Laurel's Journal

Jumping on the book meme bandwagon ( courtesy of 

djarum99and piratemistress) , since I need something benign to distract me from life at the moment. So, here goes. I LOVE reading, devour books, but I admit that I start a lot more books than I finish...

Bold what you have read, italicize what you started but couldn't finish, and strike through what you couldn't stand. Add an asterisk to those you've read more than once. Underline those on your to-read list, or those you have on bookshelf but haven't read yet.

 

 

Thanks so much to everyone who has read and commented on my first 2 chapters of my AWE rewrite! Thanks for being such a caring, patient bunch!

I want to get the next chapter rolling much quicker if possible but my memory is failing me ( i fully blame pregnancy). I saw AWE on the night it opened - so, May 24. I only saw it once and its out of theaters where I live. I am having a devil of a time getting the order of events clear in my mind. So, on that note, does anyone who has downloaded the movie (shame on you , pirates ;-)) feel like giving me a quick basic rundown of the plot sequence? Such as, after they rescue Jack and do the silly Up-Is-Down thingy, where do they go next? And after that? Memorable lines/ interactions? When do the big battles occur in the timing? I am unable to download the whole thing myself, as the fireMan really has a pet peeve about pirated films and forbids the having of them on our comp.
I am not rewriting the whole movie, just some key missing scenes, so I don't need it to be incredibly specific. 
Anyone have a great memory and / or lots of time on their hands ?

Thanks, all.

Title: Shackled - An AWE Rewrite
Chapter 2 - Splitting Seams
Author: Sage_Laurel
Rating:  range from a heavy PG-13 to very NC/17 in later chapters - this one is an R, for language.
Pairings: Jack/ Elizabeth, with other characters as canon/fanon dictate
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the smut in my brain.
A/N: This one is a long one, kids. Sorry it has taken me so long to get rolling, but now that the Muse is back in residence, I've been writing like a madwoman. Many, many thanks to djarum99 for her tireless late-night beta assistance, her gift of a couple of the choice phrases in Will and Elizabeth's conversation, and the lending of her creative brilliance to jump-start my Muse's engine. Many thanks, love, and thanks to all who have waited so patiently for me to update. I appreciate it!

Title: Shackled - An AWE Rewrite
Chapter 1 - What Shadows Can See
Author: sage_laurel
Rating:  range from a heavy PG-13 to very NC/17 in later chapters
Pairings: Jack/ Elizabeth, with other charachters as canon/fanon dictate
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the smut in my brain.

     Extended- family drama has kept building in fervor and pitch, coming to a sort-of head, before going right back into the same intensity after expending so much time, energy, and emotion trying to get things under control. So, nothing resolved, nothing done. Result: I'm a mess. The fireMan has to remind me to eat,  and I'm not sleeping. At my checkup Wednesday the midwife was upset about my recent weight loss ( I am back to the weight I was at before being pregnant, which at 5 months along is not really a good thing), raise in blood pressure and near constant headaches, and has put me on basically bedrest, and instructed the fireMan that i am not to pick up the phone, read email, or otherwise re-engage myself in The Whole Mess. Thank god for my best friend Liya, who has come down for the weekend to help out with littleMan, so he's not stuck inside with a crying mama all the time.  Fighting the depression that comes along with seeing your extended family-unit being ripped apart at the seams and flung about. Just trying to eat and sleep for the sake of my poor fetus, who imagine is not benefiting from being bathed in the battery-acid mixture of stress hormones I seem to be flowing with. Jane ( midwife) has given me the naturopath's equivalent of a prescription for herbs and tea and tinctures along with the bedrest to relieve some of the physical stress effects, so hopefully I'll start feeling better soon. So long as nothing else happens, god help us all. 

-Laurel

I have had so much feedback from people responding to my 'review' post of AWE; people asking, nay begging for the threatened rewrite that I have to do it, kids. But I must preface by saying that while I love to write, a screenwriter I ain't, and my primary writing has always been erotica, since I was a teenager. Thts what I'm good at. So sorry in advance if it goes from a PG-13 movie into something much more adult. This won't be an AWE for 12 year olds.
The plan now is that i am not going to rewrite the entire movie ( i'm only human, and I have a toddler and a baby-in-belly that need me), just write some 'missing scenes' and rewrite key scenes ( and the ending)  the way I think they should have been done. Totally narcissistic on my part but I NEED CLOSURE, kids. This SUCKS.
Its in the works. I havent been this effing inspired in MONTHS. 

Advice, suggestions, ideas are all welcomed and requested.

FireMan and I had a nice date, waited at theater for an hour and a half to get an aisle seat ( pregnant women pee a LOT, fyi), and finally got to see the movie. Couldnt post this last night cus I was just too, too exhausted.

Sigh. Here goes.  

Did anyone feel like they were in a David Lynch movie for a couple of scenes in there? (headscratch)

What I liked:

-How Murtogg and Mulroy joined the Pearl. Too cute. 
-Visual effects, Elizabeth's costumes, aerial shots 
-all the shirtless Jacks in the Locker ( skinny!yum)
-The whole Brethren Court scene ( esp. the line, Liz:" Its madness!"    Jack: "Its politics!") 
-the lovely scene with all the pirates sailing into battle, with all the flags unfurling
-Jack the Monkey and Cotton's parrot doing all kinds of piratey things. Teh cute. 


Now, on to the snark. 
What i REALLY hated overall was the complete lack of character substance. Liz was emotionally devoid of anything, like a plastic action figure of herself. Jack was funny, but that was it. The ingenious characterization Johnny Depp showed in the last 2 movies( good man/ bad pirate, cares for nothing but himself/ loves Elizabeth) was gone. That brief little second when Liz was saying goodbye to him was the only brief glimpse of human emotion in his face the whole movie. Will was just a nasty little shit, in my eyes, and I actually smiled when he got stabbed ( and I like Will!). If i had not read the spoilers, I would have thought, Yay! Now Liz and Jack can have a good conversation, get some of that lovely unresolved sexual tension back, and go do piratey things together. But since I knew better, I knew that wasnt the way it would end. 
Jack was reduced to nothing but comic relief, with nothing of the substance he showed during DMC or even during CotBP. He was a shell, prancing around for S&G. Hot, but a shell nonetheless. VERY disappointing.
Plot was so convoluted that even I was scratching my head halfway in, and I can usually follow pretty much anything. 
I thought that Norrington and Weatherby Swann's deaths were half-done, tacked on like an afterthought, with no respect to their place in the story. That really annoyed me, and though the scene with Elizabeth and her father in the Locker was good, we should have had at least a little more story and buildup before such a character was unceremoniously bumped off, no?

The Kiss was barely mentioned, and even then only as a joke. There was a good hour and a half's potential material just in dealing with that, IMHO, that they left out. Yeah, the movie was long, but if it had taken that time to deal with the fallout of the Kiss, it would have been time better spent. I have a whole alternate AWE in my head right now that I may write, just for my own closure, getting the confrontation between J and E and possibly Will regarding the Kiss and Jack's feelings for Elizabeth out in the open. MANY things remained unsaid, which could have been dealt with in a lovely and satisfying matter, but the writers chose not to even touch on it, which I think is cheap, lazy and a cop-out. There could have been a great below-decks scene with J and E, like the one with Will early on, with words and body language conveying what we already knew from DMC. Even if she DID marry Will in the end, so long as there was good writing in dealing with the UST and emotion that was obviously between them in DMC it would have had a satisfying feel. But it didn't. I felt cheated.

Ok, now the ending. 
Yeah, I'm a feminist. I minored in Women's Studies. I've danced at more Ani DiFranco concerts than I can count. I've been in equality and anti-domestic violence marches in 3 cities. But I am also a stay-home mom who, at this point in my life, feels blessed to have my husband paying the bills and hauling his carcass off to work every day so I can care for my son and gestate my little one. I don't feel at all that I am diminished in the least by being a mother and staying home. After all, I have the most important job on Earth - growing a little human being into a big human being. 
That said, I HATED the ending. I thought the perfect ending (if it had to be the same idea) would have been for Will to drop her off on the Asian pirate ship or the Pearl, and he go off in TFD. She'd be a pirate captain in her own right, doing what she loves, rather than being dumped on a beach to work on her tan for 10 years. In the 10 Years Later scene, their ships could be meeting, and they could reunite that way. The Kid could even be there with her on her ship. She'd in in character, be a pirate in her own right, and be the Elizabeth we all had begun to love while still having her Faithful Lovey-Dovey thing with Will. But they took the cheap, eays way out. It was almost like by the time Hour 2 rolled around, they'd already gone through the film's budget, so they had to do it on the cheap. Also explains why only 2 (two!!) of the ships ( the Pearl and TFD) were involved in the battle in the Maelstrom, while all the other Armada ships and Pirate ships just stood by twiddling their thumbs while the battle went on. A real feat of cinematography would have been to have ALL of the ships fighting on the periphery, ina massive battle, but i reckon that would have taken time and money, both of which seemed to have run out by that point in the movie. HATED how Jack went off in the dinghy and how the compass pointed to rum, which I thought was beyond cheap and stupid. He was RIGHT BACK to where he came in in CotBP, as if all 3 movies had never happened. For that matter, so was Elizabeth. Why make the movies at all, then??

Ok, I'm done. Thats what I think. Now, what to do?

I am still a Sparrabeth shipper. I dont care if the series is finished, and poorly at that. I feel a great deal of creative inspiration from these 2, and AWE  isn't killing that. I will take my inspiration from CotBp and DMC, and keep writing and reading and get my satisfaction from that. 
Illegitimum non carborundum - Dont let the bastards get you down. 

-Laurel

It never ceases to amaze me. Here I am, mentally and physically beaten down by this family conflict, feeling like life is so stupid and family is so pointless, and Someone decides that today is the day. Like little butterfly wings, little tiny tap tap tap in my lower belly. No matter how many times littleMan kicked the heck out of me in utero, I wil never tire of that feeling. Its like a secret, silent conversation.

Just a wee little drabble in the 'verse of Opium before we get back to the hardcore smut. 

Title: Opium 3a (Interlude)
Author: sage_laurel
Rating:  Adult-ish, but not as hardcore as previous posts
Pairings: Jack Sparrow/Elizabeth Swann
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the smut in my brain.
Author's Notes:  Just a short little drabble. A look in the mirror gives Elizabeth a new view.

Poor, poor littleMan- he woke up this morning with a fever of 102.6. All day he's just wanted to lay in my arms. All he's eaten all day is one popsicle. Not sure whats wrong with him, cus he says nothing is ouchy, but he's definitely sicky. Poor baby. 
Its my birthday this weekend (yay me), and the fireMan has been planning to take me out for a surprise dinner tomorrow night - he even found a babysitter. But now we're surely not going if we have a sick little boy. Feeling quite bummed cus we haven't been out for a dateDate in so long, and I had a feeling he was going to be taking me out for crab (my fave), and I'm craving them in the worst way. But leaving a sad sick little boy would be worse. So, here's hoping he's miraculously better by morning...

What on Earth did I do with all my time before I had kids????? How did I not write a novel or broker world peace? I can't imagine having that kind of free time again. I wouldnt know what to do with myself.

Not going to be on for a few days. The virus I got from one of those dead-end links on the recs page turns out to be much more insidious than previously thought, and I'm going to have to nuke my hard drive tonight and reformat tomorrow.  I just cant get all the beasties off the registry files and such, and my computer is running slllloooooooowwwwwweeerrr than slow. 
I highly recommend that everyone run their virus scans; especially anyone who read anything non-livejournal off the recs list.

I think I've found the solution to morning sickness...


Frosted Mini Wheats. 


First thing I've eaten in many many weeks that hasn't made me need to go lie down for fear of puking. I actually feel better after eating them. Hurrah! Maybe I'll actually get something done today!

Been up all night with sick littleMan and sick fireMan. Everyone is puking at Casa de Laurel. 
Though since my puking is for a less-alarming reason, that means I'm the nurse until the tide stems.

Sorry I havent been around a lot lately..i've been reading, but not posting or commentin as much as I'd like. I wil try to remedy that, if i can. 
Having a harder time with this pregnancy than last time. I've actually been really sick with this one, not able to eat or want to eat or do much. I've lost 5 pounds, which isnt great under the circumstances. I'm just medium-nauseous at all times, pretty much. Puking off and on, mostly if I'm up too late or get overtired or try to eat too much. Anticipating the fireMan's days off each week with an insane amount of excitement, cus that means i get a nap. 
I know the nausea is good cus it usually means the baby is growing properly, but this sucks, batman. 
Bleccchhhh.

Every year , not too far from where I live, the town of Nederland, Colorado puts on Frozen Dead Guy Days. Its a festival in honor of a man named Bredo Morstoel, who died in Norway, was cryogenically frozen in LA, and is now kept in Nederland in a Tuff Shed by his grandson. The festival hosts Coffin Races( where costumed teams race, carrying one of their members in a big wooden coffin-type thing), a Polar Plunge, a parade and is a great excuse to dress up in politically satirical or dead-guy themed costumes in March. 
I used to go every year when I was in college. It was always a total blast. I Missed it this year and last year, unfortunately. 
But thought I'd share this stange and often-unknown part of Colorado, just in case anyone had any doubt about how weird we really are here. 

http://www.nederlandchamber.org/FrozenDeadGuyDays/


Laurel

I am home now. Barely skirted the edge of tornadoes in missouri and kansas on the drive home, faling asleep to thunder and lightning wednesday night and waking yesterday morning to snow. Very very happy to be home. So much to do what with laundry and unpacking and catching up on my f-list. Please be patiend with me as a read and comment on all the wonderful stuff thats been written in my absence!