#*eyes towards HT girls and those bite marks*

[nighttimepixels]

-dropkicks into your inbox- speaking of wedding asks, what kinds of rings/other such used-for-proposals-items would the ladies be inclined to get for their s/o? 👀 something subtle? flashy? something they know without a doubt their s/o will love? (or, on the flipside: what kind of rings would /they/ prefer to recieve?)

Ohhh man I’m always a sucker for this kind of thing-!! Okay so, for sure, all the girls would absolutely do a ring for their s/o if that’s the sort of thing they really wanted/expected; and in general, most of them would be pretty tuned into their s/o’s taste, too - so they wouldn’t be getting something ostentatious if that’s not what their s/o wanted.

However if their s/o is open to the girl’s own instinctive desires for proposals-items by their own traditions, then that’s absolutely what the girls would go for first! (It’d later be supplemented by a ring/they’d choose a perfect matching pair of rings for the wedding bands~)

As for what they’d like in return, pretty much anything you give them will be universally adored. None of them are the ostentatious type, though - and for that matter, as monsters, they have no particular value for diamonds (and actually, literally none of them prefer them) - heck, it doesn’t matter if they’re super cheap, crystals/gems associated with soul traits have much more impact!

The rest below a cut because I’m too thorough XD

For the UT girls Serif and Vellum, their world traditionally doesn’t have a specific item; rather, they bare their souls to one another when proposing (it’s rather private, of course) - but in more recent times because of the joy and fun, they’ve picked up a newer tradition of handcrafting an item that would mean a lot to their s/o in some way to propose with - this is particularly good for those (coughVellumcough) who would love a proposal with a bit of showmanship! Rest assured the soul baring comes later that night.

But for the initial happenstance, Serif will likely be making a pendant for a necklace for hers; it’s not just any pendant, though. Shaped slightly like a save star, it’s actually a tiny, intricately made magical projection unit, as well as having a central crystal from the glowing crystal cavern. When activated, it projects a hologram like nebula and view of countless stars - at the center of which is one that Serif ‘bought’ a name to, for you. It’s got a lot of features too, but the point is, it’s a beautiful star - just like you are to her in her own night sky.

Vellum, meanwhile, actually constructs a tiny, intricate puzzle box for her s/o. It’s actually absurdly intricate and utterly beautiful, and has many levels of being solved, each with a different small gift and tiny scroll of her writing effusing on yet another reason for her love - and each level gets progressively more difficult. Effectively, the entire thing symbolizes her love for her s/o; each way she’s fallen for them, each way she loves them bared only reveals deeper levels of her love, increasingly devoted and dedicated. She’s definitely gonna cry, shhh, make sure you have tissues handy if you suspect she might be proposing soon ;Dc

For the US girls Sapphire and Amber, their world ended up adopting a pretty strong tradition of proposing with a key! This is because the proposal-to-marriage window was effectively done by building a home together. In older days/Underground this was a bit easier, but nowadays it’s accepted that that could absolutely include getting an apartment together and taking a lot of time to decided upon furnishings/etc that you actively want. Highly skilled/motivated monsters will even learn how to locksmith, or go to a locksmith to have a highly unique one made; a small version of the key would then be wrought in fine metal and possibly embedded in crystal/laced with a glowing jewel/otherwise decorated; this, often strung on a necklace, would be presented to the partner to propose. If building their own house, the lock would be placed in the finished home as the final step and symbol of the partners starting a new life together.

Nowadays, even if the partners were already living together, this is still accomplished by either moving to a new place together or by changing the lock to make it ‘official’ that they were a married/mated couple. Sapphire is likely going to engrave the key copy, with the key itself being some beautiful silvery metal; there will be fine veins of glowing sapphire crystal in the key’s divots, and an accent of a crystal of your favor/soul trait’s color.

Meanwhile Amber is going to likely have a rose-gold tint to the key she gives you. It’ll have an artistic depiction of some important place to you both engraved on one side, and the head of it will be set into a glowing crystal.

For the UF girls Crimson and Scarlet, their world traditionally goes with collars! Of course, collars have many different forms and meanings. Utilitarian ones often made of leather (that are likened usually to dog collars) tend to be more signifiers of protection, but fancier ones that often take the form of some sort of beloved and sturdy jewelry can/do tend to signify romantic permanence/marriage! These can also be bracelets, but it’s more traditional/common to have something around the neck.

Crimson is actually going to hand make hers and imbue her magic into it; namely, it’ll end up being a finely made braided chain that’s nigh indestructable and catches the light subtly, and it’ll have a key on the end, with the head wrought of a glowing magic crystal. She’s going to be super flustered but secretly sappy about it, heh - especially as the matching one she made for herself, signifying she’s just as much yours as vice versa, will be a fine lock on a leather choker that your key goes to ;)c

Meanwhile, Scarlet will lean towards buying you a choker style necklace herself, but it’s going to be made by the finest monster craftsman she can find. The metal and inlaid jewels will be subtle but durable and extremely high quality; it’ll have a subtle pendant at it’s front, an upside down heart with the center comprising your primary trait in jewel form. It’s extremely tasteful yet unwaveringly romantic and exactingly, secretly extravagant. She has one that matches but is long instead of being a choker, and features a rightside up heart trimmed in red crystal.

For the SF girls Pepper and Cinnamon, they also have traditional collars, with similar rules to the Fell girls’ regarding different types meaning different things; in particular, though, there’s a big emphasis on handmade collars for a romantic partner. While the fell world had a ‘kill or be killed’ motto, their’s was ‘take or be taken’ - as such, it was of... significant cultural importance to show just how much something was yours - and even more so, if you declared that in turn, you were theirs, as was the case in a romantic partnership. With an Underground of an old-Norse sort of flavor, too, there are a lot of subtle visual influences there that will be brought in.

Pepper is going to, in secret, absolutely agonize over what to make you. Everything will be taken into account; from the obvious of your tastes to the thoughtful details of what your life is like/what would suit your lifestyle, to what materials might best bear magic, to the symbolism even in how chains might link together... in the end she’ll probably choose something of leather, braided and burned, a choker style necklace; where it connects to the pendant are nordic styled connecters but instead of beast heads gripping the pendant, it’s tiny versions of her gaster blaster skulls. The pendant itself is a blaster skull bearing a crystal in it’s mouth; despite the sound of it, it’s not ostentatious at all. The leather and fine metals chosen complement your skin tone and tastes, and the leather has subtle symbols worked into it and is extremely comfortable.

Meanwhile, Cinnamon will actually go for a longer necklace; something that, if you desired, you could tuck beneath a shirt to keep out of your way if you’re bending over to work/etc - and also had the option to shorten up. It has a subtle magical mechanism in the back that, for all intents and purposes, could effectively spool up the excess material. The loop itself is of warm, well-treated leather that won’t ever wear out, and has tiny symbols in an ancient runic language written on it. The pendant for hers is akin to a save star, but within it are two hearts, one inverted, and both overlapping.

For the HT girls Blade and Twist, their traditions were the same as Serif and Vellum’s, but since their world turned sour they shifted. Instead, monsters turned to magical tattoos to signify their bonds to one another; some of the most popular variety were, quite frankly, merely bite marks infused with the partner’s magic made, well, precisely the way you’d expect. It was possessive but dear as well, a strong symbol of your life being in their hands, trustingly. Such marks/tattoos are mirrored between partners; and made usually with the help of both partners magic combined.

For a human partner this would be trickier, but still doable... in private, heh. In proposing, up on the surface, they’d likely stick to providing a ring or a necklace with a raw magic crystal charm/center point, and propose their preferred type of mark. Admittedly, both girls are... the bite types, but if you’re opposed, they’d respect that because of human traditions, but it really would mean a lot to them if you got a tattoo, if not a bite mark, through their magic.

Both of them will lean towards some depiction of flowers/plants; Blade would likely in particular ask if you would like a poppy, while Twist might lean towards lavender or even fireweed. (and hey, if you’d like both a bite mark and the magical flower tattoos, well... they’re very willing to oblige, and holy hell, I hope you’re prepared for a very, very pleased and in-love skeleton woman to not be willing to let go of that proposal high for a loooong time yet, heheh).

For Glyph and Alpha, they’re obviously outliers in both tradition and desire; Glyph will likely only get married in a poly situation, in which case she’s actually going to propose more by bringing her partners out on a trip with her, and playing a song she wrote for them. She probably wouldn’t have a physical item, but would have ideas for a ring exchange for if they say yes. She’s a big sap and romantic deep down, but for her experiences are more important, and so her ‘item’ would be a song more than anything.

Alpha meanwhile doesn’t have a ‘home world’, so to speak - so she’d actually probably just adopt whatever your preference was. This would probably mean a ring, but stars above, you better bet she’d find a way to make it perfect on every level... and too, it would probably some major leap in her tech - in other words, her figuring out how to safely upload your consciousness into digital form (and having a perfected robot/android body option for you to still exist in physical form). A proposal from her would be both dazzling and romantic by starting with the ring, if you agreed, would turn deeply serious because then she’d share that she’d figured the digitization thing out.

She’d never force it, of course, but... well. She’s an undying digital entity, after all; she’d thought intensely about making such a move as to propose. If you’re with Alpha you’re already probably the type to consider such a step regardless at least in hypotheticals, but the reality’s all the more overwhelming. She wouldn’t expect an answer on that side right away, of course, but she’d make it clear all the same as the second half of her proposal (as you could consider her second proposal ‘item’ as being... all that, hoo boi!).