Take Off Your Dress, Pick Up A Sword

note from the author

ainsley here!

thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving this story a chance and seeing it through!

this fic is very similar to my previous potc works, in that it follows the film with the addition of my oc. it's not very creative method of writing, as has been pointed out to me by some unpleasant comments on my old adeena fics, but it makes me happy. i write to have fun and i'm glad you all can enjoy the finished product.

i tried to differentiate joanna's story from adeena's in a few ways. first, joanna is not a mary sue; second, i did not write out every moment of the film, in order to minimize redundancy; third, i better developed the relationship between the oc and william; finally, i did not rush the romance between the oc and jack. i hope i succeeded in these four things.

above all, this fic is a better representation of my capabilities as a writer. i know the difference between who's and whose now, for example! XD

again, thank you so much for reading. the pandemic has been tough on my mental health and writing this fic has been a welcome diversion. writing in itself is cathartic, but your comments are what really give me that sweet serotonin. i love potc; thank you for helping me love it.

another thank you to my sister for betaing when i ask. you're brilliant and i value your perspective, even if i don't always take your suggestions!

concerning a sequel! i have one in the works, but it's not my priority at the moment. i'm taking a breather from the fanfic grind because it's been occupying a lot of my time, between wattpad and archive of our own (my ao3 is CaptainOfRed). however, i adore joanna, so i plan on working on her from time to time. her story is not complete!

the sequel will follow dead man's chest but! i plan on joanna taking an active role in the plot, rather than fitting her into the canon story. more than that, i have a few qualms with dmc that i plan on 'correcting' in my rendition. needless to say, i'm kind of excited to eventually write this shit.

11/11/2020 update...SEQUEL IS UP! titled pirate, extraordinaire. find it in my works! thank you SO MUCH for sticking with me! 

in case you missed the 8/7/20 update to the preface...i've got a spotify playlist in the works for this story. you can listen while you read! it's currently small, so if you've got song suggestions, lemme know! 

here it is: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5fUph51OI9OfiYkZvBT6kG?si=hLhNVKIBSZKXEC17rB9qRQ

also! i'm an aspiring composer, so i wrote joanna a theme. allow me to wax poetical about it. it's a percussion arrangement featuring a glockenspiel, two vibraphones, and two marimbas. the potc characters tend to be represented by soaring string melodies, so i gave joanna something different. written in the same key as much of the potc soundtrack, it features that iconic potc melody mixed in with new ones in order to differentiate it from existing potc music. its structure is similar to jack's theme (by hans zimmer). i'm pretty damn proud of it and knowing y'all took the time to give it a listen would rly butter my biscuit.
here it is: https://musescore.com/user/33193000/scores/6359884

thank you again. thank you thank you thank you, especially if you left me a comment. love!! xoxo

11/11/2020...just to reiterate: THE SEQUEL IS UP! pirate, extraordinaire. check out my profile to read more of joanna's adventures!