@hearti asked: I hope you don't mind me asking more meta stuff! I just love seeing your stuff for Jack so much. What types of things make Jack impulsive? Are there varying levels of difficulty in regards to his self control and what he's good with and bad with?
not at all!! so yes absolutely, when I say that Jack is impulsive that doesn’t mean that he’s impulsive about everything all the time. he actually has remarkable self-control in a lot of situations, most of which involve his temper and generally keeping a level head regardless of what is thrown at him. he’s not impulsively violent or angry for instance; his impulsivity tends to manifest itself in a more mundane and hedonistic way, connected to his desires to be free and selfish and do whatever he pleases. Jack’s character symbolises that urge to do what you want no matter the consequences: he’s the proverbial devil on a lot of the other characters’ shoulders ( though Will and Elizabeth primarily ) who is advocating for them to say that one thing that might piss somebody else off, or do something that society or others would normally frown upon. impulsivity is directly related to the idea of self-expression and not caring what other people think.
but in terms of what Jack is good and bad with in regards to acting impulsively, the urges do tend to go against his self-preservation instinct quite frequently lmao. there’s a boyishness about Jack’s character that means a lot of his impulsive moments are also childish ones: such as when he’s trying on different hats during the tavern brawl in DMC, or his stealing the miniature of Beckett and placing it inside the cannon when he’s escaping the Endeavour in AWE. they’re all kinda moments where clearly the more sensible, survival-focused, seasoned pirate side of Jack is probably thinking that it would be a stupid idea, but the inner child in him is like lol let’s do it anyway.
and that’s important because honestly he’s not all that impulsive when it comes to more serious matters? I think aside from his urge to use his, again, child-like honesty with people to goad them into getting his arse kicked, we don’t really see it in the more serious aspects of his life. like I don’t even really want to say that Jack is impulsive with his vices like alcohol and sex either? yes he indulges, but with alcohol in particular I think most of the time Jack knows what he’s doing when he’s drinking ( and when he doesn’t it’s a rare thing and generally connected to his self-destructive behaviour and urges ) and is making a conscious choice to enjoy himself. perhaps the only thing is that a part of his harebrained plans involve an element of impulsivity: of having faith in his ability to make this mad capped idea he came up with on the fly work and not result in his imminent death, but that’s more of a mix of being impulsive but also being intelligent and quickly able to size up a situation, so the ideas work in tandem.
ask me meta questions!!
