Pirates of the Caribbean: My Newest Fandom
I have been a member of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie fandom since I first saw "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" on the night of Thursday, May 31, 2007, seven weeks ago tonight. I like to say that that was the night that my imagination was boarded and commandeered by pirates. I had seen the previous two movies when they were in theatrical release, and enjoyed them very much, but they didn't take hold in my mind as firmly as the third one did.



There are two reasons why the third movie was the one that drew me into the fandom. The first reason is that the world of the movies and its mythos are explored and expanded a great deal in the third movie. I'm a sucker for a good, powerful, intricate mythos and a detailed, interesting, unique setting. Those are qualities that the world of Pirates has in common with several of the other worlds I've considered myself a fan of: the worlds of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Star Trek. All four of those worlds also have really well-crafted characters who spark the imagination and invite speculation on their past or future adventures.

The second reason is that the last time I got into a new fandom (Star Trek) was four and a half years ago now (it was right at the beginning of 2003). My imagination hadn't been stimulated in that particular way in a long time, so I felt that first flush of excitement for a new fandom quite strongly for the next week or so after I saw the movie. During that week, I cooked myself a "savvy pirate's dinner," discovered the "A Pirate's Life for Me" station on Live365.com, discovered several great LJ communities for Pirates fanfic, and wrote a one-shot Pirates fanfic that became my first post to Fanfiction.net in four years. It felt great.

That fanfic, "In the Shadow of a Legend," focuses on the part of the Piratesverse that I'm most fascinated by: The Flying Dutchman. How many thousands of stories must there be to tell about the ship that ferries the souls of the dead, and her immortal crew? I honestly liked the bittersweet ending of "At World's End;" there isn't a better person in the world to take over that commission than Will Turner. He's probably the most compassionate and selfless person anywhere in the movies. My favorite fanfics to read, and to write (yes, I'm working on more), are stories about Captain Will Turner. (I'm also a Davy/Calypso shipper and think they should get back together.)

I've got the "A Pirate's Life for Me" radio station going as I write this. I've been listening to it almost every day since I first discovered it, and I know most of the words to many of the songs on it, including "The Derelict," otherwise known as "Fifteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest." I love all these songs, because they can take me away to the freewheeling (er, free-sailing) world of pirates almost as well as the movies. I want to buy all of Captain Bogg and Salty's CDs as soon as I can afford to.

On June 30th and July 1, I visited Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, respectively. I was hugely disappointed that the Pirates of the Caribbean ride there was closed, but I did get a blue-and-white pirate bandanna there, which I had a lot of fun wearing around the parks. In DisneySea, the experiences of walking the decks of the Renaissance and standing on one of the upper levels of Fortress Explorations, feeling the ocean wind in my hair, made up for missing out on the ride.

So, that's my love of Pirates in the Caribbean, in a nutshell. I'm happy to be here, and I'm really enjoying reading everyone's fanfic.