hi bolt! would you ramble to me about shrike hunt, whether that's about a choice you made or a detail you included that you want to shout about??
(shrike hunt refers to this fic 🫶)
god thank you sm. this is so timely, i was rereading it for emotional support this week + at the airport (...is this a normal thing to do with your own fic...asking for a friend)
something i really admire about cotbp is how information is used. barbossa and jack both have secrets that can turn the tides and sit on them until the opportune moment (say the line jack!). shrike hunt flips it around so our pov characters are the ones in the know: james and elizabeth have the advantage over the cursed pirates, both because they know about the skelly curse and the pirates don't know THEY know—it's just a matter of untangling the rest of the mystery for them while they're at a physical disadvantage. the thing that reveals gallier as a villain is james' sword, which gallier cannot know he recognizes, and that in particular is so tasty 2 me. the words upon words of fic fodder that sword has granted me...
and then yes this is mirrored in miniature in their internal conflicts (elizabeth knows james gave beckett the heart! and still lets him into her confidence!). they've had years to develop into their own people before meeting again, and develop all their own secrets too. i think it adds a lot more weight to james' characterization if he willingly hides something from her rather than being a paragon of honesty. and elizabeth, too, initially would rather keep him uninvolved than risk someone who knows her getting even closer. things have changed! there's a natural sort of chemistry that arises, to say nothing of intimacy—they're maybe the only two people in the world who know each other's whole deal.
it is such a treat to see them having fun and flirting and scheming with one another while both knowing these secrets exist, and trusting that the other isn't holding onto anything devastating without good reason. going back through the original draft and adding all these little hints and meaningful looks scratched such a particular itch for me ❤️
i think they were both cooked from this moment right at the beginning tbh. like damn. why don't yku fuck nasty right in front of me about it, it'd be less lewd than this











