💓 for Jane!

Respecting Jane is one of the fastest ways to warm her to you. While in France her position is rather secure, when she is overseas she so often has to fight to establish her dominance and her rights amid men who look down upon her simply on account of her being a woman. She knows that if she were to send a man in her place, things would get done quicker – but she refuses to use a proxy simply to be heard.

To listen to her and confer with her as though she is an equal is to immediately assure that you will have Jane as an ally in your court. Provided of course that this respect and equal footing was obtained through your initiative, and not because her shadow terrorized you into submission.

💓💓💓 for Julienne!

{ Learn To Make A Heart Flutter }

Be good with his daughters. This does not necessarily mean be good with children so much as it means be capable of respecting young girls as your potential superiors. Julienne’s girls are his pride and joy, and their capacities are something he adores seeing others come to respect. There is no denying the girls are young – but if you deny their skill or their positions on account of that youth ( or, heaven forbid, their gender! ) your chances of earning Julienne’s grace is slim to none.
Have good form. This is painful to include considering his face claim but honestly it is quite an important element in gaining Julienne’s favor. He is a deeply honorable man, and he does not abide by acts of cowardice and cruelty well. He holds a firm belief in civility and it is due to the betrayal of those beliefs, the betrayal of nobility and human decency, that caused him to turn pirate to begin with.
This goes beyond possessing exceptional moral fibre, however. Julienne is very particular about presentation. Being clean and well pressed goes a long way in impressing him, because it takes a great deal of time and effort to maintain an impeccable exterior while at sea. Considering he demands it of his entire crew, one can certainly anticipate him expecting it of a lover.
Sweep him off his feet. Julienne is a hopeless romantic and positively adores the game of seduction. To be the one on the receiving end of such flattering attentions certainly appeals to a small element of his vanity, but mostly the idea that someone might try warms him tremendously. Of course one of the easiest methods is a direct and literal one – Julienne loves to dance, and the more adept his partner is the more likely it becomes that he’ll allow them to carry him off.

💓 for Abigail

{ Learn To Make A Heart Flutter }

Author!Abigail

Being physical with Abigail under certain circumstances can result in her becoming rather shy. She’s not used to tactile comforts, though the longer she is alone the more she realizes that she craves them. She can count on her hands the amount of times she was hugged that weren’t due to it being an occasion ( she would get a hug from her father every year on his birthday, a kiss on the cheek from her mother when it was Abigail’s own birthday, and an embrace from her parents every Christmas. ) and still have several fingers left over. And on only one of those occasions was the person she embraced not a parent – and that, of course, would be Miranda Hamilton. ( Two actually, if we include Joji in their storyline! But from an unconnected standpoint, that’s the facts for her sadly enough. )

Aside from her dancing and deportment lessons, Abigail was simply not touched. And in a life where she now has to dodge the grabby hands of sailors as a waitress, this is somewhat detrimental as she can be overwhelmed quickly in manners that grant the wrong impression. Speechlessness, flushed features and a refusal to meet gazes can unfortunately attract unwanted attentions, so it is lucky for Abigail that she works at an inn that prides itself in looking out for its waitresses.

In these instances though, she is uncomfortable and often times scared rather than she is fluttery. It is when people she knows and trusts become physical with her that she can start to get a little twitterpated. She doesn’t mean to more often than not, but due to her intense loneliness and her isolated upbringing, kind and gentle touches can lead to her falling in love rather easily, and not at all knowing what to do about it.

While she may confront her own jitters and may even bluntly admit to her sense of being overwhelmed from a tactile standpoint, the breathlessness from other causes she will have a much harder time owning up to.

💓💓💓 for Charles!

{ Learn To Make A Heart Flutter }

Be fearless. This is something that takes many forms in Charles’ mind. To him, fearlessness is the only sure chance of survival in this world and to lack it makes a person not only vulnerable, but cowardly. One thing Charles cannot abide by is a coward – but his unique take on the world and the people he chooses to let into his circle shows that he recognizes fearlessness can take many forms.
To him, Rackham’s fearlessness presents itself in his willingness to weave words together among the masses and convert minds into his way of thinking, to turn profit out of any situation and to walk into a room where any man could cut him down in an instant as if there wouldn’t be a single one who would dare.

By contrast, Bonny’s fearlessness presents itself in mute force – she finds her path to victory every time, even if it means taking on substantial damage to herself to make it work. She doesn’t fear pain if it means winning, and she’s not afraid to manipulate a situation into her favor when she needs to.

And then there is Eleanor, whose fearlessness lies alongside her ambition and her will to do anything it takes to obtain her desires. While their ambitions matched one another this was something that made her deeply attractive to Charles – but eventually, her willingness to betray anyone for those ambitions put them at odds. Charles’ particular brand of loyalty could not abide by Eleanor’s willingness to treat every person in her vicinity as disposable the moment they ceased to be of immediate use to her.

Ultimately speaking, the most attractive trait in another person by Charles’ standards, is their willingness to stand up and face the world on their terms, and challenge that goddamn world each and every time their terms are not met.
Share his values. Charles aligns himself with people who value specific things in life. Namely, freedom and a will to live life on one’s feet, rather than on one’s knees. Being anti-slavery certainly goes a long way, and the less fond of Britian’s idea of ‘civilization’ you happen to be the better chance you have of getting along with him – and getting along with Charles is usually the first step to earning his friendship.
Interestingly enough, due to Charles’ stringent beliefs it is possible for him to abandon past rivalries when a greater matter is put at risk. ( Such as Flint being taken as a British victory against piracy resulting in him setting aside years of competition and dislike, even straight up attempts at murder, for the sake of securing Flint and denying Britain that victory )

When these moments occur, the person in question is granted a clean slate in favor of work toward the common goal that united them, making it perfectly possible for even past rivals to become close friends, and people Charles might consider his.
Make him laugh. Considering this is not an easy task, those who can manage it win his friendship almost immediately afterward, as he likes to keep people who can scour away the violence of the world and summon joy from the ashes close at hand. He deeply values humor and those who have good and even theatrical natures, and is quite fond of anyone who can bring a smile to a dour situation.

💓 ANOTHER FOR VANE WHY NOT

{ Learn To Make A Heart Flutter }

Trust him. Charles has a territorial streak a mile wide over what he considers his – be it a ship, an idea, or a person – and once he decides that it belongs to him there is no length he will not go to in order to protect and nurture that thing. In the case of people, one of the fastest ways to gain Charles’ protection and his care is to believe he will do what is right by his own.

To have faith that he will not steer things wrong and to accept his nature for what it is earns both his respect and his will to defend your right to be exactly who you are. Charles is mistaken for a lot of things and it is the people who see through these false ideas and register the truth of his actions – the people who stand by him and hold faith that his actions come from a place of staunch logic and particular morality – who have the highest chance of earning his friendship, and potentially his love.

💓 dear diary how do i give thomas palpitations. i swear i’m going to sleep now

{ Learn To Make A Heart Flutter }

One thing Thomas does not experience a lot of is people rising up to challenge the fucking patriarchy to its goddamn face and then proceed to kick it out of it’s own damn house, so that’s most assuredly an extreme case of the goddamn’s.

That said – standing up for him and his ideals, and doing so in a manner that is both passionate and provocative – is a surefire way to enrapture him. You will have his whole and undivided attention, and if he forgets to breathe then surely that is a testament to the intensity of the performance itself.

Thomas is taken by grand displays of emotion quite easily, especially when they are made with intellectually based passion – but when that same force and wit is used on his behalf it is difficult for him not to be made weak by the idea he could inspire such ferocity, and ache to reward it.

💓💓💓 for Gilette!

{ Learn To Make A Heart Flutter }

Have a heart of gold. Full disclosure, in all the time I have written Gillette, he has only shipped five times – and of those times only once has it been spur of the moment – and that was with @seafaired‘s Archie Kennedy. His others have been Theodore Groves ( as I write him, they have on occasion come as a unit in poly pairings ) a pre-DMC James Norrington who broke it off with him for puritan reasons, a pre-DMC Will Turner who ultimately swung back for Elizabeth, and the original incarnation of Howard Wilson who was an OC on the forum I was on at the time and we see how that fucking went.
Needless to say he is probably my most circumspect and closed off muse in regard to shipping because it has never gone well for him – and unlike Theodore who bounces back from that shit like it is water off a duck’s back, Gillette never forgets and holds on to his hurts. It takes me trusting the mun a great deal to convince him to trust one of their characters, honestly.

Generally speaking the safest approach is if he is with Theodore – like the other side of a coin, Theodore keeps Gillette balanced and helps him brave things better just as Gillette will root Theodore back into reality when it is needed. Which of course leads to –
Be open to polyamory. Gillette as Theodore’s lover is generally protective – he’s a secretive man by nature, and he won’t stand for Theodore’s abundance of good nature and forgiveness to be abused. If he sees that you’re good to Theodore and that Theodore is interested, it is generally Gillette who will initiate the invitation, as he does enjoy giving Theodore that which pleases him. He is rarely interested on his own, but as Archie has proven, being a veritable ball of fucking sunshine is a big attraction for this melancholic puppy.
Show passion. Gillette is attracted to passionate people. Theodore lives for the moment, Archie is poetic and theatrical – James was ambitious, William was a spitfire, Howard was intellectually engaging – being someone who stimulates Gillette is one of the fastest and surest ways to catch his attention and capture his heart.

💓 for Abigail!

{ Learn To Make A Heart Flutter }

Abigail is not used to flirtations and generally considers passes at her to be distinctly uncomfortable. She spent the whole of her life expecting to be arranged into a marriage with an older gentleman to further her father’s ambitions – she was not upset by this fate, because she had never considered romance to be particularly interesting. It simply wasn’t something that was in her sphere of understanding.

Indeed, when it comes to maneuvering men, Abigail is unintentionally adept. Her mother taught her many methods to placate tempers and redirect frustrations, that she employs rather frequently regardless of verse. In her surgeon storyline, Abigail is far more aware of these manipulations and utilizes them with the same precision as she does a scalpel. In her author storyline, she utilizes them out of habit and a need to escape the situation as easily as possible.

To make surgeon Abigail flutter, it takes honesty. Being honest with her and yourself and the world around you – the more true a person is to themselves, the more likely she is to like them. Their truth doesn’t have to be a good kind, either – for example, surgeon!Abigail would adore John Silver because he is always bluntly in it for himself and never denies it. He’s selfish, self serving, and an outright snake – but he does it in a way that is queerly truthful and so, she would be liable to respect him a great deal more than she would Flint, who lies to the world about his motives, even if his intentions are a great deal purer than that of Silver.

Author Abigail is not so stringent or angry – she responds well to honesty, but she accepts a world that is more grey than her angel of mercy counterpart. She reacts to close proximity – the longer she is near to someone, the more likely she is to find herself leaning on them. The more time spent leaning on them, the more time spent examining them – until eventually, it may dawn on her that they are attractive – at which point, she may have more trouble than usual with speaking, because Abigail has a hard time talking to people she thinks are handsome.

💓 y’know what give me another one for gates and i’ll consider it adequate compensation for the loss of my fUCKING LUNGS EARLIER

{ Learn To Make A Heart Flutter }

Another surefire way to make your bear purr is by helping him work oil into his hands, which are riddled with arthritic symptoms and can at times cause him a lot of pain. He cramps up badly, to the point he can’t even bend his fingers without a hot, searing pain, so having someone who is patient enough to work his hands for him until they ease up – without commenting on his age while they’re at it, is bound to win a happy Hal.

💓 for Thomas!

{ Learn To Make A Heart Flutter }

~~Be a careless whisper.~~

I hate myself for writing that more than you hate yourself for reading it I promise, but it’s absolutely true. Thomas is very much the kind of man who eyezooms and decides this is it, this is my person very quickly and there’s no real fucking criteria for it or I would tell you.

That said, once he nyooms in on someone he immediately sets to testing them, pushing their limits and boundaries and honestly doing personal social experiments on them constantly until he feels he knows them and all the extremes they are capable of. It is once he comes to these particular conclusions that he decides whether or not to truly pursue someone as a lover, or maintain them as a platonic and deeply valued associate.