#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon ) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hatilead · 3 years

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A timeline of all the bad, not so good, very horrible, points of trauma in James Norrington his life; ( as brought by your favourite binch who doesn’t give a fuck about dis/ney canon. ) trigger warnings for child abuse do apply here as well as for mental health topics / ptsd !

please note that basically none of these are ‘canon’ ( but ask me if I care )

Age 4 the death of his mother; he doesn’t remember much of her, only radiating warmth and the faint smell of lavender. Hands try to hold air / the memory of her slipping ever further, yet it is her name which burns upon his tongue when he feels alone even years after the loss of her. None of the nannies or other members of staff had the heart nor the skill to explain to the boy why his mother would not rise from her bed, perhaps they considered it a task for his father. Lawrence Norrington never did properly explain to James the meaning of death, he had to figure out on his own that she was not miraculously coming back to him ever again.

Age 5 after being knocked off a ship and into the ocean, James was rescued by Teague, while a near-death experience for a boy of that age is shocking enough, it was made worse by the words of his father who stated that he would rather have seen his son drown than be rescued by pirates 1

Age 12 his first steps with the navy which weren’t on Lawrence Norrington’s side, while the reputation of the Admiral surely helped young James in gaining respect amongst some of the seniors on board, it was also the cause of envy within those just as skilled but with the misfortune of being someone else their son. His name gave him more power than a boy his age ever could carry / even when his back had been straightened by the hands of his father long before he ever set foot on a ship. The truth about life, however, is that a reputation cannot protect a twelve-year-old boy from the horrors of the world. Especially when a world is as small as a ship of the line.

Age 13 the first time a man died in his arms. A reckless child with a tendency to hold the wounded; unfamiliar with receiving comfort, yet the giving of it came more natural than anything else ever seemed to do.

Age 15 fragile still, blurry around his own edges, yet allowed to serve on a Third Rate ship of the line. War, a familiar taste upon his tongue now, reckless in battle and skilled with a sword. Death did not mean a thing to him / hollow eyes and a tendency to collapse into himself when there was no gunfire on the horizon. War might have been the thing he was raised with, yet nothing could have prepared him for the horrors of it so close.

Age 18 receives a promotion to lieutenant. Either ‘bought’ by his father or by his own skill. It doesn’t matter; he is more than adequate to carry the burden that comes with command. Mature for his age, even in the hard times where boys become men far before their time. No one asks if he has ever had a childhood to begin with. He wouldn’t answer the question even if it did fall from another lieutenant’s lips during a game of cards / he would pray that the other lieutenant was unable to read the answer like a shimmer of sadness in his green eyes if he was to look up and the orange glow of candlelight would catch it just right. no.

#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )#child abuse //#abuse //#emotional abuse //#gaslighting //#mental health mention //#i. LEAVE A MESSAGE AT THE BEEP ( queue. )

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hatigave · 2 years

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tag dump part 3 : james & jack

#ix. LOYALTY HELD BETWEEN GRITTED TEETH ( norrington : visage )

#ix. SEAGULLS / SPILLED PRAYER ( norrington : study )

#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )

#ii. STARDUST MEMORIES ( norrington : ic )

#x. STEADY HANDS AND A VOICE LIKE A CANNON BLAST ( aubrey : visage )

#x. WORLD CARRIED UPON YOUR BACK / HOME FOUND ( aubrey : study )

#x. MUSIC OF THE WAVES ( aubrey : headcanon )

#ii. STARDUST MEMORIES ( aubrey : ic )

#ix. LOYALTY HELD BETWEEN GRITTED TEETH ( norrington : visage )#ix. SEAGULLS / SPILLED PRAYER ( norrington : study )#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )#ii. STARDUST MEMORIES ( norrington : ic )#x. STEADY HANDS AND A VOICE LIKE A CANNON BLAST ( aubrey : visage )#x. WORLD CARRIED UPON YOUR BACK / HOME FOUND ( aubrey : study )#x. MUSIC OF THE WAVES ( aubrey : headcanon )#ii. STARDUST MEMORIES ( aubrey : ic )

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hatilead · 3 years

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just some of my muses and their elements and some thoughts ™ ( not that anyone asked but @perfectmetaphore really got those gears grinding in my head so eh )

gilderoy lock/hart : air . gilderoy isn’t bound to anything , he is free and ever changing . he gives freely and takes all the same . hands outstretched to the sky and tries to catch lightning . storms rest inside his chest ( he is everywhere he wants to be , yet nowhere at the same time . )

james norr/ington : fire . contained and all consuming . pushed down where it cannot harm anyone but him , un-tamable but for himself . he goes where he wants to go , gives hope and causes destruction in the same breath ( it just depends if it is you he is lashing out at . soon , he will burn himself out to keep others warm . )

some more below the cut because this is going to get long :

jack au/brey : earth . unwavering , the place those around him come to rest their heads . steady in an ever changing world . holds on to life with solid composure . looks to skies and does not long for anything - he will build himself ( finds solitude in cracks of the earth . allows for himself to be shaped like clay to become what others need for him to be . )

victoria bu/sh : water . gentle kiss , healing hands . she who wanders wherever she can go , carves her way into the world and causes growth around her like spring rain . nurtures and delights ( lungs fill with waves of sea . hers is a grief she barely contains . it is grief that destroys her . )

archie kenn/edy : air . wandering hands , fingertips sliding across cheek . the desire to run , the sensation of falling - jumping from cliffs and finding the smile of icarus . a world at his feet , wings outstretched ( it is not the fall that scares him . but the flying . )

eloise bri/dgerton : fire . consuming in knowledge , bites the hand that feeds / laps at the hand that doesn’t too . an inferno destined for greatness - she will roam in the memory of men once she carves her path ( if it is ash she leaves in her wake , so be it , ash ‘pon her tongue reminds her that she has succeeded . )

#i. MANI MOON MOON AWOO ! ( ooc. )#what do i ... even tag this as ?#xxiv. HERE'S TO THE LIARS & THE SINNERS & THE SAINTS ( gilderoy : headcanon )#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )#x. MUSIC OF THE WAVES ( aubrey : headcanon )#xxii. BARE FEET & A HEART TOO GENTLE FOR THIS WORLD ( victoria : headcanon )#xi. A FRAGILE MIND & HANDS MADE TO HOLD ( kennedy : headcanon )#xx. GLITTERING GOLD . PURE WIT SPOKEN ( eloise : headcanon )

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hatilead · 3 years

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i have zero thoughts at the moment .... nothing in the old nogger except the fact that james was requested to scrub the deck of the pearl with his wig . his wig which is the symbol of his emotional clinging to the navy even post his fall from grace . i have ranted about this before , on multiple occasions , but him still wearing his uniform , his wig , in tortuga is a dangerous move indeed which shows exactly how limited james his abilities to see himself as a human being outside of his duty and his career are ! he could have worn literally anything else and he would have been physically safer than wearing his old ratted uniform and wig . and yet he doesn’t he doesn’t because if he does then there is truly nothing left of him / nothing left of the shadow of a man which he has pretended to be for his whole life .

him scrubbing the deck of the pearl ( the literal embodiment of freedom ) �� with his wig ( the symbolic embodiment of his souls captivity by the royal navy ) is one of the most powerful pieces of symbolism regarding james in the trilogy . and people do not talk enough about it .

#do not call yourself a norring/ton stan if you have missed this : /#also tbh this psd is hella fine on this scene so uhh i might gif some more idk #ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )

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hatilead · 3 years

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james norrington still wearing his uniform coat in tortuga is nothing more than a creative way of suicide he is no fool , he knows the reaction he is sure to bring forth when he struts around , clearly vulnerable , clearly cast from grace , wearing his navy coat and his disheveled wig. it would have been safer for him to wear literally anything else . and yet , even when his own safety is so clearly compromised by his choice of clothes , he does not stray from his uniform . mostly , because he does not know how to be anything other than the officer .

#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )#this never fails to make me emo im just ..... sad

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hatilead · 3 years

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modern james probably really likes sailboats ? probably really likes the freedom they give him and the honest labour that comes along with operating one . he absolutely does that cliche thing where he dips his fingers into the water while sailing ( and it’s probably the only place where he doesn’t need to be cohered into genuine laughter . )

#i say probably as if i haven't thought about this for the last 12 hours #i. MANI MOON MOON AWOO ! ( ooc. )#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )

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hatilead · 3 years

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some rambling from my old blog aka mani screams some more about james no/rrington his trauma !

i’m most likely going to jump around a lot in this and honestly i can’t even begin to feel sorry for my incoherence because there are a lot of things i need to address. first of all, don’t tell me that being responsible for the lives of other humans isn’t a tremendous burden to bear ; don’t tell me that it’s an even greater one for a young man.

because that’s the thing, looking at the wiki we know that james norrington was born in the early 1700′s and died in the late 1720′s. let’s give him the advantage of being born in 1700 and being made into a kebab having died in 1729, this makes him 29 years old !!! james norrington was an admiral in the british navy when he was AT MOST 29 years old.

let’s go back a bit to the hurricane through which he sailed to get his hands on jack sparrow, the hurricane which caused him to lose the dauntless and his career. the Dauntless is a first-rate ship of the line with 100 guns this motherflipper had AT LEAST 850 souls on board !!! let’s say that james is 28 at this time. he is a 28 year old man in charge of the lives and well being of 849 other people ( but considering the fact that the Dauntless is the flagship i bet she has more souls abort but u know, the number is still impressive. ) now let us stop right there and make another backflip back into time. because it’s time for us to take a look at the childhood of our beloved commodore.

james norrington has never lived in anything short of a war zone. growing up with an emotionally and physically abusive father admiral lawrence norrington who, and really i have no other word for this, forced him to follow in his footsteps in regards of the navy. norrington was pressed by his own father ; being brought onto ships to follow his father around when he was just a young child. the documented story ( sins of the father if you’re interested ) marks him around five or six years old when lawrence brings him along to capture captain teague. during this endeavor he gets knocked into the water and hadn’t it been for teague he would have drowned. and what does the lovely admiral do ? he scolds james / saying that he would have rather watched his son drown than seeing him being rescued by a pirate.

let that sink in let that taste sit onto your tongue for a moment. he is five or six years old when his father straight up mentions that his life is WORTHLESS unless it brings the admiral pride. he isn’t a son, he is a legacy in the making ; another flag for lawrence to wave. there is no fatherly love, there is only the desire to have an heir. in all regards, james is nothing but a pawn in the game of his father. and this is without a doubt a very toxic and traumatic environment to grow up in. to have your own worth erased for that of another man / for that of another man who should have loved you. this is PTSD strike one. this environment is the birthplace for inner turmoil and struggles, this is a noose he will always wear around his neck.

alright, now that we have established that lawrence norrington was an utter piece of shit it’s time to turn our attention back to james his career. since i cannot stomach the idea of james being any younger than 29 during AWE, there is a year between the events of COTBP and DMC, and AWE takes place two months after DMC, so i shall say that he’s 19 / 20 ( !!!! ) during the opening scene of COTBP. this 19 or 20-year-old, anxiety riddled, kid is a lieutenant on a ship the size of the Dauntless. how’s that for insane responsibility on your shoulders at a young age ?

i attribute his quick and effective rise through the ranks, for it takes him just eight years to rise from lieutenant to captain and from captain to commodore, to the upbringing of his father. remember that james had no worth unless it was to make his father proud ? he must have pushed himself to the brink to get those titles, working twice as hard as any other officer his age to achieve the unobtainable goal of making his own father proud. this is, for the most part of his life, his biggest drive. not loyalty to the crown or the navy ( although he will say it to be just that ) he will always remain looking for his father’s approval ; he is chasing after the worlds you are good enough with absolutely no regards for his own safety or life.

his hunt for pirates can be credited to this desire as well his desire to finish what his father started, and to in that essence, become exactly the legacy lawrence always dreamed of, drives him nearly to the brink of madness. add the strain of his command on top of that, throw a pinch of PTSD in the mix and you have a recipe for disaster.

#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )#ptsd mention //#mental health mention //#childhood abuse //#parental abuse //#long post //

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hatilead · 3 years

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in all verses , james his home will be a cold and devoid of personal touches . for him , his house is just an object that serves to keep him dry and warm when on land . a house , to james , is never a home . he doesn’t know what a home feels like - during his childhood it was never shown to him how to create emotional connections to objects , all things he has fulfill a purpose . he doesn’t surround himself with objects that do not contribute directly to his career because as i’ve mentioned before ; james measures his own worth by the growth of his career .

in modern , he does keep a few books although they are hardly there for aesthetic purposes . he does have a sound system but he never uses it , he doesn’t have any music playing and he most certainly does not keep the tv on for background noise . the house is styled in a very modern , very clean style . there are two pictures to be found ( one of his father standing next to him , the both of them in naval uniform when james is 18 , the atmosphere is uncomfortable and james his stance is just a bit too tense for anyone to believe that he is happy . the other is of his mother , smiling and warm , golden hair a mess , outstretched arms to reach for the small child running in front of her , a bit blurry and the most treasured object in his house all the same . )

#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )#i am big emo hours about james today and especially how little ties to the world he has

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hatilead · 3 years

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a meta on the topic of why james norrington deemed in necessary to marry elizabeth swann aka why he ever would propose.

Marrying Elizabeth was logical. I think I need to start by stating that James never thought he would marry anyone. His life, due to his father, had always been centred around the navy and his career The lack of friends in his childhood, and the utter lack of further connections in his adult life are proof of that. James Norrington only socializes with men and women he has to socialize with. Men and women who hold some kind of power in their own rights. He doesn’t play them; he doesn’t interact with them in the hopes of gaining something from them. But his lack of socializing in any other field than work-related in his youth made him be insecure and rather out of the water in any other form of socializing.

His relationship with governor Swann borders on friendship, even in his mind it does. This isn’t due to his own attempts at it, or due to active trying of the governor, but rather due to the nature of the man and the extended period of time he has spent with him. Here’s your friendly reminder that James was 19 years old when he first met governor Swann, he was basically still a child who never experienced the pleasure of a positive father figure in his life. Weatherby Swann became exactly that for him. I’m not saying James and Weatherby had tea every Saturday afternoon, but I am saying that younger James absolutely pulled himself up on the standards and ideals of the man.

Back to Elizabeth. James has known her for years, has seen her grow up and has grown to care deeply about her over the years. She too is caged by the same society which is keeping him chained. She too cannot escape the life she was born in. But he looks at her and he sees everything he wished he could be; Elizabeth is rebellious and filled with the determination which has slipped away from him years ago. James can’t change his own faith ( or so he believes ) but if he is to marry he might as well marry her and change theirs together.

Marrying Elizabeth was logical because he did love her, just not romantically. He loved her like a sister, like a friend. And yes, he would die for her; he has done so in fact. But that doesn’t mean that he was in love with her. A marriage between the two of them would mean that he had fulfilled yet another one of his father’s wishes in an environment in which he feels safe more than anything. Because that’s the thing, governor Swann and Elizabeth have always made him feel safe and welcome, while the rest of the world has done the opposite.

#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )#i. LEAVE A MESSAGE AT THE BEEP ( queue. )#you can disagree with me on this but i will not change my mind fjdklasfj

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hatilead · 3 years

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i can’t believe i’m writing this up ( and @tyfones yes this is basically just for you ) but uhhh differences in emotional stability and emotional connection between sparrow , captain and jack when james refers to jack sparrow : a headcanon powered by caffeine and sleep deprivation . side note on this . this isn’t supported by canon and this basically only applies to my portrayal . peace out kids . thanks for reading ✌️

SPARROW : dislike. a principle on which the foundation of his character is build. name of a pirate. name of the thing he swore to destroy. familiarity with what must be done - a threat, a challenge underneath an unspoken prove me wrong. distancing himself from man and myth. a way of referencing to pirate rather than anything else. a barrier between the personal and professional. ( later. much later. this turns into familiarity. my soul has seen yours and found it to be the same. a badge of honour pinned directly to skin and heart. )

CAPTAIN : an understanding. bowed head and only the slightest showing of teeth. the ability to show skin of neck and not expect a blade. to falling. the rebuilding. hands seeking out the comfort of the known. dip of a dance / knowing that the weight of the world is not his responsibility to bear. acceptance of rank, an unspoken understanding that the both of them are driven by a common goal. the highest honour he can give. to refer to a rank of the thing he swore to destroy. the acknowledgement of power, even when he shouldn’t.

JACK : humanity stripped to its core. given name a poison which seeps into flesh and bites form the inside out. longing to be understood. green eyes of frightened child seeking out comfort in gaze of other child. fallen titles and facades. mask trampled into the ground. toss away distaste. burn uniform and find oneself in the ashes. healing. the knowledge that there is another sunrise ‘pon horizon. ( rare. nearly impossible. understanding for the mirror image without deep hatred for his own reflection staring back at him. )

#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )#i will now .... return to my cave underneath the ground to sob thank you

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hatilead · 3 years

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james was such a happy child ( before the fall . before the burn of father scorned . before the death of his mother and the last fading shred of happiness . ) he chased rainbows and wanted to see waterfalls . ran through the house with the intention to conquer the world in the name of joy . he was the kind of child who would burst into song ; who , when accompanying his father on a ship , would hang in the rigging and let go with one hand to try and grab seagulls out of the air .

james was such a happy child ( before the darkness . before he got lost and had to create himself again to fit the tastes of his father . ) but the child is not dead . under extreme and carefully plotted circumstances , this side of him can once again come back . he can be playful , he can laugh in a way that sounds like happiness rather than a polite fulfillment of duty . it’s just rare that people get to see this .

they get to see the snark . the rigid posture . the tension held in his shoulders and the flaring of nostrils in absence of words sharp enough to become a weapon . but there is still that child who wished to burn his palms on falling stars . the child who wants nothing more than to enjoy life in a way he has never been able to do before .

#i. MANI MOON MOON AWOO ! ( ooc. )#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )#god i love him so much i love him i LOVE HI II I I I M

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hatilead · 3 years

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[ me , taking a drag from my cigarette ] actually james his wish to become a shantyman as a child ties into him knowing that there was a great deal expected of him , even when he wasn’t old enough to realize to what extend just yet he was aware that he would be required to lead . to become the type of man that men would follow ; to a childish mind , there is no one more beloved than the shantyman on board a ship . while this was absolutely not what his father had in mind , he held singers of song on board of his fathers’ vessels in a higher regard than lawrence himself . especially before the death of his mother , his father was just that ... his father . and while james was always aware that the man had power , he wasn’t aware that the man had such loyalty . lawrence was his father . not a leader . the man who sang songs , now that was the highest form of power to the mind of young james .

#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )#smoking //#smoking mention //#i love overthinking headcanons which just don't matter #love it !

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hatilead · 3 years

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anyway ; james norrington was all alone when he died, not knowing if elizabeth even made it . he didn’t know if he was dying for anything other than that he followed his own heart for once in his life , rather than to listen to duty or the ghost of his father’s voice.

#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )#this isn't even a headcanon but i am so fucking EMO ABOUT IT

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hatilead · 3 years

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NORRINGTON & AUBREY TAG DUMP

#ix. LOYALTY HELD BETWEEN GRITTED TEETH ( norrington : visage )#ix. SEAGULLS / SPILLED PRAYER ( norrington : study )#ix. WORDS THAT THE WATER SPOKE ( norrington : headcanon )#ii. STARDUST MEMORIES ( norrington : ic )#x. STEADY HANDS AND A VOICE LIKE A CANNON BLAST ( aubrey : visage )#x. WORLD CARRIED UPON YOUR BACK / HOME FOUND ( aubrey : study )#x. MUSIC OF THE WAVES ( aubrey : headcanon )#ii. STARDUST MEMORIES ( aubrey : ic )

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