Your Cruise Director ([info]cruisedirector) wrote in [info]mandc100,
@ 2004-02-01 01:12:00
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Phantom
Title: Phantom
Author: [info]cruisedirector
Rating: G
Word count: 100
Character: Stephen
Character to give rum to: Padeen. He had to do the heavy lifting.
Notes: For the goodbye challenge, another one straight out of the film.


A shape flapped over the water, half-seen at a distance, making Stephen's heart sink. His first thought was that the cormorant must not have been flightless after all.

Then his eyes followed the flutter and he felt pleasure, for the curve of canvas was not the bird, merely a phantom. But a moment later, comprehension filled him like the breeze swelling the Acheron's sails.

His debt to Jack ebbed, withdrawing like the winged vision he would never catch. Jack had brought him ashore with love, without regret; Stephen would leave in the same way.

Even as he sighed, he smiled.

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[info]ashinae
2004-01-31 10:37 pm UTC (link)
This is just fantastic. Wonderful :)

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[info]cruisedirector
2004-02-01 02:14 pm UTC (link)
Thanks!

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[info]theantimodel
2004-01-31 11:08 pm UTC (link)
Mmmm I really like the idea of him being completely at peace with leaving, and just knowing immediately that that was what he needed to do. Fabulous work here.

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Re:
[info]cruisedirector
2004-02-01 01:45 pm UTC (link)
Thanks so much! I always read that scene in the movie that way but articulating it decently was something else. *g*

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[info]bronzelionel
2004-01-31 11:20 pm UTC (link)
Very nicely done, ma'am! :D Perhaps a tad too accepting of Stephen, but the man'd just been shot, I hardly think he'd have a great desire to be argumentative.
I swear to god, first time I saw the film I was convinced that the beetle was going to be poisonous and he was going to die right there. That impression has never left me. Agh, I'm so emotionally scarred. :D
Back on subject: really liked this- very descriptive, for being in such a minimalist format. Bravo bravo bravo! :D

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Re:
[info]cruisedirector
2004-02-01 01:48 pm UTC (link)
Thanks so much! My read on that scene in the film was that he realized at once that he had to tell Jack and he knew perfectly well what that meant for his week on the islands, but his regret was gone as soon as he called to Blakeney; you can hear the heaviness in his voice and also the "oh, wow" of it (that is possibly my favorite Paul Bettany moment in the film).

Re: the beetle, and speaking of Bettany: did you read in the 'Making Of' book where he said he screamed and ran away? I had no such fears; I was betting something would happen like the Acheron showing up out of nowhere. *g* Seemed very fitting somehow.

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Re:
[info]bronzelionel
2004-02-01 09:12 pm UTC (link)
I find his resolve highly admirable, as well: but I was entirely, entirely, entirely convinced that the man was going to die. Was waiting for it the entire film. Still have yet to exhale. (They're gonna kill him in the DVD, I just know it!!!!! *sniff*)
I don't have the Making of book, out of a resolve to find no fault with the movie at all (it is a work of art! Disecting it does no good!), but that sounds hilarious. Poor, poor beautiful Bettany. :D I did hear that he learned how to dissect a fish, 'though. Highly admirable. :D

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[info]cruisedirector
2004-02-02 09:31 pm UTC (link)
The making of book doesn't dissect it, it's quite worshipful of the amount of work that went into producing all the props and period detail and has some wonderful interviews -- I highly recommend it!

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Re:
[info]bronzelionel
2004-02-02 09:41 pm UTC (link)
Aye, yes, I understand, but, still- I just don't want to know! :D
And that's an incredibly juvenile way of looking at it, and I've never objected to "behind-the-scenes" things about films before, which is a testament to how *goddamned much* I love the film. I just... hell, I can't explain it. I just want nothing to consider but the work itself. I don't want to have to consider the costumes, setting, characters, effects: I just want to adore them, as part of a whole. I don't want to know all the work put into it, I just want to bathe in the glory of the final creation. ;D
Hell: I know practically everything about the LotR films, and that doesn't bother me in the least. It's just that, I suppose, seeing as MaC is far more realistic, I'd like to preserve that.
Or something. Ramble ramble blah blah squark. :D

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[info]thisside
2004-01-31 11:22 pm UTC (link)
What a perfect interpretation of this scene. Bravo. :)

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Re:
[info]cruisedirector
2004-02-01 01:51 pm UTC (link)
Thank you! *g* I always read the scene that way, but articulating what I thought Stephen was thinking was really hard.

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[info]amethystshard
2004-02-01 02:14 am UTC (link)
I liked this! You write a very strong and illustrative story for only 100 words. Not to mention it's about Stephen. *joy*

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[info]cruisedirector
2004-02-01 02:13 pm UTC (link)
Thank you so much! I fought with every image in here. All my drabbles are about Stephen, aren't they? Even the ones that are ostensibly about Blakeney or Aubrey. *g*

I am sure I mentioned this elsewhere but I want to take your icon to bed with me.

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[info]liars_dance
2004-02-01 02:24 am UTC (link)
Lovely. So Stephen. So right.

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[info]cruisedirector
2004-02-01 02:17 pm UTC (link)
Thanks so much!

Am tempted to scrawl "Make Love, Not War" on your icon. *g*

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Perfection
[info]sparowe
2004-02-01 03:04 am UTC (link)
Simple and elegant, it sums up the moment perfectly. :)

Anon

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Re: Perfection
[info]cruisedirector
2004-02-01 02:19 pm UTC (link)
*phew* Thanks so much!

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[info]astolat
2004-02-01 06:53 am UTC (link)
Jack had brought him ashore with love, without regret; Stephen would leave in the same way.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

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[info]ghazalah
2004-02-01 07:05 am UTC (link)
*points to Astolat's post above*

Eloquently: ME TOO! ;-)

Sorry, but that's really the exact thing that I liked. Working off the debt. I'm an idiot for not having smoked it before.

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[info]cruisedirector
2004-02-01 02:25 pm UTC (link)
Thanks so much! That was my immediate read on the scene but I had a hard time articulating it...

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[info]cruisedirector
2004-02-01 02:22 pm UTC (link)
Thank you! *g*

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[info]julietlaw
2004-02-01 03:31 pm UTC (link)
Poor Stephen -- how hard for him to live the islands without his precious bird. *sniff*

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[info]cruisedirector
2004-02-02 05:39 pm UTC (link)
Ah, he had his health, and his phasmid. And Jack. *g*

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[info]arysteia
2004-02-01 05:18 pm UTC (link)
Jack had brought him ashore with love, without regret; Stephen would leave in the same way.

Glorious, just glorious.

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[info]cruisedirector
2004-02-02 05:52 pm UTC (link)
Thanks so much!

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[info]aesvir
2004-02-01 05:22 pm UTC (link)
Astolat and Arysteia have already quoted my favorite sentence--but I just adore this image:

Then his eyes followed the flutter and he felt pleasure, for the curve of canvas was not the bird, merely a phantom.

I've never thought of it that way, but it feels right.

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[info]cruisedirector
2004-02-02 05:54 pm UTC (link)
There's a split second of incomprehension about what you're seeing, before it sinks in -- I had it as a viewer the first time I saw the movie. I loved that. Thanks!

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