the Dalaverse

The rest of the meme answers (if you'd still like to ask me something, feel free!

linaelyn asked whom does John Cotton love? The Parrot? The Pearl? His ability to sing?

OMG I LOVE COTTON - oh yeah, that wasn't the question. I think when Cotton first acquired the parrot, it was out of necessity and so he resented it a bit, but over the years the ability to communicate (however convolutedly!) via the parrot and simply the companionship it offers has led him to love it. His feelings were hurt when the parrot abandoned ship before the armada, but he didn't blame it - what's a bird to do in that kind of weather? And he knew it would be back if he managed to make it through. Sort of like the faith Jack's got in the Pearl now, that their paths are meant to cross and twine no matter how many times they're separated.

He loves the Pearl because he can still be useful there, and the captain (whomever that may be at any moment) appreciates that he's got a steadier hand than the rest. He doesn't know anymore which of them wooed the other. He'll never see the girl he left back home again nor lift his voice in a hymn, but the Pearl's got her own kind of beauty and a voice in the wind.

Okay, I totally did a pie chart in Paint for this, but LJ doesn't want to upload it. I'll try later.

heatherlayne_n asked (and venusinchains seconded) what mark did Jack leave on Beckett?

Ah, that one. You know, I didn't much see the (twisted and atrophied) Jack/Beckett upon initial viewing, but I find myself adopting that semi-official backstory with the slave ship and the sinking of the Pearl and adding a sexual relationship to it. I could be swayed in a number of directions as to the exact nature of that relationship, and I think I'm one of the few who didn't mind that question not being answered in AWE because now we can make up whatever we want. My personal favorite fan theory? That Jack made Beckett a eunuch. It adds an interesting layer of depth to their conversation in AWE, and of course it's a. not something Beckett would want known and b. nothing that could be told or implied onscreen. I mean, I can't think of very many physical marks that would leave such an impression - any other type of mutilation, we'd be able to see. Unless Jack, like, cut off his toe or something, but that's lame. Or maybe Beckett's got a matching tattoo somewhere?

gwynevere1 asked about the cracktastic crossover you've been meaning to write.

Oh man, with all the extra mythology we're given in AWE, I am dying for some PotC/Tortall crossover. Aside from my usual clamoring for Jack/George Cooper (King of Thieves and Baron of Pirates Swoop!) (both young? Or young George and older Jack, because the other way around would end in Jack skewered on Alanna's sword) and Elizabeth and Alanna and/or Kel sitting around swapping war stories. Or ooh! Elizabeth encountering Aly when she's captured by pirates at the beginning or on some later spy mission!

Um...what was I saying? Oh yeah, apart from those, I so want some kind of interaction between the immortals/deities of the two universes. The Goddess and Mithros are kind of dull, but Tamora's later gods rocked hardcore. In particular Will desperately needs to meet the Graveyard Hag - oh, how she would flirt with him! The Graveyard Hag and Calypso together would be....intimidating. Maybe he could encounter Stormwings fouling a wreck? And then there's Kyprioth, the trickster god, who is so Jack-like it's not even funny. That one's sort of obvious, innit?

My problem with actually attempting any of this is that Tortall is sacred space for me - the idea of ficcing it is horrifying. I think through the lens of a PotC character it might be possible. Someday. When I work up the nerve. If not, these bunnies are totally up for grabs.

...I'm going to have to reread Tortall before I go to England, aren't I? At least PotS and the Trickster duology. I don't have them memorized yet.