Vignette: The Coming of the Comforter--SPOILERS

[honorat]

By Honorat
Rated: G
Warning: Spoilers for DMC
Disclaimer: It’s not stealing; it’s salvaging.

Summary: Jack Sparrow departs the island of the Pelagostos people. The true story of the dog. For rennie1265. 500 words.

Thank you geek_mama_2 for beta-ing this.


* * * * *

The Coming of the Comforter

The Pelagostos people stood in the crash of the surf, like abandoned children, as their god leapt to the flanks of the great black ship that had brought Him back to them and was now as surely carrying Him away. The sun grew dark in their eyes and their voices were raised in lamentation. He was gone, and already the world seemed a colder place.

But then an unfamiliar noise sounded behind them. They turned as one body and beheld the strange creature to which their god had spoken as He had fled to the sea. It was calling to them, although they could not understand its words. Joy suffused their dejected limbs. He had not left them completely. This creature was His final gift to them.

In jubilation they ran towards it, their voices raised in renewed hope.

Like Him, it ran from them, reluctant to be embraced, afraid of their love. But it would come to them eventually, and they would lavish upon it their utmost devotion because it was His—because, even in His flight, He had not forgotten them in their loneliness. He had left them this little spot of brightness now that the divine light had departed from them.

That night, as the sparks from the fire that should have consumed the mortal prison of their own god flew empty-handed towards the dark heavens, and the thousands of eyes of the eternal gods glittered down on them, the people prayed for that lost soul. His gift sat on the throne, a leg bone gripped in its teeth, ears alert under a small crown like He had worn, hearing the chants in the stead of the god.

The old wise woman looked deep into His fire, tears running down her withered cheeks as she spoke. “He has gone from us to a terrible fate. His soul must still leave His flesh behind, pain cleaving the bonds that hold Him so tightly to earth. But now He will die alone, with none of His people surrounding Him for comfort, with no worshippers and no prayers. He will not realize the joy of living on in the blood of His people. Instead of light and warmth, He will find only cold and dark. And no song will ascend with His spirit to guide Him home. He will wander, lost in the unending night, severed from all that He loves, until such time as some great spirit will seek Him out beyond the ends of the earth and carry His soul back to His body, where He must begin again His search for freedom.”

Sorely distressed, the Pelagostos people contemplated the prophecy concerning the suffering their god must endure, but the creature of the god stepped down from the throne and leapt among them and kissed their hands and comforted them in their sorrow.

* * * * *
The End

Comments

[martian-aries.livejournal.com]

"But now He will die alone, with none of His people surrounding Him for comfort, with no worshippers and no prayers." I love this line. It's so sad...

Yanno, even though that easter egg with the dog was just a bit of fluff, you've taken it and managed to mold it into something profound and artistic. How did you do that? I suppose you're just magic or something. :-D Great writing!

[honorat.livejournal.com]

I love this line. It's so sad The whole idea seemed sad to me. These people thought they were doing Jack a favour after all. And since he seemed fated to die, there were perhaps few lonlier ways to do it than being abandoned and stepping, by his onesies, into that abyss of teeth.

even though that easter egg with the dog was just a bit of fluff, you've taken it and managed to mold it into something profound and artistic
I think the main reason these scenes have captured my imagination is that I refuse to take the easy, really rather racist route of assuming these people are ignorant savages. They look at the world differently, but there are things they know. So I tried to make a kind of sense of their world-view. I'm so glad that worked for you. Thank you so much for letting me know.

[martian-aries.livejournal.com]

I refuse to take the easy, really rather racist route of assuming these people are ignorant savages.

I know what you mean! I realize it's all in the spirit of good fun, but I was a bit miffed at the movie's portrayal of the natives; the same thing happened when I watched King Kong. I was of the impression that those "ugga-wugga" cannibal stereotypes went out of style fifty years ago. I'm glad you attempted to rectify the situation with this piece.

[(Anonymous)]

But aren't people primitve and going "ugga-wugga" everywhere? Have you never been out on friday night or after a soccer match? I can't see why remote island tribes in particular should be spared from this overall phenomenon.
Besides, Jack Sparrow looks way more edible than the food in some booths and bars I have been to.

I agree that the cannibal island scene is old, used, cliché, which dims the fun a bit, because it's all so well known and unsurprising - except for Jack's performance.
However, what really struck me was that the tribespeople did not disembowel their roast before cooking. I mean, one can peel off the charred clothing and boots. But the taste of unemptied intestines, gall and bladder permeating all the meat?
What that island really needs seems to be a good cook.

Which reminds me: People who indulge in religion tend to expect something of their gods, don't they? A good crop, rain, success in war, health, or at least to be spared from godly wrath. Wouldn't those islanders expect something from Jack? What could be his supposed function as a god? I'm sadly not familiar with Caribbean mythology.
In PotC I Jack seemed to have an uncanny sense for the weather. Could he even have control over it? That storm driving the Interceptor came at precisely the right time and strength it seems.

littlebird

[honorat.livejournal.com]

The issue is not whether or not all peoples can behave primitively, but whether or not primitive peoples are seen exclusively that way, with no mention made of their equivalents of Shakespeare or Bach or socialized health-care or traffic circles or computers or whatever one equates with civilization. It is the one-sided interpretation of these events in the movie that I object to. There is an internal logic to people's actions even at football games. And no person is solely what he or she is when at a sporting event. Nor should an entire culture be judged on a soccar match.

I wouldn't be novelizing these scenes if I hadn't found them fun, entertaining and thought-provoking. But they don't work for me in this movie if I don't take them seriously. And those people cannot be just cardboard cut-outs for Jack to run between and be a part of good fiction at all.

As far as Jack being fully clothed for his fricasse, I imagine the reasoning ran more to keeping Johnny with his shirt on than any plot device. Though I developed a logic for why he had to be roasted alive rather than killed and cleaned first. The fire was supposed to drive his soul out. Works for me. I don't think nutrition was the point.

I'm not sure what people expect from their gods, but many European explorers were treated as gods although there was nothing godlike about them. In my other Pelagostos story, I have Jack's first arrival on their island be a part of a prophecy. And sometimes just to touch the divine is sufficient--witness the people dying to get autographs.

[(Anonymous)]

The issue is not whether or not all peoples can behave primitively, but whether or not primitive peoples are seen exclusively that way,

Yes, I understand your intention.
However, the Pelagostos (as shown in the movie) are so much reduced to one single feature (cannibalism), so exaggeratedly primitive (though they apparently adopted the use of fork and knife, whyever), that in my opinion they are clearly not meant to be like real tribespeople. They are movie tribespeople. Or even movie parody cannibals. As the PotC pirates are not meant to be like real pirates, but like Disney ride pirates. So I do not find them offensive as you do.

with no mention made of their equivalents of Shakespeare or Bach or socialized health-care or traffic circles or computers or whatever one equates with civilization.

The vast majority of mankind are not Shakespeare, Bach nor the inventors of the wheel, computers or guacamole. No matter what culture they happen to live in.
Showing more cultural aspects of the Pelagostos (as you do so brillantly) would have added depth to the story. However I personally do not demand a balanced view of exotic cultures of a funny pirate movie. The reason I find the cannibal island scene lacking is that it feels bland, old and cliché to me, not ingenious.

It is the one-sided interpretation of these events in the movie that I object to.

And you delivered the explanation that would have improved the movie considerably.

And those people cannot be just cardboard cut-outs for Jack to run between and be a part of good fiction at all.

That's the point. Not only the Pelagostos - I personally find several characters of DMC sadly bland / one-dimensional compared to the first movie. Or at least underdescribed. But maybe it's only the translation.

As far as Jack being fully clothed for his fricasse, I imagine the reasoning ran more to keeping Johnny with his shirt on than any plot device.

Of course. And your explanation why they have to roast him alive makes sense.
But when watching the movie which has no such explanation, all I could think of was: Yuck, these people can't cook. Or, more elaborate: the scriptwriters apparently think nobody would notice that a man roasted alive fully clothed does not make very appealing food. So they did not bother to find some solution (double, changing the scene, ...) for Depp not wanting to take his shirt off.

I'm not sure what people expect from their gods, but many European explorers were treated as gods although there was nothing godlike about them.

Being in time with a prophecy about a returning god, either deliberatly (Cortez) or accidentally (Cook)?
What I find thrilling is: here, they may be right. As you said. So, I'm fantasizing about Jack's nature, purpose and potential powers.

(btw, the unsigned query below: Where did T&T confirm Jack's nature as a god?, that was me. Apologies.)

One thing I forgot to add the last time:
When first I read your story's title and learnd it had to do whith the dog, I mistook 'comforter' for 'cover' or 'door mat', leading me to believe that the dog would be skinned and eaten after all. Is that my poor grasp of the English language, or an intended pun?

littlebird

[honorat.livejournal.com]

I've heard from several people that the non-English, voice-dubbed versions of DMC are missing a lot of nuance in the performance, particularly Former-Commodore Norrington's. You have to have that rich Jack Davenport vocal performance to see his character with depth.

As for the Comforter, I deliberately chose a heavily religious vocabulary for this piece to emphasize the spiritual nature of these people, and in the Biblical New Testement, when Christ is leaving his followers at the Ascension, he tells them that he will send the Holy Spirit as a Comforter to them when he is gone. So in keeping with the borrowed language, I borrowed the idea that the Pelegostos would see the dog as something left behind by the god to comfort them in his absence. Obscure cultural allusion. :D

[(Anonymous)]

Ah, OK, poor grasp then. And there I really liked it as a pun.
English biblical vocabulary I wouldn't recognize.

Thanks for the answer

littlebird

Drive By Fact!

[takhys]

The natives were speaking a recognizable South Seas pidgin -- which if and when I can find the right linguistics text, I could explain in further (geekish) detail.

...although, what they were doing speaking it in the Caribbean, I don't know.

Re: Drive By Fact!

[honorat.livejournal.com]

You know it did sound like a pidgin--the echoes of English in it were obvious. Now what gets me is how a remote Cannibal Tribe would be speaking a pidgin when they didn't appear to have anyone around to mess with their original language. But maybe it was a trade tongue. The mix of racial characteristics made me guess run-away slaves. If you can figure it out, do let me know.

[outinthestorm.livejournal.com]

Sad, that the wise woman saw what was coming for him.
But I love the image of the dog comforting them. So cute.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Yes, poor Jack has set sail for a wretched fate. But I thought the dog deserved a happy ending. Dogs are so good at comforting that I thought he'd have plenty to do in a tribe full of sorrowing people. I'm glad you liked it. Thank you for commenting.

[(Anonymous)]

praise
praise
praise

littlebird

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[soulfirefly.livejournal.com]

Very nice in that sad sort of way. I didn't care much for these people in the movie, but now I kind of like them; they seem to have such a sad existence. I'm glad you didn't have them eat the dog; that was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw that easter egg, and I almost cried (I happen to have a rather fragile internal balance).

P.S. I'm new to lj but have been reading your work for about a year without posting a comment (sorry). Anyway, I just wanted to say that I love your stuff; it's incredible. :)

[honorat.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked this. I have a tendency to start from the premise that I like everyone in the movie and then explore why. So I decided to novelize this portion of the movie because it did bother many people. I wanted to write the tribes people as if they were real and understandable, someone I could sympathize with. I'm glad that worked for you.

No, I didn't have them eat the dog. I wanted to do something different. Obviously they made a connection between Jack and the dog, so I decided they would have seen the dog as a gift, and would have loved it for his sake. So now they have a pet. :D

Hey, it's good to met a new LJ user and welcome to the world of commenting! Thank you so much for giving me feedback on this story. I'm glad you've been enjoying my work all along.

[hereswith.livejournal.com]

It's really interesting to see this from their perspective! All incredily sad, of course, since they have lost their beloved god, and you capture that very well here. I like the way you have them view the dog, as a gift the god has left behind for them, and this line, in particular: ...but the creature of the god stepped down from the throne and leapt among them and kissed their hands and comforted them in their sorrow. Dogs are good at comforting :-) And if he's a creature of the god, and not a god himself, they might not eat him (which worried me a bit when I first saw the scene).

[honorat.livejournal.com]

I figured not too many people were going to be writing sympathetically about the cannibals, so I had to jump in and at least try. That scene where Jack gets away seemed terribly sad to me. And since the people were right about Jack (according to T&T), I'm assuming they won't make a mistake about the dog. So the dog gets a happy ending and lots of people to console. Thanks so much for commenting.

[torn-eledhwen.livejournal.com]

Aw, that was great. Cute doggy bits but also some interesting concepts about the beliefs of the Pelogostos.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm glad you liked this. For some reason I just can't resist that whole cannibal island bit. And the dog is such fun. Since T&T say their beliefs have some basis in fact, I thought them important enough to explore.

[cacopheny.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like this idea better than the idea that they were going to eat the dog ^^ This makes me much happier with the easter egg. Thank you : D

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for commenting on this. I figured since the Pelagostos were right about Jack--that there really was something special about his soul--they would know that the dog was not a god, but that as the gift of a god, he would be special to them. So I figured the dog would have a happy ending. I'm glad this improved the easter egg for you. You're welcome.

[hendercats.livejournal.com]

He was gone, and already the world seemed a colder place.
An echo! I love echoes. (Drinks all around!)

Would like to say that I do love your interpretation that Jack is basically capable of only baby talk and that the Pelagostos are far wiser than we actually see in the movie.

as the sparks from the fire that should have consumed the mortal prison of their own god flew empty-handed towards the dark heavens
*pauses to admire gorgeous line* Adore the idea of "empty-handed" sparks. And oooh! more lovely tricks with light. *grins*

The foretelling is eerie and just chilling enough, and that the dog is comforting them both for the loss of their god and for the knowledge that he will suffer alone is lovely and touching and inspired. Don't know if you intended this or not (and it's been millennia since I read the book so may be misremembering), but your take on the Pelagostos has a sort of Stranger in a Strange Land feel to it.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

An echo! I love echoes. (Drinks all around!)
*passes drinks* I had the same sensation when those people were mourning in the surf that I had when Gibbs was mourning at Tia Dalma's, so the echo was very deliberate. Particularly since I think that's how we all felt when Jack and his Black Pearl went down.

Would like to say that I do love your interpretation that Jack is basically capable of only baby talk and that the Pelagostos are far wiser than we actually see in the movie.
Jack's linguistic abilities were so obviously barely useable among the Pelagostos. He did all the typical second language blunders--he could only say a few sentence length phrases, the rest were one or two word lines; he'd keep saying things in his own language first, and then have to translate into shorter simpler phrases in the native language; he'd mess up by trying other languages he knew such as French when trying to find words that conveyed his meaning. Jack's "baby talk" is canon as far as I can see. That is not a fluent man speaking. And the people speak far more simply to him than to each other.

As for the Pelagostos people, I believe the film-makers saw them through imperial eyes, which did bother me. Primitive does not mean stupid. Thankfully T & T say that they were right about Jack, so that gives me leave to make them very insightful and spiritually discerning. Which pleases me greatly.

*pauses to admire gorgeous line* Adore the idea of "empty-handed" sparks. And oooh! more lovely tricks with light. *grins*
*bounce* I hereby dedicate all my light imagery to you! Yes, that fire was supposed to burn away the mortal dross of their god and lift his soul to the stars. But there is no soul to find its way home this night.

The foretelling is eerie and just chilling enough, and that the dog is comforting them both for the loss of their god and for the knowledge that he will suffer alone is lovely and touching and inspired.
I'm a fan of prophecies, so I had to give the intuitive Pelagostos one, and also to make people just a little understanding of what it was they were trying to give Jack by roasting and eating him. That wasn't a meaningless gesture or lunch menu. And I felt so sorry for them and the dog that a happy ending seemed in order. They can comfort each other. I read Stranger in a Strange Land so many years ago that I don't remember more than the fact that an alien visited earth and grokked and shared water. The rest of the plot entirely escapes me.

But Jack is certainly in an alien land in that part of the movie.

Thank you so much for commenting on this. I'm always glad to improve the movie for anyone!

[(Anonymous)]

Thankfully T & T say that they were right about Jack, so that gives me leave to make them very insightful and spiritually discerning.

They confirmed that Jack is a god? *squee*
On the first movie's DVD there is a commentary in which they say that Jack and Barbossa a "in a way", or "somewhat", or "kind of" (I don't remember the exact wording) two gods , into whose quarrels the mortals are drawn.
And I was wondering if they really mean it, that Jack (and Barbossa, and possibly the Pearl) are indeed something supernatural themselves, not only surrounded by magical effects.
May I ask where you have the information from?

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Actually, T & T said that the concept that Jack must be released from his fleshy prison would be important in PotC3. That is what the Pelagostos were right about. So whatever Jack really is, he has the potential to be something more than mortal. The information came from Ted and Terry's forum Wordplayer. The link was: http://www.wordplayer.com/forums/movies/index.cgi?read=85338 but I think it's dead now. You could try a search, but I did not have much luck.

[thekestrel.livejournal.com]

Wonderful. You are one of the best writers out there, I'm always impressed with your insight. Keep it up.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. I'm so glad you liked this. I wanted to treat the Pelagostos beliefs with respect.

[camille-moineau.livejournal.com]

From the time I heard about the Easter egg scene, I was worried and disappointed. I love dogs, especially that one, and would hate it if he were eaten. Now you've come along and turned it into something wonderful, particularly the last sentence.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Now you've come along and turned it into something wonderful,
Note the disclaimer! :D

I'm so glad you liked this. I assumed since the Pelagostos were correct about Jack, they would be able to tell the dog wasn't in need of shedding his physical body, but they obviously really wanted him and then they honoured him. So I decided that they would have thought he was a gift of their god, and there it was. I'm happy to have been of service in redeeming the easter egg. Everyone looked so sad when Jack left that I thought they could use some canine comforting. Thank you so much for letting me know you enjoyed this.

[gryphons-lair.livejournal.com]

Someone recommended this story, and its prequel, on cotbp_fandom, and I'm so glad I followed the link!

My first reaction on seeing the dog in the 'extra' scene after the credits wasn't "Oh, goody, the dog survived!" but "Oh, no! The poor dog doesn't know he's dinner! Why do they have to kill him, too?" so I'm grateful you could find a way to reconcile his seat on the "god's" throne with his continued survival.

And I love the way you explained the Pelegostos and made them intelligent, sympathetic people instead of 1950s-era cardboard cutouts.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you dropped by to check these out. The Pelagostos scenes, for some reason, seemed crying out for some sympathetic explanation. The slapstick was so extreme. I tend to approach movies with the assumption that everything in them makes sense and then spend my time coming up with an explanation for why. Thanks for letting me know my pictures of the Pelagostos people as real human beings with a real logic helped make the ending more endurable. I appreciate the comment.