luvvycat ([info]luvvycat) wrote,
@ 2009-07-10 00:52:00
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Entry tags:cutler beckett, drabble, fanfic

Drabble Challenge: "Unforeseen Outcome"
Title: "Unforeseen Outcome"
Author:[info]luvvycat
Characters: Cutler Beckett
Rating: PG13
Prompt: Order
Word count: 100
Disclaimer: PotC is Disney's, not mine. *sniff* 

 

With a baptismal-water spray, the Dutchman burst free from the birthing sea.

"Ah… she survived!" A victorious smirk curled Beckett's lips…

…then trembled, withered as the ghost-ship glided towards the Endeavour, flanking her even as the Pearl, like a parallel shadow, mirrored the manoeuvre.

No! This isn't the plan!

Reality faded as gunports opened, disgorging hardened lengths of iron death.

He was dimly aware of thunder... bright flashes like little suns exploding… men shouting, screaming, flying, dying around him…

He whispered a familiar, comforting mantra: "It's just good business…"

Then his neatly-ordered world dissolved in a massive ball of fire…


(12 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]mamazano
2009-07-10 09:56 am UTC (link)
Very nice imagery, and excellent look at that scene. For a scene of destruction, the cinematography and score were amazingly beautiful.

You have captured that here. Well done!

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[info]luvvycat
2009-07-10 03:08 pm UTC (link)
Very nice imagery, and excellent look at that scene. For a scene of destruction, the cinematography and score were amazingly beautiful.

Yes, it was a gorgeously-shot scene ... almost dreamlike, with the slight slo-mo, and the score enhanced the emotional impact no end! Almost ethereal.

Of course, there are those of us who think that Beckett got off way too easy. Killed instantly in an explosion ... yeah, okay, he ended up paying the ultimate price, but couldn't he have suffered just a wee bit more?

For me, his death lacked a "human touch", a personal accounting for his heinous crimes, a face-to-face confrontation with those he had wronged, an opportunity for his victims to exact a more "hands-on vengeance" commensurate to the carnage he had wrought (but I suppose you can't really expect that from a Disney film, eh?). ;-)

You have captured that here. Well done!

I'm so glad you think so! Thank you for your very kind comments! :-)

-- Cat

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[info]sharklady35
2009-07-10 02:49 pm UTC (link)
The surrealism of that scene is amazing, and Tom Hollander's performance is pitch-perfect.

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[info]luvvycat
2009-07-10 09:08 pm UTC (link)
The surrealism of that scene is amazing

Absolutely! Carnage, but beautifully shot carnage! ;-)

I always felt that this scene was intended to be seen from Beckett's POV, filtered through his (altered) perception as his brain slowly shuts down from shock, fear, and the utter inability to accept that he's lost everything. It has that slowed-down, dreamlike feeling, like a waking nightmare...

Tom Hollander's performance is pitch-perfect.

OMG, yes! Whoever cast him as Beckett was an absolute genius! (In fact, I've always been struck by the quality of the cast overall in the PotC film series. Just an astonishingly talented cast! Not an off-note in the bunch, which really helps to pull the viewer into the world the filmmakers have created.)

Tom's nuanced, expert performance, particularly in these final scenes, is nothing short of bloody brilliant, and he takes the character far, far beyond what could have (in lesser hands) been a one-note "boo-hiss" villain! He's simply amazing!

Thank you so much for your Comments! :-)

-- Cat

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[info]danglingdingle
2009-07-10 04:31 pm UTC (link)
the Pearl, like a parallel shadow

That. Is. Gorgeous.

The scene with the Dutchman and the Pearl side by side is the most beautiful thing in the entire history of cinematography. Just IMHO :D

Aptly worded take on Becky's demise, very enjoyable. Thanks for sharing.

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[info]luvvycat
2009-07-10 09:26 pm UTC (link)
the Pearl, like a parallel shadow

That. Is. Gorgeous.

*Blushes* Thanks! :-)

The scene with the Dutchman and the Pearl side by side is the most beautiful thing in the entire history of cinematography. Just IMHO

Yes, it is a gorgeous, thrilling shot! (And even moreso when one knows that Beckett is about to get his long overdue comeuppance--in cannon-blazing stereo!) ;-)

Aptly worded take on Becky's demise, very enjoyable. Thanks for sharing.

So glad you liked it! Thank you so much for the kind compliments, and for taking the time to read and Comment!

-- Cat

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[info]ophelivia
2009-07-10 07:41 pm UTC (link)
This rocked so so so hard. Perfect description.

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[info]luvvycat
2009-07-10 09:32 pm UTC (link)
This rocked so so so hard.

Thank you ever so much! So glad you enjoyed! :-)

Perfect description.

It's amazing what kind of inspiration comes to one in the midde of the night, when one should be sleeping because they have to get up for work in less than three hours...

I guess I write my best stuff when I'm groggy and sleep-deprived! ;-)

Thank you so much for your delightful Comment!

-- Cat

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[info]pearlseed
2009-07-11 07:46 am UTC (link)
Well done, Miz cat, just watched AWE this evening with my nieces--so it's fresh in my mind, the horror he experienced. I would have voted for strangling, it's so personal, however, it's a grim memory for the one doing. Everyone knew that Beckett was getting stomped--it was enough. Like what you showed of Beckett's awareness right prior to his slide into insanity. Good stuff, concise.

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[info]luvvycat
2009-07-12 12:18 pm UTC (link)
I would have voted for strangling, it's so personal, however, it's a grim memory for the one doing.

Oh, I don't know ... I think there may have been quite a few PotC fans who would have gladly done the deed, with a great deal of satisfaction (and have done, at least in the realm of fan fiction, where one doesn't have to concern oneself with the denouement being Disney-friendly.) We can be quite a bloodthirsty little lot, at times, with sufficient motivation (and, boy, does Beckett provide ample motivation)! ;-)

Of course, one mightn't limit oneself to strangulation. There are so many other delightful ways to off a baddie (you just have to use your imagination). ;-)

Everyone knew that Beckett was getting stomped--it was enough.

Mmmm ... perhaps ... perhaps not! ;-)

Like what you showed of Beckett's awareness right prior to his slide into insanity. Good stuff, concise.

Thank you!

As I see it, Beckett's problem was that he was so accustomed to having his own way and winning, the possibility never entered into his head that he could lose. His tiny little brain just couldn't cope with that reality, so he "checked out" big-time! (If he didn't have his little mantra to fall back on, he probably would have been standing there whining, "Mummy...Mummy!")

Thank you so very much for the nice Comments! As ever, they're much appreciated! :-)

-- Cat

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[info]kseenaa
2009-07-11 03:05 pm UTC (link)
Well, all his planning had worked... until then. I can understand his shock.

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[info]luvvycat
2009-07-12 12:33 pm UTC (link)
Well, all his planning had worked... until then. I can understand his shock.

That's the problem when you're accustomed to getting your way all the time: you're just not equipped to handle defeat. Apparently that was Beckett's "achilles' heel"; he couldn't handle a reality in which he wasn't the one pulling all the strings.

Thank you for taking the time to read, and Comment.

-- Cat

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