Tag: still playing a younger mans game ( gates headcanons )

So this idea that after eight years Hal “didn’t know” anything about James and the Hamiltons is just – wild to me and having spoken to @intolerablexsacrifice it is pretty much canon on this blog that Hal knew. Which then leads to the question of – if Hal knew why did he seem confused at times, or like he didn’t know – and why would he knowingly trip into the one thing certain to get Flint to snap on him?

We’ve established that when something is important for Hal to remember, he takes measures to make sure that he does. And when he learned Flint’s backstory, he did take down some very basic notes on it just so the most salient points wouldn’t slide off on him. 

The truth is though – it wasn’t that important at the time. The fact Flint was a homosexualist who was exiled from the Navy on account of his practices with a young and idealistic lord meant – jack shit to Hal in the long run. Who Flint loved, how he fucked, had nothing to do with his capacity as a captain. It had nothing to do with his skills in leadership or sailing, no impact on his capabilities as a fighter or a negotiator – so why hold on to it? 

This is why his realization and understanding of Flint as a very Dramatic Gay tends to be pretty consistent and repetitive. He’s encountering that realization anew rather frequently. Dude didn’t even write it down, to be perfectly frank with you. His notes, if anyone deciphered them at all, would simply come down to love lost, only family is Barlow, very angry at England and admiralty for it. 

Which, really – what more does he need to remember? It paints a clear enough picture, after all. This does mean that Flint’s secrets are safe with Hal – but it also means he Knows Everything but never uses it, never mentions it, and tends to trip over it unintentionally in ways that look planned BECAUSE he knows. 

Except he doesn’t, because he plum forgot.

Sorry Flint >:

An important thing to note about Hal is that he is getting on in years – he’s in his late fifties and has lived a very hard life at sea for nearly forty of them. He has – as a result – varying troubles that come with that advanced age. 

His sleep isn’t what it used to be, his bones ache more than ever before ( especially when the barometric pressure shifts ) and his hands – which have been arthritic since his late thirties – are getting quite bad. 

His eyes have deteriorated – he needs glasses to read, and in fact this deterioration is what forced him to retire from his position in the nest taking the long shots needed to turn the tide of battles. 

These are all things a man can suffer in silence or grumble about. What he can’t keep quiet is the fact that his memory is not what it used to be. He forgets conversations entirely – can confidently hold the exact same dialogue on multiple occasions with no real awareness he is repeating himself. He shares the same stories, and when confronted on it, forges forward with that story stubbornly. If he doesn’t address it, then it isn’t there. It can’t affect him. 

It is a short term memory affliction above all else. And while bad days can see him frustrated with it, for the most part he has found ways to cope by focusing hyper intensively on the things he deems important to remember, and dropping the rest. This can mean he is not as observant as he once was, and he is easier to manipulate because he forgets grievances and his particular reasons behind certain arguments because he didn’t deem them pressing enough at the time, and has lost them when it comes round that they might be more relevant. 

However, for the most part, he has perfected his way of coping with it to make it appear like he is just fucking with people – and as long as that keeps working, he sees no reason to worry about it. 

A fun note: When he deems something important, he plays it over and over in his head, and sometimes, will write it down in a journal he keeps on his person. The notes are all in a shorthand of his own devising from his Navy days, which means that – due to how he built it and how long he has used it, he is unlikely to forget his meanings for a great deal of time to come. 

In tying with this headcanon concerning Hal’s collection of whittled figurines, it should be noted that all of these figures exist in a safe chest along with the rest of his valuable trade items that have been held in storage in lieu of gold and silver so that when it comes time for him to retire, he has legitimate means of establishing himself wherever he may go. 

His box also contains five jade figures, each of which have the names of their person etched in on the bottom. The oldest two are a horse with the name of Rowland and a monkey with the name of Barnaby, after his two sons. He also has a goat for his third son, Billy, because he is no father at all if he is not equipped with copious and never ending dad jokes.

The final two figures are a very finely crafted turtle whose ornate shell bears hints of gold flecks in the grooves for Joji, and a small cat cleaning its paw for Flint. These are his most important and beloved people – so it stands to reason they would be represented as his most valuable artefacts. To Gates, they are the greatest treasures in his life both figuratively and literally. 

Prior to becoming a pirate, Gates served in the Navy as a Master Gunner – though he also played a secondary role that was utilized more frequently. A notorious crack shot, Gates was often placed in the crows nest to take aim at specific targets on enemy ships. It would be this particular skill that would ultimately put an end to a steady and rising career track. 

Known as he was for being such an impeccable shot, Gates was challenged to a duel rather conveniently after he had received a grievous head injury. As the failure to accept would have resulted in catastrophic effects on not only his career, but the career of his captain, he declared himself fit enough and went to the disclosed meet up.

It was there, that in his attempt to keep from killing the upstart young lord, that Gates made a fatal error in judgement. His shot went true on account of perception disruption – had he aimed what he believed to be properly, the fellow might have in fact been spared. By canting to miss, he ended up shooting the man directly in the throat.

The consequence of this action was certain execution, and Gates was forced to flee immediately. He managed to sequester passage on board a merchant ship – and has not looked back on England since. His capabilities as a marksman did not wane however, as the damage wore off – it would not be until arthritis set into his hands and a dimness took to his eyes that Gates would go from being a crack shooter, to a simple, steady shot.