the way, when James does give up the chest eventually and just runs. He's not too proud to do the smart thing - which is *very* much like Jack!)

I'd like to see him miss Jack in part III. I'd like to see him realise that Jack does bring a bit of glamour and magic to the world.
And I want him to realise for what Beckett wants the heart and help getting rid of Beckett. I'm pretty sure we will see Norrington working together with Governor Swann. These two so obviously cared for one another in CotBP. Swann seemed to have fatherly feelings for James and James cared for him in turn.

[(Anonymous)]

Spot on yet again; only that to me, COTBP Norrington seemed "able to rescue himself just fine" already? He didn´t get to his rank for nothing, and then there´s the fight on the Dauntless...

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Oh, I totally agree. Norrington has always been competent. However, fanfiction often went for the "Jack rescues James" scenario. There are probably two reasons for this approach.
1) It's much more unlikely that James would rescue Jack. Nevertheless, hurt/comfort is a good starting point and the "rooting for you" scene makes it clear that Jack respects James and just might set out to help him.
2) Norrington doesn't have the best of luck in CotBP (Port Royal is attacked, he loses his ship, he has to fight undead pirates and some of his men die, he has to give up Elizabeth) so some writers might have overlooked how competent he is.

The best rescue fics, of course, use the rescueing only as a starting point to get the characters together and have Norrington appear quite competent otherwise. E.g. the wonderful Full Moon series by firesignwriter starts out as Jack assisting James.

There are a couple of "James helps Jack" stories by the_dala and copperrose. In these cases, Jack is sick and Norrington allows him to stay in his house as a favour to Elizabeth until he is better.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Yep, I wrote down some general movie impressions in my journal as well and listed as one of my favorite themes that everyone has to figure out what they really want. (The compass is what is the Mirror of Erised in the Harry Potter universe.) And when characters know what they really want beyond all else, they have to decide what price they are willing to pay for it.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

I know exactly what you mean.

Some brilliant stories start out as "Jack rescues James", e.g. the Full Moon series. Apart from the need to be rescued in the beginning James is quite competent here. So yes, there are some lovely stories with this scenario out there.

But I'm really looking forward to a redefinition of Sparrington:
I want a stronger Norrington who is a force to be reckoned with.
I want Jack to be wary of Norrington and be impressed by how competent and smart Norrington is and fall for him even though he shouldn't.
I want to see a Jack who's too cautious around Norrington to make the first step. I mean in probably 95 % of all stories Jack starts things off, e.g. by kissing Norrington to take him of his guard. This works fine in the CotBP world, but after DMC I have big problems seeing this scenario. If Jack kisses James first in stories post-DMC, he should be aware that he is taking a big risk!

Just wrote as response to another comment: Love it, by the way, when James does give up the chest eventually and just runs. He's not too proud to do the smart thing - which is *very* much like Jack!"
I've pasted this here, because it's one of the reasons why Jack and James work together. They are opposites in many ways, but very much alike in other ways.

thalia - desperately hoping for some great new Sparrington stories

penny

[(Anonymous)]

it seems to me that the jack/liz dynamic has taken over and has overshadowed sparrington. the j/e kiss threw people for a loop, and they are changing their love pairings. just my opinion, but i saw much more sparrington scenarios in the first movie. and next to none in the second. what can writers do? (because the movies stick in the mind.)

Re: penny

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Quite possibly writers who only get into the fandom after DMC, might focus on Elizabeth/Jack. But I can't see many writers of Sparrington enthusiastically turning to to Lizzie/Jack.
Personally, I find Elizabeth and Jack fascinating together, but *not* as a romantic pairing. To me they feel way too much like brother and sister.

We'll see how things develop. Directly after CotBP, it was *very* hard to find Sparrington. A large percentage of the stories centered either on Elizabeth/Will or on Jack/Will. Many of these stories either didn't feature Norrington at all and if they did he was the villain. At that time, it didn't look like Sparrington would be popular at all.
So yeah, I'm ever hopeful. The one thing I can see happening is writers waiting till after the third part before they write anything longer. After all, the time till May 2007 isn't that long.

[blue-autumn-sky.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I'd have to agree with you on this. If a writer can make a way to have Sparrington totally work even with these new developments, I can't help but respect them.

Personally I think there's a lot of potiental in the fact that Jack is now more afraid of Norrington in DMC than in COTBP.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Personally I think there's a lot of potiental in the fact that Jack is now more afraid of Norrington in DMC than in COTBP.

Yes! There's a lot you can do with that shift in dynamics.

[valorose.livejournal.com]

Dammit reading this has made me soooooooo anxious to watch DMC!!!

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Well, IMO some scenes dragged on and I'd rather would have had more Norrington scenes than more special effects.
Nevertheless, if you like Norrington you are in for a treat. He has some of the best lines in the movie. His swordfight against both Will and Jack rocks. He's such an enthusiastic fighter!

[animarelic.livejournal.com]

For me, the clincher on this pairing was the line, right before the 'dynamic' threeway swordfight,

"I knew you'd warm up to me, mate!"

I couldn't say exactly why.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

I remembered the line when reading this drabble (http://community.livejournal.com/dedicaces/14379.html).

It's a very flirtatious line and reminiscent of Sparrow flirting with Norrington in CotBP. You can even interpret is at Jack hoping for James to find him appealing. :-)

[elessil.livejournal.com]

Interesting thoughts, thank you!

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

[txorakeriak.livejournal.com]

This is very very good. Well thought out, and very interesting.
I found it a bit sad that most of the lengthy Sparrington fics became AU fics after the release of PotC 2, but as you said, there's a lot of potential for Sparrington in DMC. :) Thank you for this!

*adds to memories*

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Thanks!
Nice to meet another POTC fan from Bavaria. :-)

Right this instance, what insanely pleases me about DMC-Norrington is the irony of Elizabeth rejecting him in CotBP - because she thought he was rather bland and boring. During DMC, we see that Norrington is not at all boring and in fact, does have some piratical traits. (Which makes perfect sense or Norrington would never have been that successful as a pirate hunter.)

[txorakeriak.livejournal.com]

OMG, you are from Bavaria? O_O *falls over* Where from?

Right this instance, what insanely pleases me about DMC-Norrington is the irony of Elizabeth rejecting him in CotBP - because she thought he was rather bland and boring. During DMC, we see that Norrington is not at all boring and in fact, does have some piratical traits.
AND he's telling Elizabeth quite plainly that he's over her. Which must hurt her quite a lot, considering the look on her face. ;)

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Munich. :-)
Should you consider watching Dead Man's Chest at the CINEMA, let me know. It would be fun to go with a fellow fan!
My mail address is: thalia.seawood at googlemail.com

Regarding James and Elizabeth: Love it that their relationship is complex. Because he is over her - and at the same time, he's sad of not winning her over in the past. At least, there's this hurt look on his face when she passionately kisses Will.

Actually, I could see James and Elizabeth have an affair during or possibly after DMC, but I can't see them in a balanced romantic relationship at all. Elizabeth needs someone who balances her - and that's just not James. Elizabeth's best match is actually Will, because he is such an honest idealist - and she is not. I think what will hurt her the most in the aftermath of DMC is when she realises how much she hurt Will by her actions.

As for Norrington, IMO his best match *is* Sparrow. They are both more experienced in the ways of the world than Will and Elizabeth; they are both pragmatic, but also seem to know there's a final line they shouldn't cross.

[txorakeriak.livejournal.com]

Munich!! O_O That's about an hour away from me! *flails*
I'm quite broke right now and saving money for my trip to England in September, but when I have some money, I'll certainly take you up on that! I'm sure it'll be great! :D

Because he is over her - and at the same time, he's sad of not winning her over in the past.
Very true. He is ambitious and she would have changed his life, considering his views on promotion and marriage. Life hasn't been too kind to him.

I could see James and Elizabeth have an affair during or possibly after DMC, but I can't see them in a balanced romantic relationship at all. Elizabeth needs someone who balances her - and that's just not James. Elizabeth's best match is actually Will, because he is such an honest idealist - and she is not. I think what will hurt her the most in the aftermath of DMC is when she realises how much she hurt Will by her actions.
Yes - Elizabeth could want to seduce Norrington to restore her self-esteem considering him and Norrington might give in to it (I couldn't see it the other way around, though). Would be interesting! If there's fic to that, I'd definitely read it, even though I'm not a J/E shipper.
Will and Elizabeth do belong together, they're perfect for each other. I completely agree. :) Jack/Liz might have some appeal, but I don't think they really fit.

Jack and Norrington - and I don't just say that because I'm a dedicated Sparrington shipper - have dynamics. Their relationship is anything but normal, of course, but it's very interesting. They both have their zeals and their opinions on life and what's worth living differ greatly, but that's the fun of it all. :)

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I saw you really don't live all that far away!
Have fun in England! Just mail me when you have time/money for a POTC session. I'm sure we'll work something out some time.

<a href="http://jd-lit.livejournal.com/7865.html>Here's</a> a Elizabeth/Norrington story set during DMC that worked for me. And since I don't usually ship them that means a lot from me. :-) I've already wrote this to<lj user = selenak>, but since DMC, James and Elizabeth have a big brother - little sister dynamic for me. If they settled for this sort of relationship, they could be good friends and an excellent team. It would also be a revival and expansion of their relationship in the very beginning of CotBP when we see girl Elizabeth and Lieutenant Norrington. If either Jack or Norrington was female, I think a lot of people would be aware of their special dynamic. E.g. the first time we don't see Norrington as correct and rule-bound or laid back and shy is when he confronts Sparrow. His remarks are cutting and witty and he totally controls the situation - apart from the fact that Jack is rather flirtatious. Oh, and I love it that he loses his temper by the end of their confrontation and simply grabs Jack's arm to pull him along. :-) Have you read the two new stories by <lj user = demonqueen666>? They are very entertaining Sparrington stories "Leave of Absence" and "Putting In To Port"? Brilliant dialogue! You can find both in my memory section for POTC - DMC fanfiction recs.

[txorakeriak.livejournal.com]

Your wish is my command! :D

Also: *adds you to reading list* :)

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Just reposted. My first response was cut off due to faulty LJ tag.

*Friends back*

[txorakeriak.livejournal.com]

No worries. :)

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I saw you really don't live all that far away!
Have fun in England! Just mail me when you have time/money for a POTC session. I'm sure we'll work something out some time.

Here's (http://jd-lit.livejournal.com/7865.html) a Elizabeth/Norrington story set during DMC that worked for me. And since I don't usually ship them that means a lot from me. :-)

I've already wrote this toselenak, but since DMC, James and Elizabeth have a big brother - little sister dynamic for me. If they settled for this sort of relationship, they could be good friends and an excellent team. It would also be a revival and expansion of their relationship in the very beginning of CotBP when we see girl Elizabeth and Lieutenant Norrington.

If either Jack or Norrington was female, I think a lot of people would be aware of their special dynamic. E.g. the first time we don't see Norrington as correct and rule-bound or laid back and shy is when he confronts Sparrow. His remarks are cutting and witty and he totally controls the situation - apart from the fact that Jack is rather flirtatious. Oh, and I love it that he loses his temper by the end of their confrontation and simply grabs Jack's arm to pull him along. :-)

Have you read the two new stories by demonqueen666? They are the very entertaining Sparrington stories called "Leave of Absence" and "Putting In To Port". Brilliant dialogue! You can find both in my memory section for POTC - DMC fanfiction recs.

[txorakeriak.livejournal.com]

Will read that N/E fic tomorrow! *saves page*

If either Jack or Norrington was female, I think a lot of people would be aware of their special dynamic.
Even Disney would realize it! :D

His remarks are cutting and witty and he totally controls the situation - apart from the fact that Jack is rather flirtatious. Oh, and I love it that he loses his temper by the end of their confrontation and simply grabs Jack's arm to pull him along. :-)
OMG, that was a brilliant scene. *loves* I could watch it over and over again.

Alas, I haven't managed to read those stories yet, but I'll certainly do so tomorrow. :) Thanks for the recs! :D