DDD Moderators (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tripled_mods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
ddd_news2012-01-01 12:59 pm
tripled_mods) wrote in ddd_news2012-01-01 12:59 pmAPPLICATIONS | 2012; 01
THIS APPLICATIONS POST IS CLOSED. Please direct your attention to the new one here!
tripled_mods) wrote in ddd_news2012-01-01 12:59 pm
Elizabeth Swann | Pirates of the Caribbean | Reserved
Player LJ: twenty_til_12 @ LJ;
Way to contact you: Plurk or pm!
Email: blackwaterkeeponrolling@gmail.com
AIM: mustlovetherock
Other: rarimmadinosaur (plurk)
Are you at least 15?: Yep!
Current Characters: None!
Character: Elizabeth Swann
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Character Notes:
History:
At birth, Elizabeth was destined for the mundane life of the higher class as the only daughter of Weatherby Swann. While relocating to the Caribbean, though, she got only a glimpse of what would be a lifetime of experiences with pirates. She also met her to-be-husband, William Turner, as the seeming only survivor of a vicious pirate attack on a merchant ship. On his person was a medallion that Elizabeth stole from him in fear of his being a pirate. Fast-forward some generic Disney number of years and Elizabeth is now a spirited and fierce woman, who mostly tolerates her ~hard life~ in the wealthy upper class. She attends things such as promotions, especially of her good friend James Norrington who subsequently proposes to her. However, also on that same day, she encounters Captain Jack Sparrow for the first time, who saves her life after she faints (due to corsetry). In return, she attempts to save his own life (as he bears the brand of a pirate, which is a death sentence) through reasoning with her father. When Jack decides to use her briefly as collateral, Elizabeth makes sure to dress him in his effects as harshly as possible, all while a loaded pistol is pressed to the side of her head. She proves very early on that she's willing to fight for those matters necessary to her.
Still, Jack Sparrow is but the first of many pirates that she encounters that day. The Black Pearl arrives in Port Royal and lays waste to its residents while searching for the medallion Elizabeth had stolen years ago. As an attempt to gain leverage, Barbossa and his crew kidnap Elizabeth, but not without a fight. At one point, she attempts to pull down a sword from a mantle decoration, only to realize that it's entirely decoration and has no practical use, leaving her with one option: negotiation through the use of parlez. Once aboard the Black Pearl, negotiations run short and Elizabeth, while saving Port Royal from immediate destruction, fails to arrange for her own return. As such, the Pearl heads for the Isla de Muerta with Elizabeth in tow, believing that she could be the long lost child of "Bootstrap Bill" Turner due to her lie claiming to be Elizabeth "Turner." However, during the journey, she learns of the true nature of the curse on the Pearl and all its crew and the real purpose of keeping her aboard the ship.
Unbeknownst to her, though, Will and Jack follow the Pearl and arrive not long after at the Isla de Muerta, just in time to rescue Elizabeth after Barbossa learns of her little lie. Leaving Jack behind, she and Will abscond back to the ship Jack and Will arrived in, but are captured when their ship is inevitably brought down by the Pearl. In yet another sacrifice, Will exchanges himself for Elizabeth's freedom, which ends up being marooned on a deserted island with Jack. However, Elizabeth has never been the type to give up easily and as such tricks Jack, burning the supply of rum on the island in order to make a smoke signal high enough for the entire Royal Navy of the Caribbean to see (as they're searching for the previously-kidnapped Elizabeth). Once in English hands again, Elizabeth promises Norrington that she will marry him in exchange for returning to the Isla de Muerta to save Will. Note: The entire trilogy is about exchanging things for other things and prevent certain things from happening. Second note: None of these ever end up going as planned. Third note: They should have learned the first time that trying to make exchanges is essentially useless, but then there wouldn't be a convoluted plan for Jack to maneuver through.
Needless to say, Norrington agrees and of course pirates being pirates, they commandeer the Pearl at the Isla de Muerta, but leave Elizabeth to sail back in order to actually save Will. So, while the men are doing their thing and swinging swords at each other, Elizabeth is actually getting what she intended done (aka rescuing Will). When all return to Port Royal, Jack is set to be executed, Elizabeth is set to be married to Norrington, and Will is set to be… a lonely blacksmith still. All's okay in the world, right? Nope. Will saves Jack and both of them require Elizabeth to save them through, once again, using her status and role of Governor Swann's daughter. Jack goes free, Elizabeth and Will are planned to be married and now all's okay in the world, right?
Nope. This is a trilogy; there has to be a wrench somewhere or else there wouldn't be more movies.
Elizabeth and Will's wedding is interrupted by the rain and being arrested for aiding and abetting a pirate by Lord Beckett, a tool with a fancier hat than Governor Swann. So, while Elizabeth chills in jail being patient, Will goes off on a fool-hardy adventure, her father arranges for her pardon and release through his connections, and Jack does what Jack does best. The arrangement for her freedom, however, is a trap sprung by Beckett's second-in-command, which Elizabeth barely escapes. She returns, though, to Beckett's chamber in order to force him to sign letters of marque for Will's pardon while under gunpoint. With those letters in her possession, she boards a merchant ship and goes after Will. All while in her wedding dress, which she soon sheds in order to dress as a boy.
That dress hasn't served its complete purpose, though, and she utilizes it to convince the merchant crew to port in Tortuga. After all, she assumes that she will find Jack exactly where she expects him to be: amidst alcohol and women. And hey, she's right, and saves Norrington from certain drunken death twice in one night, both in a sword fight and by picking him up out of the pig pen just outside the tavern. Despite their botched betrothal, Elizabeth is not one to forget her loyalties and debts, so she brings him to the Pearl and Jack persuades her to find the Isla Cruces in order to save Will. While on the ship, they have a couple discussions about desire and what each desires from the world; Jack states that Elizabeth desires freedom and Elizabeth believes that Jack desires to be a good man.
Well, sexual tension aside, they arrive at the Isla Cruces and uncover the titular Dead Man's Chest, containing the still-beating heart of Davy Jones. Before anyone can open it, Will arrives and she schmoozes with her to-be-hubby for all of a minute before he does his usual thing. While the men go have their manly fight over the key to the chest-- surprise, surprise-- Elizabeth, Rigetti, and Pintel defend the chest with only two swords. In this particular fight, she demonstrates not only her technical skill with the ability to wield dual blades, but also her leadership abilities, as she essentially runs the strategy of the trio and they safely arrive back at the rowboats in order to escape, unaware that Jack had already taken the heart from the chest. All the men arrive back at said boat via water wheel and while they defend the empty chest again from Jones' crew, Norrington yoinks the heart and makes a ~heroic sacrifice~ to take the empty chest back toward the island.
As Elizabeth now has what she wants, she helps the remaining men get back to the Pearl… which is promptly attacked by the Flying Dutchaman and pet kraken. Jack runs and so she and Will attempt to come up with their own plan to defeat it. While she's tasked with shooting loaded powder barrels and rum once Will's clear, in an attempt to defeat said pet kraken, Elizabeth has an uncharacteristic freeze-up. She doesn't want to sacrifice Will for a plan that might not even work and so, she ends up as kraken food until Pintel and Righetti save her. Jack, instead, detonates the powder and rum, wounding but not killing the kraken. It's at this point that Elizabeth realizes the kraken's true bait and she makes her own decision to save the lives of all the crew.
This decision, of course, involves making out with Jack while handcuffing him to the mast and leaving him for the kraken to devour. Then, with the crew of the Pearl, they sail inland to Tia Dalma and Elizabeth is little more than a shuddering mess, disgusted with herself and filled with guilt over her desperate actions, no matter how necessary. She decides, with that guilt in mind, that she'll venture with the rest of the crew to Davy Jones' Locker to save Jack.
It's right after this that she begins her tale at dramadramaduck!
Personality:
While she had once been naive and definitely sheltered, Elizabeth has become, more or less, adjusted. Being around pirates has exposed her to the worst and best (although definitely more of the former) of humanity. What she once saw as "common decency" and socially proper are seen as being gentlemanly among pirates. She isn't nearly as straitlaced as she once had been, mostly on her own merit rather than someone forcing her to adapt. She very well knows that she's at the whims of men, whether or not they deserve the power they have, and is very aware of the lengths she has to go to in order to get things done, both as a woman and someone very new to the pirating world. In a sense, one could say that she's grown up and had the drapes pulled back so she can see the real world. However, she refuses to remain in a submissive role for long, no matter how much anyone might tell her otherwise. If Elizabeth thinks someone is holding back on something that can help, she's not about to hold her tongue for the sake of politeness or the desire to fill the role society has already selected for her. If told to be quiet, she rarely listens, instead only speaking louder and more assertively than before; she'll fight her battles with words first, but if required, she won't back away from a physical fight against a much stronger opponent.
As well, Elizabeth rarely reveals her plans and inner thoughts and emotions to others. She knows she'll likely be ridiculed and they don't usually ask either, working on the assumption that a) she's entirely honest all the time and b) she's content to just be a simple woman. Both of which are very wrong. Twice now, in canon, she's essentially tricked Jack, who is supposed to be one of the cleverest pirates around, mostly in that she out-thought him and used his assumptions about her against him. When Jack, while the crew is in Davy Jones' Locker, mentions that of the four on his crew that have tried to kill him only one has succeeded, the rest of the crew is surprised that Elizabeth of all people succeeded. When Will confronts her afterwords, she explains herself only briefly, as what's done is done. Others don't tend to come ask Elizabeth about what she's thinking and she certainly knows how to use that to her advantage.
Despite her mixed experience with the world, it doesn't mean she likes what she sees, though. She still very firmly believes in an inherent good that exists in every person, no matter what their class and station. Those seen as the lowest of the low have demonstrated to her more kindness than she'd received from high-ranking military officers. On the same token, though, not all of the higher class are cruel and blinded by greed and not all of the pirates she's come across are entirely good either. So, Elizabeth has a few essential pillars of morality that she protects and prevents from being corrupted, despite the company, and in the occasion that one of these pillars is touched or broken, she is very visibly distressed. In example, Elizabeth holds loyalty above all else. At her core, she believes that no matter how much the world turns or changes around her, as long as she remains true to herself and others, then there is still a future. However, when she betrays Jack and Will both (handcuffing Jack and making out with him at the same time), she's visibly disturbed later that evening in Tia Dalma's hut. Compromising those core values is something she's, now, learned should never happen again, no matter what the situation; the means always matter just as much as the end product.
That being said, Elizabeth is educated in a traditional sense as well. As being brought up in the higher class, she can read and write and has a bright head on her shoulder. She's able to pick up on new skills relatively quickly, such as wielding two swords ambidextrously, as well as utilizing a little knowledge to her advantage in a losing situation. An example is the fact that rum is highly flammable and smoke signals would be he most effective way to get both her and Jack off the island they've been marooned on. Altogether, though, Elizabeth is compassionate, loyal, brave, and intelligent, all the qualities of a leader, which she proves herself of being capable of in her penultimate role of Pirate King of the Brethren Court.
Other: N/A
Additional Links: WIKI LINK and PIRATES!WIKI LINK
First Person (entry type):
I don't suppose this is the suitable place to talk of matters close to the heart, but I've been told by good men and women that speaking of one's thoughts can relieve a… pressure. Of sorts. I seem to have made a new friend who delights in visiting often, most often in the dark of night.
He rarely has much productive to say,
as many men before him, and he always overstays his welcome after tracking in muck throughout the whole of the ship. Quite wretched, even for my own standards.… I suppose many of you do know him, as he answers fondly to "guilt." How might one rid herself of such an unpleasant visitor?
[There's a brief pause, before,] I'm asking how to deal with something's that's already happened and that likely can't be undone.
Third Person:
Time alone while sailing, Elizabeth found, had become one of her least favorite parts of piracy. In the thick of battle, there was no second guessing, no time but for ensuring one's own life and that of her loved ones. The mind considered only what was readily apparent and threatening, not the past or future, but in the hold of the Pearl with the dull rumble of voices on deck, sleep had evaded her for more than a couple hours now, leaving her to stare up at the dank interior. Already, she had traced every grain and notch of the wood with her eyes, reading and re-reading the pages of the ship's history. Scars, she'd noticed, spoke so much more clearly than unmarked skin, even on the Pearl. Every gash had a story behind it, most consisting of pain.
The ache in Elizabeth's chest had been a constant for the past month and did not ebb even as she laid in her hammock, shifting to face the beam beside her. Said ache lingered in every movement and she reached out for the scarred wood beside her, thumb tracing across a recent gash that had yet to heal or be fixed by any of the seamen. Could anyone really, truly fix that gash, though? Return to the Pearl what had already been taken from her? Elizabeth's nails found the edge of the chipped paint, working underneath and exposing the wood marbleized by water, blood, and gunpowder.
If the Pearl could still stand despite those who tried to pull her down, could not Elizabeth do the same?
APPROVED
» Add yourself to the Taken Character's List.
» Start adding people from the Friend Add List.
» Add yourself to the Player Directory.
» Read the New Player Guide.
» Introduce yourself in
» Go ahead and intro your character on
Additionally!
» We have an Activity Check at
» Our requirements are simply 20 comments. These can be from your characters journal, others journals, or any post on the main community. Any posts your character makes his/herself will count as a comment itself.
» If you have any questions about the AC/AC requirements or anything else, feel free to contact any of the moderators; our contact information is available on any of our communities profiles. :)