*cackles with inane glee*

You are a wonderful woman, my friend. That was amazing. (Ignoring, of course, my own delicacies when it comes to characterization of the dear Commodore - I did love your Gillette, howevre!)

What's the betting that you've set this up so that Jack someday does tell someone about Backside Rules the Navy? xPP

Anyway, first story I ever read that was from Jack's pov and had Gillingon nuggets hidden in it. And I'm afraid I couldn't help but read potential Sparrette into that... *hides in a corner*

Thank you so much for the wonderful comment ! And huzzah for you liking this chapter and my Gillette even if you've a different take of Mr Norrington. That's possibly the best comment ever I could get. :)

What's the betting that you've set this up so that Jack someday does tell someone about Backside Rules the Navy?
Let's say I would not bet against this possibility. ;)

Anyway, first story I ever read that was from Jack's pov and had Gillingon nuggets hidden in it.
You're making me feel particularly proud ! Yes, that's was the original kernel of the story: to write something naval and Gillington-like using the the most Sparringtonian stereotype of the CotBP fanon: jailfic. I'm glad it's working. :)

And I'm afraid I couldn't help but read potential Sparrette into that...
*g* With Jack you never knows... Differently from his authors, he understands the value of navy men. ;)

Thank you again for the great comment ! I greatly appreciated it. :)

Hurray! I'm really glad to see this up, and the nice thing is that it's been so long since I read it last, it was all new to me again :) It is wonderful!

There are so many lovely things in it that I don't know where to start :) I love Bertram as a Gunner of God, poor man, and I think that Jack should start running guided tours to Tortuga so that the public could hear their pirate stories in a more comfortable location ;) LOL - but it is a good indication of how humane Jack is, and makes him very sympathetic.

I like the idea of wanted posters for Naval Officers!

I really like the trial, with all the high society putting on their show of unconcern - and very beautiful they are. I also love Mr.Gillette as a consummate liar ;) He and Norrington make a good team, with the combination of Norrington's zeal and honour, and Gillette's ruthlessness and suspicious nature :)

I love the music, oh and Gillette's totally undramatic rescue of Norrington which Norrington wasn't even aware of. And of course the UST between the two of them which Norrington isn't aware of either! I can't wait to see what Jack manages to wheedle out of him with his dastardly plan to ruin the poor Commodore's life.

Thank you so much for commenting again and finding so many nice and lovely things to say about something that, by now, must have fed you up to your ears. :D

LOL, it seems the "wanted posters for Naval Officers" could be a very profitable business !

Of course, I'm glad you like my Norrington and my Gillette and the way I'm fleshing out with (approximatevely) realistic details the parts of CotBP that the authors (luckily *g*) left out. You know how I delight sprinkling CotBP canon with silks, wigs, powder, fans, and Bach and Mozart music.
But what is making me particularly glad are all the unexpected positive comments I'm getting for my Jack Sparrow. To know I succeeded in making him humane and sympathetic is just wonderful ! Sparrow is such a difficult character to write, so I felt it very challenging to attempt giving him a voice. My feelings towards this character are very confused. From one hand, I must confess I cannot claim to love or to understand him and his pirate ways. While watching CotBP for the first time, I was not rooting for him, but just for the Commodore and his gallant officers. On the other hand, however, Sparrow is the pivot of everything happening in CotBP and I (very ambitiously) wanted this story to reflect the original atmosphere of the film. I just hope to be able to keep the right balance in the next chapters, when the focus will move to Norrington and Gillette's backstory. :)

What a long rant I wrote ! And all I meant was, actually, thank you so much for the fantastic support you're giving me through this adventure ! :)

I couldn't ever be fed up with your stories, and as it was there was such a gap between beta reading and reading that it came to me new :) But your writing is a little like that Gillington vid Black_hound did; it reminds me of all the cultured and elegant things that I loved in PotC and which I love in the 18th Century. (Speaking of that vid, I seem to have lost it! Woe!)

*g* But I think that the navy girls as a whole have a tendency to write a good Jack Sparrow, because we're not tempted to make him into a hero. In a way we're more alert to his strange blend of good traits - his humanity, his humour, his cleverness and accurate observation of human nature, even empathy - while not ignoring his bad traits, such as untrustworthyness and piracy. You can usually manage the Trickster better when you're not trying to turn him into the Hero. And you've done a perfect job, because he is the centre of everything here, and yet also the outsider. He's sympathetic and also malicious... So he keeps his enigmatic nature and we don't quite know what to make of him, which is absolutely right.

I can't deny though that I'm looking forward to the shift to concentrate on Norrington and Gillette. I like your Jack, but I like better the glimpses of private!Norrington and Gillette he allows us to see :)

Oh, this is great! God, you write so beautifully. You evoke the period and the Navy so effortlessly. I love your Gillette; I love your Norrington. And I love your Jack, who is perceptive above all else. Your Norrington is such a self-satisfied peacock but he's smart and honorable and good, which the film showed us less of. :) I loved the story about the taking of the Interceptor and the sham trial. And I second Galadhir's love of the wanted posters for dangerous naval officers. :)

WOW, you make me blush ! Really, with a comment like that I'm left without words.
Huzzah for you enjoying my take of the characters and the way I fleshed out the CotBP canon with pseudo-realistic (unashamedly pro-Gillington *g*) details. As I was saying to galadhir in the thread above, one of the reasons I love writing Gillington CotBP fics is that they allow me to play with dazzling uniforms, wigs, silks, shoe-buckles, and my fav period music and paintings. It's just marvellous to know that this approach, instead of boring my readers to death, entertains them ! :)

You evoke the period and the Navy so effortlessly.
That's one of the best comments I got ever. Thank you so much ! :)

This was very, very good. A different pov than the main pairing makes it all the more interesting and I'll be eagerly awaiting more.

Thank you so much for your lovely comment ! I'm glad I managed to write the pairing in a new way and was even more glad to read in your LJ that little story put you in good spirits. That is my main aim, as an amateurish writer, so it's wonderful I achieved it.
Thank you again for commenting and I just hope the next chapters will not disappoint you. :)

That was wonderful! It's such a fresh take, seeing a Gillington story from Jack's point of view, especially when Jack is as well written as he is here. :) And I especially love how you've woven all of the naval and historical details into this so flawlessly...it makes the story even richer, and I'm envious. ;)

And I guess I third the love of the wanted posters for Naval Officers, because that's just brilliant.

Huzzah ! Thank you so much for the great comment ! I did not expect this story to get so many wonderful praises. I'm particularly glad you like the idea of seeing a Gillington romance through the eyes of Jack Sparrow, and I'm even more glad you like my take of Sparrow, because he's definitely the most difficult character to write. To insert naval and historical 18th century details in the CotBP canon is something I greatly enjoy and - along with playing with my fav OTP ^^ - the main reason I write fics. So it's really great to know that I'm able to share what I love with other people. Thank you again for the great comment !

I'm starting to think I should ask a copyright for the "wanted Naval Officers" posters ;)

What is it about Navy Girls? They have such a knack for writing Jack! Wonderful, simply wonderful! Would the CAUTION: NAVAL OFFICER posters be posted up at the Pirate Post Office? XD I love the idea though! I love how Murtogg and Mullroy flit in and out of Jack's monologue and the lady with the mini-Dauntless on her head! Trés chic! I assume that James went to Beckett to parley for Jack's life and that didn't go so well. Poor Jack! Looks like "despirate" measures will need to be taken...

Reposted [disregard the previous mess]

Thank you so much ! And double thanks, because not only you left a very lovely comment but you even commented twice, both here and at the WP blog ! I greatly appreciated it and made me feel even more ashamed of being so slow at answering.

Of course I had to insert Murtogg and Mullroy ! They are, like Jack, an essential part in order to recreate the CotBP atmoshpere. Huzzah for you liking my lady with the Dauntless on her head: I suspect we Navy fangirls would have done the same ;D

Lord Beckett is going to have a major role in the story, especially where both James and Andrew are involved. However, more than a villain or an archy-enemy, he's just the... Rockerduck of the Caribbean, with his own agenda.

What is it about Navy Girls? They have such a knack for writing Jack!
I'm really glad you like my Jack because he's very difficult to write ! About the Navygirls usually writing a good Jack, I think I agree with Alex's observation that it's because we do not write him as a hero but just as... CotBP Jack Sparrow (see thread above).

Thank you again for the wonderful comment ! :)

First of all: OMG! *massive squee*

This is so brilliant, beautiful and stunning that I don't know what to say. Except, maybe, that I hardly did anything deserving this dedication. *blushes*

I shall, however, force myself to say something, because this honestly deserves some coherent feedback! So.
I have read it repeatedly by now, and I love every single word of it. Not just because it reads like Jane Austen's work, but also because reading it aloud (yes, I am that strange) makes me feel like I am one of those silk-clad, white-wigged, powdered ladies fanning herself between two cups of tea. A posh, awesome feeling that makes you sit up straighter and raise your chin just a bit, before secretly grinning and going back to observing the world through Jack Sparrow's eyes.

A very promising start to what I feel will be an epic tale of marvelous little details CotBP failed to mention or to hint at, while at the same time reminding us of all that was good and squee-worthy in CotBP.
Your Jack Sparrow really is the wise, sneaky, observant, adorable scoundrel that I came to love in PotC1, and I truly believe that he did notice all those little things. He struck me then as someone who knows and notices a lot more than he lets on, and to see that described so wonderfully makes me fall in love all over. Of course, I would not be a true Navy fangirl if I didn't squee even more loudly about your description of Commodore Norrington and Lieutenant Gillette - my infatuation slight crush on these two probably means that I am biased, but I absolutely loved how you describe (and Jack notices) the tiny gestures of intimacy between the two, the hints that there's more (and, being a confirmed Gillington addict, how could it be otherwise?) without being obvious.

Too many details to list them all, but just to give you a few examples what made me squee repeatedly:
- You actually made me discover a soft spot for Murtogg and Mullroy, where before I thought of them as annoying at best.
- I think I must have read the part of Norrington and someone else playing music a thousand times, and I still can't keep the squee down that you included the harpsichord and flute!
- Mr. Gillette's proud, impish character, his fierce protectiveness of Norrington, and the way he gets carried away in the Court room while spinning his yarn. (And, of course, the description of him. Dear Lord above! Sorry if I drooled a bit. *blush*)
- Mr. Norrington's plot to save his reputation as well as that of his crew and friends - and of course the fact that he tries so desperately to do right by all of them that you just know he has got to fail... A tragic hero in the best sense of the word.
- The little evil hints at Lt. Groves' background. Admirality protégé and unloved by the men... I could almost feel sorry for him. Except if I were a seaman on the Interceptor I'd have preferred Mr. Gillette over Mr. Groves as well. ;)
- All of your OCs seem so alive, even if they only appear in one scene - like Reverend Bertram, or the flirting lady in the courtroom, or the unnamed, ill-tempered marine sergeant.
- And last but not least, I don't know yet what to make of Lord Beckett, but now I'm really curious. :)

It's all so well-done, so in-character and historically coherent that I cannot wait to read more about it. BRAVA!!!

Damn you for making me want to design "Wanted" posters of naval officers now! I do NOT have the time!!! Waaah! ;)

And I suddenly remembered that I wanted to ask you which piece of music you were thinking of... I've tried to find something that fits the description in my collection of music, but I can't really make up my mind.
[/18th century geek] ;)

It took me a long time to answer yor comment, but I read and re-read it every day, so much filled me with joy. It's one of those magnificent and inspiring comments you print and put on the wall, to re-read when you feel low and unartistic ! :) Thank you so, so much !!

Squee !! "Reading like Jane Austen" is the best comment I could ever get. And I feel particularly proud and delighted that you read this aloud (I like to do it, too, with the pieces I love best).
Huzzah for the chapter's style finding a good balance between Sparrow's POV and the 18th century upper class setting, which is where we will go with Norrington in the next chapters. I'm very glad I was able to recreate the world of CotBP and the characters as seen through the eyes of us RN fangirls !

He struck me then as someone who knows and notices a lot more than he lets on,
Yes, in my opinion, Jack is very intelligent and resourceful man wit lots of secret layers. and a cunning, strategic mind. However, be it because it's part of his theatrical character, be it because it's part of his carefree attitude towards life, he sort of loves to settle his affairs in the most entagled and improvised way, never forgetting to put in it a sprinkle of comedy.

Let me squee in turn for you squeeing about my Norringtong and My Gillette and noticing so many details. Each of them is the result of love and research, and it fills me with happiness when people notice and love them as much as I do ! Feel free to drool on my Mr Gillette. He's vanity made flesh and my Mr Norrington has learnt to cope with his (Mr Gillette's) many female admirers. ;)
About Mr Norrington, he's been brought up from his earliest years with notions about courage, and heroism, and the duties of a gentleman and an officer. It feels natural, for him, to behave like a knight. Unfortunately, he does not live in the age of knights any more, so he often ends finding himself in semi-comical situations. But his sense of humour helps him to always keep his fundamental, wonderful dignity. What I liked so much in CotBP was the smiling, loving way (totally lost in the sequels) they made him a sporting loser without making him a failure.

- You actually made me discover a soft spot for Murtogg and Mullroy, where before I thought of them as annoying at best.
Did you ? Oh, then that's just fantastic ! :)

- I think I must have read the part of Norrington and someone else playing music a thousand times, and I still can't keep the squee down that you included the harpsichord and flute!
It was actually of this scene that I was thinking when I gave you the suggestion for the drawing. You cannot imagine how wonderful it was for me to see the scene on the paper and just as (if not better than) I had it in my mind ! :)

Lord Beckett will have a role in the story, but in a totally AU way with respect to the sequels. Let's say I just burrowed the name and the looks of the character.

There were so many other things I could rant, but I've already stolen too much of your precious time, so I will stop here and just say again thank you so much for the wonderful comment. It made my day and I'll always treasure it. :)

Damn you for making me want to design "Wanted" posters of naval officers now! I do NOT have the time!!! Waaah! ;)
Oh, I really hope you will have it, one day ! :)

Fantastic story, wonderful, entirely.

Your writing reminds me of an impressionist's painting, with broad brushstrokes and small details all together making something entirely lovely.

Jack's jokes, Andrew's storytelling, James' moods, the politics, Murtogg and Mullroy's debates - and Jack's participation with them - it all makes for enthralling reading. I'll need to reread this many times before I can quote favourite pieces, but, for now, I just have to say that Jack's alternative Navy anthems made me laugh out loud (in a quiet, public net cafe, no less!).

And I'm intrigued by Norrington's basket and lone visit.

Thank you so much for commenting, and in such a lovely way too ! And squee if it made you laugh out in public ! (snug Mr Gillette's face) You know how much I love high spirits ! :)
The comparison with an impressionist's painting is making me feel so proud I could burst. *happy dance of the happy author*.

Norrington's basket will have a major role. But I cannot say more at the time ;)

Thank you again for commenting and enjoying this ! :)

I just want to let you know that I am enjoying this chapter very much. I have been reading some of it every day for the last few days and will post a comment soon. :)

Thank you so much for letting me know ! It was so kind of you ! And I'm really glad you are enjoying this. :)

I have finished the chapter! I loved your amusing descriptions of Reverend Bertram and his preaching. I thought you made Murtogg and Mullroy seem most endearing. You write with such wit and imagination - I enjoyed all the little details, such as Jack wondering if he was eating a horse that had died in Cromwell's time and your passing mention of Francis O’Shea the mad fiddler! There were many other such things that I also enjoyed. I always like how you have developed Gillette more fully into a character in your fics. In this chapter he seems rather mysterious and intriguing. I enjoyed your description of the music that Norrington and Gillette were playing and could tell it was Baroque music from the way you described it! I liked that Jack had mixed feelings about Elizabeth's character and behaviour - I found this more interesting than either pure like or pure dislike would have been. I thought your very subtle hints about the relationship between Norrington and Gillette were skilfully done. I'm looking forward to the next part!

What an enchanting birthday present!!!

I don't know where to start - really not. This is such a wonderful piece of writing, with more lovely details than I could list and what an original idea! I loved every letter of it, and the only thing making me happier than reading chapter one is the knowledge that there will be a chapter two!

There's the fantastic description and characterisation of Bertram - so alive and three-dimensional that I almost feel I stood beside him while reading. And the lovely detail with the "Dauntless"-hairdo; what a great way to let history flow into the story! And ah, Gillette The Lovely Liar - fantastic!

It's very intriguing how Jack picks up those little signs of affection between Norrington Gillette. I wonder if he's more empathic than the rest of Port Royal, or if the reason his that, as an outsider, he has not yet become used to those signs. Seeing this all through his eyes is a wonderful spin.

This story is so original and full of love for details; it's the perfect companion piece to the movie. I can't wait to read more, and all that's left for me to do now is shouting "BRAVA! BRAVA!" from the top of the mizzen mast! :-D

Re: What an enchanting birthday present!!!

Huzzah ! if you liked your birthday present, then I'm a happy person. :)
Thank you so much for the lovely comment !

I wonder if he's more empathic than the rest of Port Royal, or if the reason his that, as an outsider, he has not yet become used to those signs.
I'm more for the empathic explanation. My take of Jack is of a man with a higher-than-average understanding and perception of things. He grasps situations very quickly and could come out with very direct, simple solutions, where it not that he likes to turn them to his advantage in a very theatrical, showy way. :)

Wow! This was really excellent!

Looking forward to the next chapter...

Thank you so much for the lovely comment ! I've greatly appreciated it ! :)