#at least we get valentines discounts

[hewhomustdie]

valentine’s day is coming up and the only people i would be willing to ask out are fictional, and i’m pretty sure if someone did ask me out id reject them because they cant compare to my fictional crushes

[melodymay-k1tty]

Hello...

Well, could you do a scenario where the S/O should take care of some drunk OC and they declare their love to her or something...? Well, actually that would be cool with a Fem!Reader, but do as you wish, it's your choice!🫠💕 Btw I would also admire if in Part 1 you could include Sabo and Corazon in particular, I would really like to see them in this situation lmao😵‍💫

SABO ★ CORAZON ★ SANJI ★ LAW: DECLARING HIS LOVE FOR S/O AFTER GETTING DRUNK.

A/N: Well, I'm new to this scenario thing, and I'm not that big a fan of requests, cuz I can't write about something if I don't feel it in my heart... But I think I can manage about it. So here it is. Thank you so much for all your love, care and support! 🤧🩷

Age Rating: +12

Content Warning: consumption of alcoholic drinks. kiss description. maybe a little angst.

Genres: fluffy. headcanons (scenario).

Characters: sabo x fem!reader. corazon x fem!reader. sanji x fem!reader. law x fem!reader.

Word Count: 2.2k

SABO (Being the user of Mera Mera no Mi🔥)

• You are a high-ranking officer in the Revolutionary Army, Sabo's right-hand. After a successful mission of the two of you in Dressrosa, he decided to invite you to drink something in a bar, which was located on an island nearby. You accepted.

• You're not a big fan of alcohol, but Sabo didn't know that. The blonde guy, on the other hand, was a big fan of alcoholic drinks, and used to consume it whenever he was successful in his missions (which is quite often).

• He sat at the counter bar after you two comes there, and you did the same. Sabo called for a waiter who came immediately. He placed his order, which was beer, and asked you to order yours.

“I'll have a non-alcoholic strawberry cocktail with condensed milk, please.” You talk while the waiter writes it down on his pad of paper.

“Alright, ma'am and sir. I will bring your order soon.” He speaks after withdrawing from there.

Sabo looked at you in a somewhat strange way. “You don’t drink alcohol?”

“No, I like sweet drinks more.” You speak while he stares at you seriously, but he soon opens a smile. “Cutie.” He smiles like a know-it-all.

You looked at him strangely, and he immediately retaliated. “I meant, you look like a cute little girl acting like that.” He makes fun of your face a little.

“Sabo...” You look at him with hate and you were ready to attack him. But the waiter interrupts them.

“Your order is almost ready. In the meantime, would you like to fill out this survey?” He asks while handing over a sheet with some questions.

“What is it about?” You ask. “Can't you read, little girl?” Sabo laughs and makes fun of your face some more. “It's a survey about couples, and here it also says that couples who respond will get a discount of up to 50% on the amount spent at the bar.” He says with his knowing smile.

“But we're not a cou...” Before you can finish your sentence, Sabo puts his hand over your mouth, preventing you from speaking. “Will we really get that discount?” He asks the waiter, with his usual smile.

“Of course, sir. Just complete the survey with your girlfriend, and you'll get 50% off. It's a data collection survey for an article that will be released on Valentine's Day, in the island's local newspaper.”

“I understand. I'll do it as soon as possible then.” Sabo speaks enthusiastically to the waiter who leaves. The blondie starts marking off some answers on the survey, like we're really dating.

You had already understood that Sabo was a cheapskate and didn't like to spend money on others. So you decided to just leave it down.

He finished marking the answers, and shortly after that, your drinks arrived.

You two started drinking, but Sabo got too carried away. He ordered more and more glasses of beer, one after another. Maybe he was thinking that 50% off could become 100%...

And when you least realized it, he was out of his mind. “Y/N, let's go home soon” he grumble drunkenly, collapsing on top of you.

His sleepy voice showed just how much alcohol had already knocked him out. You saw no option but to take him for home.

“Okay, just let me pay the bill first” Apparently, the account is left for you. But thinking on the bright side, at least a discount you would have.

Sabo couldn't even pay attention to what you said. You then placed him gently propped up in the chair, and got up to go pay the bill.

After that, you put him on your shoulders and left the bar with him.

“How heavy he is...” You complain while carrying he with difficulties.

He had a stupid smile on his face, he looked like a retard. You looked at him strangely.

“What it is?” You asked arching your eyebrow. Sabo acted strange after your question, he turned red and sparks started to come out of his logia body.

He smirks again, his cheeks getting redder.

“Y/N, I love you…” His stupid smile gave it all away. You were in shock and ended up letting go of him, letting him fall to the ground.

“AAUGH!” he lets out a groan of pain as he strokes his own head. “Hmph. Y/N, why are you so mean to me?” he says this as he gets up, and his drunken body begins to stagger.

“I'm sorry, Sabo...” You say as you help him up. “Y-you… Are you serious?” you widen your eyes.

“Y/N, I want to sleep with you today and always...” he closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep. You leaned against a bench, pulling Sabo with you, and make a phone call for Dragon, who went to get you and took you to your house.

You two went to your rooms, and you went to sleep thoughtfully.

The next day you woke up and went to the kitchen for breakfast, bumping into Sabo, who blushed violently when he saw you. But now, in an embarrassed way.

“H-hello, I-I'm sorry about what happened yesterday...” He speaks awkwardly. “It's okay, Sabo-kun...” You smile sweetly.

You two was in a compelling silent for a while. Until he decides to say something. “I think we need to talk… I need to clear something up.”

“Sure, what is it?” You looked fine on the outside, but on the inside, your heart was beating hard with fear of what he might say to you.

“Dragon told me everything. I know what I say to you in yesterday night, and about that... I need to tell you that it's really true.” Now he was staring at you. And again, sparks were shooting out of his body, his face was red and he was probably really fear of what you might say too.

“Sabo-kun...” You murmur.

“Okay, I understand that you might not feel the same about me. But I would like you to know that, although.” He says as him leave the kitchen, but you pull him by the arm.

“S-Sabo...” You look deep into his eyes, and he looks into yours. Your bright eyes never stopped looking at each other. “I love you too.” You said as you approached him. The blondie approached you too, shifting his gaze between your eyes and your lips.

He placed his big hand on your face, and kissed you passionately but calmly. Your lips glued to each other, were making your bodies approach too, and in a matter of moments, you and Sabo were glued and your kiss was getting even more intense and passionate.

“I am the happiest man in the world to know that, my little girl.” He speaks after parting with you, stroking your hair and smiling cutely at you. “But I love you more...”

Finally you could understand, that he didn't do the couple survey to get a discount, but because he loves you and, in fact, wanted you like his girlfriend.

CORAZON ♠️

• You were part of the Donquixote Pirates, led by the infamous Doflamingo. While you were still living in Spider Miles, the whole family was gathered at the table and having dinner, when you felt someone poke you under the table.

• You looked to the side, seeing Corazon's serene face disguise as he lit a cigarette. He had left a note on top of your thighs.

• You pocketed the note and politely left the table, getting Doflamingo's permission. You went to your room and read the note. On it was written “You said you wanted to get to know me better. We're going out to eat today, I know of a wonderful restaurant nearby. I hope you isn't full yet.” You opened a silly smile when you read the note, and ran to change your clothes, and soon to meet him discreetly outside. You climbed out your bedroom window and left, going to meet Corazon.

He was leaning against the wall outside the house. As always in silence, lighting his cigarette. When he realized you were there, he stared fixedly at you, and let his cigarette go out carelessly.

“Wh-what is?” You asked embarrassed as you crossed your legs because of your momentary shyness.

“Nothing” He answered coldly and walked away, and you followed him. You felt honored that you were the only person who knew Corazon could speak. It was like you were special.

You two finally arrived at the restaurant, beautifully decorated with artifacts of dragons and other ancient legends creatures. The food smelled divine.

“Hmm” You mutter at that delicious smell. “Maybe you really were right when you said this restaurant is wonderful, Corazon” You say smiling.

“You can be sure I don't make mistakes when it comes to food” He replied confidently and sat down at a table in the corner of the restaurant, with your company.

The waiter came to serve us with a menu in hand. “Good night, sir and ma'am. What will you want for today? Our menu is full of original and exclusive recipes only from here, but we also have traditional ones” He says as he places the menu on the table.

“I'll have the dragon meat in white sauce, with vegetables and all the extras. For a drink, I would like a red wine and a white wine” Corazon spoke without even thinking twice, making you speechless.

“Right, sir” The waiter takes your order. “And Ma'am, what will you want?” he asks you, while Corazon looks at you waiting for your answer.

“T-the same as him. But instead of wine, I would like a melon juice” You say with a little embarrassment, for not ordering something fancier.

“Alright, your order will arrive within 30 minutes” The waiter speaks after bowing and leaving.

You felt Corazon's heavy gaze on you. “What do you want to know about me?” He asks suspicious.

You were intimidated by his look, but you answered him. “I just wanted a friend. Sometimes I feel really lonely around here... And looking at Doffy's face really isn't one of the best hobbies” He looked convinced by your answer. "I understand. In that case, I'm sorry to tell you, but I can't be a friend.”

“N-no? Why?” You ask incredulously.

He gives a blank look and then lights his cigarette. “It's complicated to explain to you, but it's better that way. We can’t have any kind of bond.”

You give him a sad and downcast look. “I see, it's okay.”

And so, you talk about friendship ends there, until you two talk about the crew matters, and the food finally arrives.

“Hmm, wow! It smells delicious. I've never tasted dragon meat before. I thought they were extinct...” You say looking appetizingly at the food.

“Dragons are just hard to find, but they never went extinct” Corazon is as serious as ever as he begins to cut his meat and eat it. You could see a bright in his eyes as he tasted the meat, and the same happens to you.

After a few minutes, you realized that Corazon was acting strange. He'd started to get tipsy after drinking so many glasses of wine, and he'd even had a little whiskey too.

He got up abruptly, you ran to hold him when you saw that he had almost fallen to the ground. “C-corazon! Are you okay?" You ask worriedly as you hold in his shoulders.

His eyes were small and bloodshot, probably from the drunken effect of alcohol. “Y/N... I...” He tries to say something with difficulty.

“Please don't do that again!” You scold him. “You almost fell, you know how worried I was?” You ask angrily and as you look at him, you see that he is staring at you with twinkling eyes. He approached you slowly, when he finally pressed his lips to yours.

“Y/N, I… love you” He whispers after breaking away from the kiss. “But we can't be together, only for your own good” Tears start to fall from his eyes.

“W-what? What are you talking about, Cora-san?” you ask incredulously. “D-do you love me?” Your eyes widen. “And why are you saying that? We can not be together? What...?"

He doesn't say anything for a few seconds as the tears fall down his face. Until Corazon finally says something...

“I... I CAN'T!” He screams while crying. “I'm on a suicide mission, I'm going to die. I'm cheating on Doffy, Y/N” He keeps crying “I love you so much, and I don't know if you feel the same, but...”

“Ya, Corazon! I feel the same, I love you too!” You grab his shirt with your fingernails and speak with desperation.

Gently, he removes your hands from his shirt, and squeezes it affectionately. “I'm sorry, Y/N” He speaks with a look filled with sadness. “But I can't risk losing you or hurting you. We can't be together, and you can't get attached to me. Please… Just forget about it” He asks while stroking your chin with his thumb.

You start crying uncontrollably.

“I'm going to die... It's just a matter of time” He whispers sadly, which makes you cry even more, and hug him tightly, not wanting to leave him never ever.

He gently separates you from the embrace.

“But know that I will always love you, my sweet Y/N” Corazon finally smiles, a smile so big as the love you feel for him.

You will never accept your parting words.

SANJI 💐

(The rest I will continue later)

[unidentifiedly]

And many eventful nights to come

Micah Bell x reader

- In which Micah saves you from a "dangerous" situation. The man is smitten. Continuation to Eventful Morning.

Around a week later it was apparent Sean had kept his word. No one seemed to know or whisper about something having happened between you and Micah, and that was for the best. Arthur and John were still calling him names, Javier and Dutch were pretty much indifferent to him. Sean didn't tease him at all, but honestly you doubted anyone noticed, since he was being his old annoying self otherwise.

The day was set to be an exciting one. You and the girls were going to go shopping for new clothes, since a traveling salesman was visiting Valentine, the nearby town.

Atop your trunk near the mirror was your trinket box, in which you also stored some of the money you earned and had put in for safekeeping. This, you decided, was a good occasion to spend some of that money. You needed to buy at least two blouses and an overdress.

"Maybe it wasn't so bad what happened with Mr. Bell at the river after all." You caught yourself mid thought and almost slammed the trinket box shut, the metallic lock clicking shut with a bit too much force.

The feeling of wet fabric sticking to your cold skin, goosebumps traveling down your arms to your sides and onward to your legs. The early morning sun, and his arms...-

his arms holding you up from falling, his eyes all over your body.

"Why is my heart beating so hard?"

Shaking you away from the memory was Tilly calling for your name.

"Come on Y/N! Don't wanna be there too late, all them pretty dresses are going to be gone before we ever even see them!"

You stuffed the dollars to your pouch you carried with you, glancing at your gunbelt on the cot, taking a second to think.

"Whatever, there'll be many of us going', doubt i'll need that." Stomping out of the tent you made your way through the camp, past the fire pit and common area and grabbed Karen's outstretched hand, helping yourself onto the carriage.

Green fields upon green fields, a country road, not a cloud in the sky. The vast wide landscape shaping into mountains in the horizon, a couple of lush thickets here and there. Oh how you loved spring.

Upon arriving in Valentine you jumped down first, your bootheels sinking into the trampled upon mud. You corrected the hem of your red corduroy dress, helping Tilly and Karen down to the ground. Arthur and John who had been driving the carriage walked over, and bid their adieus after you all agreed to meet back at the same spot after an hour. You and the girls headed straight down the main street toward the vendor, who had set up shop on the vacant spot close to the sheriff's office.

Building after building were equipped with porches on stilts, to stop some of the mud from entering the interior perhaps, you thought. A couple of men passed out drunk by the saloon, and old woman smoking in front of the convenience store. On the opposite side of the street a motel, nice enough, and in front of it a gang of younger looking men.

You smiled to yourself, as one of them shot a look toward Karen. Always the looker.

With a skip in your step you took both the girls by their arms, smiling and laughing together.

Lifting the canvas to get into this tent was not necessary. The vendor had set up an open tent with tables filled with blouses, dresses, trousers and shoes of all different kinds. The vendor himself a lean dark skinned man with a thin moustache.

"Welcome, welcome, my ladies. What could I help you with today? A new dress, perhaps an embroidered blouse? The catalogue is large."

After deciding on some items, a red fabric caught your attention. Hidden beneath other clothes, you gently moved them away to uncover a bright vermilion blouse. Made from sturdy cotton and with patch-reinforced elbows, the shirt was undoubtedly of high quality. "How much for this one?" You asked, turning toward the shopkeeper.

"For you my dear, I will give a discount!" Pressing his hands together, closing his eyes: "Thirty and five dollars."

"Oh, I see, a bit too much then." You squeezed your hand around the pouch in your pocket, only containing a five dollar bill after splurging on the two blouses, overdress and new trousers you held on your other arm.

"Here." A grunt from behind you, and a man's arm placed bank notes and coins on the shopkeeper's outstretched hand. Looking pleased, the vendor offered the shirt, your eyes following the red of the fabric only to meet up with more red.

"Mr. Bell, please!" You huffed. "You have to stop scaring me like this!" Your complaints met with a smirk and a wink from under the rim of his dirty cowboy hat.

All of a sudden, a bang rang out, and women started screaming. Your eyes searched for the source of the scream, hands feeling for your trusty revolver, only to be met with air. "Fuck," you cursed after remembering you had decided to leave it in the camp.

"Eek!" A strong arm pulled you close and lifted you up on horseback. Micah stepped up on his horse's saddle, already swinging the reins for speed. "Hold on darlin'!" "You don't have to tell me twice!" Your arms hugging him tightly to keep yourself on Baylock. You caught a glimpse of Arthur tackling a guy to the ground while John was helping Karen up.

"Micah! We have to go help them!" Not turning around he slowed down until Baylock maintained a steady gait. Bringing the speed to a stop he jumped off, holding a hand out to you. You ascended as gracefully as one could, not taking his hand.

"Respectfully, Mic- Mr. Bell, you cannot keep doing this. Creeping up on me and causing me heart palpitations and awkward situations!"You huffed, red cheeked and arms crossed under your chest.

"Ya seem to like it, though, judging by the blush on yor cheeks."

"I- I don't know!" You blurted.

"Let me take ya out darlin'." Seeing your the doubting look in your eyes, he continued: "Nothin' weird, I swear."

Was this too good to be true? Sure, his methods of getting your attention were unorthodox but he wasn't exactly the most normal guy in the world. Glancing up at his eyes, shifting your weight to your right leg, you answered.

"Sure, Mr. Bell. Why not."

The seconds of uneasiness in his eyes turned into a few seconds of joy, and quickly back into his usual cocky self.

"Ya ain't gonna regret it. Quit the Mr. Bell bullshit though, call me Micah."

You nodded, and he motioned for you to get back onto the horse. You climbed up, yelping in the process after a palm made it's way firmly onto your rear, slapping and squeezing it. "Micah!"

"Ya like it, girl, quit yappin'."

Your arrival to the camp wasn't the quietest. Arthur yelling at Micah to swear he hadn't corrupted you, the girls calling him a dirty old man, and you just walking to your tent, giving Micah a joking smile and a wink from the doorway. His eyes looking past everyone questioning him and his motives, a sneaky smile spreading across his lips, a plan forming in his head.

Now there was a goal. He stuffed the new red shirt into his jacket and pushed past the people. He sat next to the fire and put his legs up, lighting a cigarette, angling himself so that he had a clear view of your tent.

And with everybody else gone to sleep, he downed the rest of his beer, saluting himself. "For an eventful night, and for many eventful nights to come." He got up, heading toward that tent with the light on with his signature smirk on his face.

[casablancarossa]

Kiss Kiss

<<a [Valentines] taemin x reader scenario>>

I am back from the grave(read as work) and I totally do not have 8 drafts sitting waiting for me wanting to be posted.

Synopsis: It's Valentines day and you may be a little pissed Taemin isn't with you. Well it's nothing that the rest of SHINee and friends can't fix Pairings : taemin x female!reader Genre : Simple fluff, implied sexiness. Author's Note: Anyway. I could not live with myself if I did not have a Valentines story for our boy. For a fic about you and Taemin, Jinki is here a lot, but I miss him and I need to write about him or else I will cry. Enjoy your stay <3

"Come on Y/N, wake up, we're here"

You felt a hand quickly patting you at the shoulder with urgency, slowly lifting you from your slumber. While dazed, you could slightly make out that majority of the passengers in the bus were now disembarking, all speaking about one thing and one thing only, that hopefully the weather remains clear for the fireworks.

Begrudgingly, you shifted out of your seat, dragging your feet as you hop off the step at the door, stretching your arms out into the air as you yawn and continue stretching your body up.

"Do you think eonnie is going to be angry we are late and hungover?", you groaned, your hands fumbling in your pockets trying to find your sunglasses.

"At least, I managed to convince you to look pretty, or else I'd be lynched", the tone in your friend's voice was far from impressed.

"I don't see how my best friend would care if I look like sewage. We're here to support her gallery remember? I don't need to look pretty for it."

An obvious frown decorated your face, reaching for the sunglasses in your pocket, coolly sliding it onto your face before flashing a smile and quickly hooking your arm around your friend's arm. He smiles back at you and rolled his eyes before he leads you at a certain direction.

Jinki had been begging for you to join him so he could attend your friend's gallery show, who had finally landed a spot at Lunar Art Show, a festival focused for the Lunar New Year celebrations and with a huge art expo alongside it. You had promised to attend the last day of the festival as it was going to be a special Valentines event, with tons of games, food and events themed around the day.

If you weren't so hungover, you'd appreciate the slight shift in the decor, now doning soft pastels and hearts across the banners and buntings.

"Hey Y/N, should we get a quick snack? Your friend said the gallery doesn't allow food inside.. It'll help you ease the hangover", Jinki flashed a smile, giggling at your current predicament, currently struggling to stand still without swaying, almost falling over a couple of times.

The quick wave of your hands, followed by a thumbs up, hinted that you could go for some food, grumbling that how you and Jinki drank last night was next to inhumane.

You blamed the man with you for the state you are in. But you also didn't expect that both of you would be passed out on Minho's sofa after rounding up the SHINee members for what was supposed to be a 'small drink'. And while you could barely remember why you decided to drink yourself blind, the rest surely did.

Leading up to Valentines was an important event for you and Taemin, and as cheesy and cliché it was, Valentines day was your anniversary day as well. It was just serendipitous planning that you two ended up being official on that date and you two didn't mind at all. More often than not, Taemin enjoyed making a week out of it, citing that discount chocolate is still chocolate, to which you would laugh at and call him an idiot for it.

But almost a week ago, Taemin had been rudely taken from your company, being sent off to Japan for work, which bummed you out. With his solo concert in Japan around the corner, it made sense that they would want him there for a while leading up to it, but you had hopped that you would be at least given a day or two after Valentines, until he needed to leave you.

However, Taemin could be a bit dense with texting anyone, often forgetting to contact his members, family and you. When you tried to contact him last night to greet him 'Happy Anniversary', you were greeted by voicemail. When he finally responds, all he sent was a heart emoji and a quick informal 'see you soon' message. That's when you went on a drinking rampage. Starting the night by knocking on Jinki's door, already half cut, slurring your words. After Jinki was a quick visit to Kibum, who was not impressed by you barging into his home, but decided to join in on the fun after you promised him that you would buy him that wine from France that he has been on the waitlist for.

The final stop of the night was Minho who had to listen to your ramblings. Maybe you were too drunk to say anything about it then, but you could recall him laughing at you for crying about Taemin.

Your face scrunched trying to recall that Minho tried to propose to you, Key argued something vague about trying to keep you at home and some plan involving you and Jinki, ordering more alcohol. That's really where your memory drops off and the next thing you remember is being up and being shoved into the bathroom after Jinki begs you to go to the Lunar Art Show with him.

The smell of food distracts you as you snap back to reality to see Jinki, happily eating away and observing the crowd. You two had placed yourselves around the standing table, sharing a bowl of tteokboki between you.

"Hey.. y/n... "

"Hm??"

"You good?", Jinki asks softly before folding hid arms on the table, leaning in slightly to look at you.

"Yeah.. yeah.. the hangover wore out after some water", you replied nonchalantly as you take a bottle from the table and take a big gulp.

"No.. I mean.. are you okay?", the tone of his voice shifts slightly with the question almost sounding sheepish.

"I'm fine oppa. Lets not talk about it.. " you sighed, dropping the fork into the bowl, your appetite slowly dwindling down.

Jinki pursed his lips, as he follows your line of sight. Acknowledging that maybe being surrounded by lovey-dovey couples was not the best idea to placate your sour mood, he was left to handle the mission of making sure you were here, unless he wanted to feel the wrath of his maknae.

He observed how despite how sunny it was, there was a gloom cloud that loomed over your form. The sudden onset public display of affection from passerbys earned a scoff or a grunt out of you, muttering how stupid the company was and more so how stupid Taemin was.

"Hey Y/N, lets go see the gallery. Maybe a friendly face might cheer you up", Jinki muses, quickly feeding himself the remaining food and disposing of the containers.

His arm quickly hooks around yours, leading you towards the area of purpose built lodges, each containing a gallery from different artists. He bided the time, walking slowly as he points out some painting that he thinks would be nice for Key's apartment.

It did warm your heart that Jinki was making an effort to cheer you up. God knows the other two weren't. Minho and Key were useless last night and were virtually nowhere to be seen when you woke up. Although you did appreciate that Key had dropped of some new clothes and his own personal cosmetics bag, for you to play with, leaving a note something along the lines of 'Just because you cried like a baby last night, doesn't mean you can't go out looking like you are in your bad bitch era. Sorry that Taemin is an idiot'.

Finally the sign of your friend's name caught your attention, finally arriving at a decent sized lodge. As you enter through the curtain partition acting as doors, you were immediately greeted by a hug from your childhood best friend, Jieun.

"Hey, glad you could make it", she chirpped, tightening her hug around you.

"Yeah.. this looks amazing", you sighed, quickly scanning the area. "Did I miss much?", you asked worried, noticing that the number of people were slowly counting down.

Immediately in your hands, Jieun passes a glass of champagne, giggling at the fact you made it to her show, but more importantly that everything was falling into place.

"Not at all, in fact, today is extra special, I got the go ahead to display some pieces in the garden behind the lodge, you might spot one of the paintings, you helped me with. If you start from the right , over here.. " she gestures to the large brutalist piece on the far right of the space. "..it'll loop you back here"

Right. Start of with the dark, cold paintings. You stare at the welcome piece, sensing the sereness that comes with a cold industrial scene.

Click.

The flashing light of the camera that seemed to have manifested to Jieun's hands didn't even make you budge, you were used to it and nothing made her more happier that taking the subtle moments when someone is looking at her work, whether its by the subdued grin, or lost daze in their eyes, or the clenching of their fists. It was all prime material for Jieun and often perfect reference photos for the future.

"Trust me, it warms up eventually.." she smirks, nudging your arms with her elbow.

Jieun spins to look at Jinki, immediately linking arms with him. "Now for you, I think I have a piece that might you might be interested in".

You smiled, watching Jinki get whisked away by your friend with a stupid grin on his face. He was always into her and you assumed there was a high chance she was the reason why he was so hellbent in getting you here. The smile slowly disappears from your face the minute they were out of sight, and you turn your head to see painting on alternate sides, lining up a path for you to observe and appreciate the work.

The amount of people were scarce, but you figured most people would go through the galleries first before settling at a spot in the park to participate in the outdoor festivities. You guessed it is nice to finally appreciate your friend's work in silence without a crowd hovering over a painting.

Jieun didn't lie, slowly as you walked down the path of paintings, the subjects became warmer, slowly colours were being introduced. Some of these painting you managed to catch at their conception. If you weren't being dragged from schedule to schedule with Taemin, more often than not, you would be in Jieun's studio. More often than you'd like to admit, but Jieun had a habit of using you and Taemin as the human subjects for her work and she would capture the quiet, mundane but intimate moments that you and Taemin shared.

Sure enough, as colours seeped into her work, so did livelier characters. In your head you noted 3 paintings that you were convinced you and Taemin had posed for a couple of months ago. It was nice to see the finished work, admiring the the intricate yet subdued design.

As you take more steps forward, you see the very painting Jieun was referring too. The very first painting you participated helping with. It was a large art nouveau style painting of two lovers by a window. Distinctively, pose for pose, even down to the colour palette, it was a recreation of your photo with Taemin during a shoot of W Korea. You dabbled in light modelling and it was a last minute gig that paid enough to cover your bills. It was also the day you had met him for the first time and a during a particular 'set', Taemin had thought that angels finally roamed earth when he looked at you.

It was undeniable proof, he looked at you differently. There was want and longing behind those midnight pools. When the photographer would pose you two with closer physical interactions, Taemin would almost stop breathing the minute your eyes met. Even you, could barely look away, noticing the the lack of shift in his gaze, like he is truly and madly in love with you. The last photo of the shoot was the photo used for the painting.

It was in front of a tall pointed arched window with enough ledge to sit one person. Taemin carefully held your hands as the photographer directs you to sit on the ledge in front of the window and have Taemin either in front of you or beside you. While you were struggling to get up due to the dress you were wearing, a pair of hands grabbed on either side of your waist, using the momentum of your jump to lift you in the air, enough that you can finally sit.

The surprise interaction caught you off guard, giggling wildly as you lightly smack Taemin's arm. The photographer takes a test shot of that moment, and proceeds to ask you and Taemin to just relax, casually talk for some candid shots before posing you two.

While you and Taemin made light conversation, talking about work, and each other, somehow that conversation was relationships. It was nothing serious, just about types and ideals, but it was enough to know that both of you were single.

The shoot went on without a hitch, and the assistant photographer finally called for shoot ending, thanking everyone for their hard work. Their hands quickly wave you two over, claiming that the photos were perfect.

Softly whispering Taemin's name, you ask him if he could assist getting you down. He turns on his heel, offering his hand out to you, ready to support you. Unable to slowly shift yourself down slowly, you prepare to jump down down instead, preparing to brace your ankles. However Taemin reacted differently, his arms reach out as he sees you ready to hop down. With your jump, Taemin quickly wraps his arm around your waist essentially guiding you to fall towards him. At the shock of feeling pulled towards him, your arms reaches out, wrapping around his shoulders, clinging onto him as you found your footing. When you finally looked up at him, you found yourself staring at him differently, as if the answer to everything lied with him. Your faces were barely apart, close enough that Taemin could see how your lips quivered, how your eyes darted from side to side, inspecting his face, how he could get used to seeing this face up close every morning.

Click. The shutter of the camera finally pulls the two of you back into reality, smiling awkwardly as you try to distance yourself from Taemin.

"Sorry, I couldn't help take another shot, it just that.. Wow the chemistry between you two in unreal.."

Brrrrp -- Brrrrp -- Brrrrrrp

The vibration of the phone in your pocket, distracts you as you reminisce about the day you first saw Taemin. Speak of the devil. As you stare at your phone, seeing Taemin call ID flashing. You cleared your throat and picked up the phone.

"My love?" his voice was timid.

"I'm surprised you even remembered me today.." you tried to control your own voice, trying not to scare him away.

"I know... I miss you. I should have fought harder to stay until our anniversary"

"It's fine"

"It's not, Minho called me this morning, saying how drunk you got"

"I'm guessing you heard from them"

You internally cursed yourself. Even his dry chuckle sounded like music to your ears. An audible breath rings from your end, unable to speak.

"What are you up to?", Taemin breaks the silence.

A sigh escapes you as you finally perk up and continue through the gallery finally ending up at garden, where more paintings line the way.

"I'm at Jieun's show. I'll take a photo of it later but she has a few painting of us scattered about."

"Oh? It's Valentines and you are out spending the day with someone else?", he teased. You could tell he was smiling as he said it.

"Well, if someone didn't piss me off last night, I'd be more than happy to sit at home and spend Valentines through the phone" you quipped, a little bit annoyed.

"Oh, how perverted of you my love"

Your arm drops, but even then you could hear Taemin giggling away through the line, calling your name repeatedly until he heard you respond. At this point, you were barely appreciating the artwork, all you could focus on was speaking to Taemin, hearing about his day, what his plan is for later.

"Wah, Jieun really decorated this place very well" you began to speak admiring the view.

The path of paintings led to a metal framed gazebo, adorned with flowers and cute decor. It would be a perfect location for couples to take picture in, with a small pond serving as a backdrop. Truly it was picturesque. At the center of the gazebo was small circular table and two chairs facing each other. You step into the gazebo, still talking to your boyfriend, mentioning that it is covered with peonies and lillies, which happens to be yours and Taemin's favourite flowers.

"I wish you could see this. It's gorgeous", you wistfuly sighed, leaning up against the frame of the gazebo looking out onto the water.

With enough shrubbery and trees, the spot almost felt secluded, like from across the water, no-one would spot the gazebo or the people roaming that portion of the garden.

"Do you remember the night you said you loved me for the first time?" Taemin passively asks.

"Of course I do", you stall trying to scramble your memories. "We were at a park in Jeju. You tried pick flowers while I wasn't looking. By the time, you gave them to me.. it was all mushed up and bent"

Your body navigates to one of the metal chairs, fluffing up the chair pillow, settling yourself on it as you keep the phone close, rummaging through your bags to grab your earbuds so you could freely talk to Taemin without struggling to hear him or placing him on loudspeaker.

Before you could pair your earbuds, Taemin spoke freely once more, distracting you.

"Do you remember the day with Kai and the party lights?" he murmurs softly.

"Yeah. That was the day I injured my ankle..and you had to carry me home..", your whined, remembering how

"Aaaand?" he sings slowly trying to hint at something else.

"I don't know.. " you scoffed, leaning back into the seat and looking up, pressing the phone tightly against your ear. "Now that I think about it, the gazebo I am in, is similar to that stupid gazebo I had to climb to hang fairy light for Kai. But I don't think that's what you meant"

"No" he tuts his tongue before sighing again. "It was the day I proudly said you were mine to everyone"

Now it clicked. The only other non-relative person at the tjme who knew anything about you and Taemin, other than Jieun, was Kai. Taemin managed to persuade you to help him decorate a gazebo for a suprise birthday party and essentially the people who turned up to the party, happened to be the people Taemin considered ,important in his life. Nothing could take away the stupid smile on his face because even at a small scale, he could say he loved you so openly and be met with support from his peers.

The memory made you smile before furrowing you brows trying not to get too emotional at the fact that Taemin isn't with you.

"My love, stop with the questions, if I end up crying again, I'm going to tell your mom" you half heartedly laugh, pressing on the inner corner of your eye to prevent tears from running down.

"Okay, okay, last question. Do you remember the day we met?"

You could barely contain your smile.

"Well of course, I literally just passed by the painting she did of our shoot" you beamed happily before standing up. "Are you free to video call? I can show it to you while there is --", you spin around and almost dropped your phone on the table.

There he was standing outside the gazebo, holding a boquet of peonie and interweaved then were pieces of randomly picked flowers, disheveled and a little of place.

"Do you know how hard it was to convince Jieun to ask for a gazebo?" he laughs, taking a step towards you.

Words barely formed out of your mouth, too stunned to even comment at the fact that he was here. Taemin is standing right in front of you, on your anniversary, on Valentines day. His arms wrap around your torso, pulling you into a tight hug, placing a soft kiss on your forehead.

"You did this?", you asked bewilderedly, looking around you.

"Who else would mix lillies and peonies? But I set this all up for you"

Your head pans to look at Taemin's face who was admiring the set up that he manage to pull together at the last minute. The way his hair careful frames his face and the delicate mole on the side of his nose stands out against his pale skin. How the corner of his lips are slightly upturned, trying not to smile so loudly that he'd seem full of himself. It was the face that sent you sleep, feeling safe at night and warmly greeted by the heavens in the morning.

Taemin grabs your hands and leads you back to the table in the middle of the gazebo, taking a seat before gesturing for you to take the seat in front of him. Then he began to explain how he managed to convince his manager that as long as he remains out of "sight", maybe he could fool the company that he was still in Tokyo, while he took an early flight out to Seoul this morning. Carefully, he elaborates that he had had this planned for about a week and literally the only thing that held him back was the sudden notice of flying out to Japan.

"Look, I would do anything to spend this day with you, you have to trust me on that. No matter what schedule I have. Even if we have the tiniest second to be together. I will always be here with you, telling you how much I love you and how I can't wait until everyday is Valentines day with you" Taemin softly sings his words, holding onto your hands.

The way his fingers dance over your palms, almost luring you into a trance, you were hooked on every word. It made your heart swell because for a moment, it felt so genuine. Like it was your first Valentine all over again.

Suddenly, Taemin stood up, holding his hand out to you, encouraging you to stand. He quickly sets you aside for a moment, attempting to slowly wiggle the metal table to one side and rest the chairs beside it.

"I know there is no music, but..." Taemin smirks before curtseying in front of you. "... may I have this dance my love?"

The cheesiness of it all made you groan, but you couldn't help but smile in the end. Sure it was cliche but there are times where the fluffy red hearts, the overly sweet messages and the ridiculously grand gestures, are things that you loved experiencing once in a while. Placing your hand on his, he pulls you closer, resting his hand on your waist as you two say to the sound of the wind, the water and the festival.

A few beats later as if your heads were at the same point, thinking a like, you began humming one of Taemin's songs, with him singing along. You knew then and you knew now that you could spend forever in his arms, listening to his soft voice sing as you dance whenever and wherever, slowly setting pause on the world, because for those few minutes, it was just you and him and everything was going to be okay.

Carefully, Taemin holds your hand and spins you on the spot before catching to keep you still. His body leans over first placing a kiss on the crown of your head, then to your forehead, then to your nose. The obvious frown on your face when you didn't get the kiss, you were so desperately craving for didn't happen, Taemin let out a giggle before cupping your face with his hands and pulling you in for a kiss on the lips.

You savoured every moment the way his lips would move against you and how his tongue would dart between your lips, parting them enough that he could pinch one with his teeth and hungrily nibble on them, and that was just a preview of what was to come.

Click

"Oi, you two, this is still a public event"

The voice that clearly didn't come from you or Taemin, sent panicked waves through your body as you turn to see Jieun and the rest of the SHINee members, trying to control their facial expressions. Had they given the two of you more time to yourselves, they would be walking on partial nudity and scenes that are too explicit for young kids. You quickly spotted in Jieun's hands, was a camera, the first noise you heard before her voice. For a moment, you thought it was someone from Dispatch or something other, because you were convinced that the only best option was to drop and pass out.

"You all knew? You guys were part of this?", you gasped, suddenly feeling dumbfounded at the fact that you were basically led here blindly without questioning the odd behaviours.

Jinki was into Jieun but he wasn't that shy, that he couldn't see her on his own. Kibum was never too keen on doing leaving his makeup-kit at someone else's place, but when you had no intentions of leaving Minho's, the next best scenario was to bring everything to you as soon as you woke up and Minho himself was too damn excited that he would almost spoil the surprise.

"Yahh, control yourselves, it's only been a week" Kibum complained before scoffing and trying to break the awkwardness by chucking a the bulb of a flower at Taemin.

"Ya Lee Taemin, I would like to have my gallery back please" Jieun hissed quietly as he turns to face the path, hearing a new surge of crowds viewing her work. "And plus, you're not meant to be here, so either get a move on, or wear a mask"

As the crowd had began moving down the path, Jinki, Minho and Kibum frantically look for their masks to hide their faces, the hilarous moment caused Jieun, to quickly snap some shots.

Meanwhile, you yourself had rushed back to the table, quickly grabbing the bouquet Taemin brought with him, trying to hide his face amongst the flower, laughing as he got petals shoved into his mouth from the shock. As you two try to hide behind the bouquet, your arm raising it just enough to cover your faces, while your spare hands were intertwined side by side as you look into each others eyes, seeing how easy it would be to sacrifice it all. To no longer hide. To no longer lie.

Click.

Behind you two, that was the last photo that Jieun took of you and Taemin that day. Two lovers, budding shyness, hiding themselves from world, sweet, innocent and secretive.

Madly inlove.

Made for each other

That was you and him.

[astrobei]

hello beloved suni. for valentine's day ficlet prompt... a lumax valentine's day perhaps?

(ft. lucas going Overboard and max secretly loving it?)

abby i would literally give you the world if you asked me to <3 happy early valentine's day and i hope you like this one !!

“I don’t understand this holiday,” El frowns, peering over the displays of red cardboard boxes and bulk-order roses. This corner of Melvald’s is completely decked out, with glitter and flowers and plush teddy bears as far as the eye can see– or at least until aisle three, where the store returns to its regularly scheduled programming of household cleaning supplies. 

The floral scent is almost nauseatingly strong, and Max is suddenly extremely thankful she’s nowhere near as allergic to them as she used to be, or Mrs. Byers would have had to drive her to the hospital as she broke out in hives. “Me neither,” Max says, squinting at a teddy bear with particularly beady eyes. “Consumerist nonsense.”

El gives her a bit of a weird look. “Um–”

“It means they just overdo the lovey-dovey thing to get people to buy stuff,” Max adds, and El’s frown smooths itself out.

“Oh, okay. I was just going to say that I don’t know why there’s only one day out of the whole year to buy someone flowers.” She reaches out, touches a tentative finger to one of the petals on the nearest rose, and then immediately retracts her hand as the petal falls off and flutters slowly to the checkered tiles of the floor. “Oh no.”

Max bites back a laugh. “I bet those flowers have been sitting in storage since the beginning of the month.”

“I don’t get this holiday,” El says again, and shakes her head. “Why buy someone flowers that have been sitting outside for two weeks?”

“Again,” Max says, rolling her eyes at the 20% off! sign, “they just want to make money off this stuff. They don’t care about love.”

“Bullshit,” El says, so suddenly that Max can’t bite back a laugh in time to keep herself from giggling loudly, the sound ringing through the quiet of the store. Half an aisle over, a guy in a suit shoots her a glare. She pulls a face at him.

“Bull– yeah, I guess so,” she says, as El turns to study the display of chocolates on their other side. “So jaded already?”

“I don’t know what jaded means,” El muses, “but I think this holiday is bullshit.”

“Yeah, that’s– yeah,” Max nods. “You got it. Hey, if these chocolates are on sale, then maybe we should get some anyway.” She picks up a heart-shaped box and flips it over. “You’re not allergic to nuts, are you, El?”

“I don’t think so. Won’t Lucas buy you chocolates?” El asks, turning back around to give Max a curious look. “He’s your boyfriend.”

“Yeah, well,” Max sighs. “This whole thing is so cheesy. I don’t need him to buy me chocolates, I just need him to put up more of a fight before I beat him at Super Mario Bros. I swear it’s not even fun anymore.”

El wrinkles her nose. “At least it would be better than what Mike did.”

“Oh yeah?” Max raises her eyebrows, then puts the box of chocolates down. The handful of change in her pocket can be spent on better things than overpriced and over-marketed chocolate anyway. “What did Mike do?”

“He got me a card that said I like you.”

Max stares. “I like– you’re joking. Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Nope.” El pops the p, and gives Max a look like yeah, I know.

“Okay, well, good riddance,” Max snorts. “I’ll be praying for Will. Poor guy.”

“I think it probably helps to actually love the person you give the card to,” El says thoughtfully, which is a pretty good point, and Max honestly doesn’t have much to add to that. She gives another cursory glance over the piles of sickeningly-sweet flower displays, the rows upon rows of stuffed bears that all look exactly alike, and then her eyes land on a discount bag of M&Ms.

“Okay, well, I still want these,” she says as she grabs them. “M&Ms are good no matter the day. You want anything, El?”

El peers around the corner of the aisle, and her face lights up. “Reese’s!” she cheers, then disappears from view. “One second!”

Max sighs, tossing the bag of chocolate up and down in one hand as she waits. She can imagine it now, being one of those poor schmucks at school who get bombarded with tacky cards and flowers that are on the brink of collapse. Just another way to flaunt relationships that are equally on the brink of collapse, probably. No one goes through the motions of over-the-top, elaborate stuff like this unless they’re trying to compensate for something.

She thinks about it, for a fleeting second– being given roses at school. The secondhand embarrassment of it all. A teddy bear that’ll no doubt collect dust on her bookshelf for the next ten years. Cheesy greeting cards– be mine and hugs and kisses and–

“Ready to go?” El pops back into her field of vision, a bright orange package clutched in one hand.

Max blinks. “Yeah,” she says, then firmly banishes any thoughts of cheesy greeting cards from her mind. No, thank you. She’s fine with her discount chocolate– that she got herself, mind you. No consumerist bullshit for her this time. “Yeah, let’s head out. Maybe Mrs. Byers will let us use her employee discount again.”

—-

Max knows something is off the next morning before she even gets in the car.

“You look weird,” she frowns, in lieu of a greeting. “What’s with you?”

Lucas ignores her. “Good mooorning,” he says, long and drawn-out and not nearly as obnoxious as it should be. “Are you ready for today?”

Max slams the passenger door shut behind her and says, “Well, my history presentation is today. So, no.”

“You’re going to crush it,” Lucas says, even though they have different history teachers this year and of course Max got stuck with the nitpicky one. “World War II isn’t going to know what hit it.” He takes the car out of park, backs slowly away from the lot in front of the trailer, and onto the main road. “But come on, that’s not what I mean.”

Max raises her eyebrows. Look, she’s not dumb, okay. It’s February 14th and she’s dating Lucas Sinclair. She knows there’s only one place this conversation is leading to. “Oh yeah? Well, I heard they’re serving chicken nuggets in the cafeteria today,” she says anyway, just to be difficult.

Lucas indulges her. He always indulges her. “Well I’m ready for chicken nugget day,” he says, even though he shouldn’t be, because Max is certain they haven’t used chicken to make them since before Indiana was even a state. He reaches for her hand over the console and says, “You might have to drive me to the hospital after but it’ll be worth it.”

Max bites back a smile and looks out of the window before he can see. “Loser,” she says. It comes out too fond for her to have any hopes about hiding it, and even though the radio is blasting Madonna, she hears him laugh as he squeezes her hand.

She thinks he’s dropped it, or maybe he’s picked up on the hint and hastily canceled whatever it was he’d been planning, but of course, no such luck. “Okay, well,” he says, as they get out of the car and make their way up to the school. “Can I walk you to your locker at least?”

She stops in her tracks. It wouldn’t have been suspicious if he didn’t ask, because he always walks her to her locker before class starts, but now–

“No,” she decides, walking away as fast as her legs will allow. “Don’t you have Calculus to get to?”

He catches up to her easily. “Come on,” he grins, matching her pace effortlessly. “It’s–”

She holds a finger up to his face. “Don’t say it.”

Lucas holds both hands up in surrender. “I didn’t say anything!”

“You’re thinking something! I know it! You’re– you’re scheming and you’re– up to something, I don’t know. Up to no good.”

“Up to no good?” Lucas laughs. “What are you, fifty?”

“Shut up,” she says, and then they’re basically at her locker already, and his grin grows exponentially which leads her to believe that maybe this was the plan all along.

“You should open your locker,” Lucas says, leaning against the adjacent one and clearly trying his hardest to look blas�� about the whole thing. “Just saying. Because your books are in there and stuff.”

“If I open this and something jumps out at me,” Max grumbles, spinning the combination lock. “I’m going to–”

She trails off. Stares.

“Um,” Lucas is saying, peering around the open locker door. “You’re going to– what?”

“Kill you,” she whispers, before reaching into her locker and pulling out the biggest fucking bouquet of roses she’s ever seen. “What the hell?”

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” Lucas smiles. There’s something a little nervous about it, like maybe he was worried that she had some deep, lifelong trauma rooted in the holiday and maybe she was about to start crying in the middle of the hallway. “Do you like them?”

She could lie and say no, just to keep up appearances, but that would be mean, probably. “Yeah,” Max says, feeling herself smile before she can help it. “What– how did you get my locker combination?”

Lucas waves a hand dismissively. “Dustin,” he says, like this explains everything. Maybe it does– she doesn’t know. She tries not to keep up with whatever they have going on, because the less she knows the better. “But seriously– do you like?”

“Of course,” Max says softly. They’re pink roses, the real kind, fragrant and fresh and not falling apart at the seams like the flowers that had been shedding all over the Melvald’s floor yesterday. She wonders where he got them. She wonders how much he paid for them. “They’re– how?”

“I have my ways,” and okay, apparently Lucas is a total man of mystery now, and Max does not care enough to find out what his ways are, because–

Oh, these flowers are gorgeous. Like actually, genuinely, mind-blowingly gorgeous.

“You got me flowers,” she says, more to herself than Lucas, like maybe stating this fact as just that– a fact– will make it easier to comprehend.

He got her flowers. A lot of flowers.

Apparently Max Mayfield is, after all, one of the poor schmucks being given flowers at school.

“Well, I figured you’d think the red ones are dumb,” Lucas goes on, blissfully ignorant of the way Max can literally feel her entire face turning hotter than the inside of an oven. “And I know you like red, but they're red roses, which I know you’d think are tacky, so I figured these would be more your speed. More subtle. More– uh. Max?”

She blinks. “Huh?”

“Are you okay?” Lucas frowns, waving a hand in front of her face. “You haven’t blinked in, like, a minute.”

Max is definitely very, very red now. “I’m fine,” she gets out, “it’s just– thank you. These are nice.”

“Oh.” The tension slips away from Lucas’ shoulders, and he stands up a little straighter. Puffs his chest out just a bit, which makes her laugh. “Good. I’m glad.”

“I might just– leave them here for now, though.” She motions to the locker and tucks the flowers back inside. “If that’s okay.”

“Fine by me,” Lucas grins, then slings an easy arm over her shoulder. “Now about your history presentation–”

—-

And Max isn’t stupid, per se, but maybe it wasn’t the smartest of her to assume that it would end there. At lunch, Max is about to resign herself to her fate of a pathetically soggy peanut butter and jelly sandwich, when Lucas’ grinning face pops up in front of her.

“Hey!”

“Jesus Christ,” she gasps, and Mike snickers softly as she jumps.

“No,” Lucas says, pointing at himself. “Lucas.”

Max peels back the cling film around her sandwich with a growing sense of trepidation. “Why are you smiling like that?”

“Oh, no reason,” Lucas says, and so obviously Max does not believe him in the slightest. He’s got both hands behind his back, and Will is next to him stifling a laugh into his hand, and Max doesn’t trust Lucas as is but she especially doesn’t trust him if Will is involved.

“Could someone just tell me–”

Lucas sets a plastic tupperware container in front of her. “Ta-da!”

Max frowns. “What’s this?”

“Well maybe if you opened it,” Mike starts, and then she elbows him and he lets out a sharp, offended gasp. “Ow!”

“Shut up,” she says, peeling off the lid of the box. And then, “Lucas.”

He grins. “Yes?”

What the fuck. Max reaches into the box and pulls out the most perfect cupcake she’s seen in all seventeen years of her existence. “Did you– did you bake me a cupcake?”

Lucas scratches the back of his neck with one hand and says, “It’s from a box mix but. Technically, yes.”

“And it’s–”

“Red velvet!” Lucas announces, and he’s definitely being a little smug about it now, but Max supposes it’s probably deserved, with the way she’s been staring at this thing for the past forty seconds. “Um. Your favorite.”

“I–”

No one’s ever baked her anything before. She figures that no one’s really had any reason to, before Lucas, but that means it’s something that hadn’t even been on her radar of things that you can do for other people until now, which also means that she’s been staring at this damn thing long enough for Mike Wheeler to reach across her and try to scrape some of the frosting off the top.

That spurs her into action. She swats his wrist away. “Hey! Get your own!”

“I don’t have my own,” Mike pouts dejectedly. He looks over at Will. “Can you make me a cupcake?”

Will sets a second tupperware down in front of Mike. “One step ahead of you,” he laughs, “but you ruined the surprise.”

Mike’s mouth drops open, then closes, then opens again, in an excellent impression of a goldfish. “What–”

“Will came over last night,” Lucas announces, and they both have identical grins on their faces now. “While El and Max were off wreaking havoc on the poor city of Hawkins.”

“We went to catch a movie,” El chimes in, shoveling baby carrots into her mouth. “Hawkins is fine.”

“I can’t believe you,” Max hisses, because this is the second time Lucas has made her turn redder than a beetroot today.

Lucas just grins wider. “You love me,” he says, linking their fingers together across the cafeteria table.

“Gross,” Mike gags next to her, and then Will touches a hand to his wrist and he falls blessedly silent.

“You were saying, Wheeler?”

“Oh, shut up.”

—-

Max thought that maybe going home would mean an end to her suffering, but apparently not.

She frowns. Okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic. It’s not like the roses and the desserts and the cheesy greeting card Lucas had pressed into her hands before dropping her off are hurting anybody. She rolls over onto her side in bed, hours later after dinner and homework and when she’s done boiling herself alive in the shower, and stares at the card where she’s propped it up on her desk. 

I love you bear-y much, it reads, with the most ridiculous cartoon illustration of a bear behind it. So ridiculous, in fact, that she knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’d totally just picked it out to see the look on her face when he gave it to her. And it must have worked, and she totally gave him exactly the reaction he’d been looking for, because he’d laughed for, like, a solid three minutes after pulling up in front of her place.

“This is so stupid,” she’d said in the car, fighting back a laugh with every molecule in her body, and it’s true– it is stupid, maybe one of the most stupid things she’s ever seen– but suddenly her cheeks hurt and there’s something warm and fuzzy and gross bubbling up inside her chest, and she’s smiling.

“What the hell,” she whispers aloud, horrified, hiding her face in her pillow like there’s anyone around to witness her throwing all sense of morality to the wind and partaking in stupid greeting card traditions.

Clink.

Max sits straight up in bed. There’s a noise from the window, like someone’s tapping on it, but there’s no one there.

She frowns. What? Maybe it was a stray gust of wind, or a tree branch, or–

Clink.

A pebble comes flying at her windowpane, so small that she barely even sees it, then bounces off harmlessly.

“What–”

Lucas Sinclair is standing outside her bedroom window, waving like a maniac. “Hi,” he says, as soon as she gets the window open. “Are you busy?”

“Lucas?” Max looks down at her pajama pants and t-shirt, one she’s had for so long that she’s started to wear holes in it. “No, I was just– what the hell are you doing?”

“Being romantic,” Lucas says simply. “I was going to bring a boombox and blast something cheesy but I figured maybe waking up your mom and the entire community was less romantic and more asshole-y.”

“Asshole-y is not a word,” she says, in a meager attempt at a distraction from the smile breaking across her face. “You could have just knocked. At the front door.”

Lucas makes a face. “But that’s boring. Now are you going to come outside or do I need to climb through your window again?”

“You’re ridiculous,” Max decides, even as she swings one leg through the open window, shaking her head. “You are so ridiculous.”

“You’re laughing,” Lucas says gleefully. Her feet hit the grass and she shivers slightly, the ground gone icy with the February chill.

“Yeah, so?”

“And you’re also cold,” he says, and then he’s shrugging his jacket off and holding it out. It’s his varsity jacket, the one he has on almost every day. She’d never tell him, but she loves wearing it because it’s already a little big on him which means it’s huge on her and maybe the most comfortable thing she’s ever put on. 

She accepts the proffered jacket without a fuss, which is maybe out of the ordinary for today, but whatever. “Someone’s being real gentlemanly today.”

“Please. I’m always a gentleman,” and he says it kind of laughingly, but it’s not a joke. Not really. Lucas is the most gentle person she knows, and he brought her flowers and baked her cupcakes and gave her the most stupid card ever, and–

“Thank you,” she says earnestly, tucking the jacket in around herself.

Lucas shuffles his feet on the grass. “I know you’re cold,” he starts, “so I won’t stay too long. I just wanted to see you.”

“You wanted to see me?” Max stares. “You saw me all day at school. And you picked me up and dropped me off and–”

“I meant just you,” Lucas corrects, tugging her arms down from where she’s got them wrapped around herself, twisting their fingers together. “No rush. No first period bell. No basketball practice in the way.”

“I,” Max starts, throat gone completely, embarrassingly dry. God, she’s dating this guy, and she has been for forever, so why the hell is she still getting so flustered? “Really?”

“Uh, yeah?” Lucas says it like a question, like it’s obvious. “And I know Valentine’s Day isn’t your thing because you think it’s totally stupid, which is fine, because you’re kind of right, but– I don’t know. All I could think about all day was how lucky I am to be dating you.”

Jesus Christ. This is not a good look for her. If Mike ever asks, Max kept her composure, and was calm and collected and as totally cool as a cucumber.

“Really?” she squeaks, just a little bit, because the unfortunate reality of the situation is that she is not as cool as a cucumber and is, instead, as warm as– something that’s very warm. “You– really?”

Lucas laughs lightly. “Yes, really,” he says, thankfully ignoring her sudden combustion into a thousand little Max-shaped pieces. “And I’m sorry if the flowers and everything was over the top and they were so cheesy, but I literally just could not help myself.”

Max shakes her head. “No,” she says, warm and fuzzy and so happy that it’s threatening to spill over and out of her entirely. “No, it’s– I loved them,” she admits softly. “I did. They were lame and corny but I loved them. Even the bear card,” she adds, and he laughs again. “But holy shit, Lucas, you gave me so many things.”

“You deserve lots of things,” Lucas says. “Lots of good, corny, cheesy things.”

“I’m going to need you to shut up now,” Max says, then promptly buries her face in his chest. He doesn’t even seem fazed by the impact, solid and steady and unmoving as she wraps her arms around him. “But happy Valentine’s Day, stalker.”

She hears him laugh, somewhere above her. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” he says, and kisses her on top of her head. “I love you.”

[alienguts]

Burn (Ash Williams x f!Reader)

Summary: Ash tries to make dinner for Y/N. Extra emphasis on tries.

Warnings: none

Request?: No

A/N: This one's a little short but that's okay.

Leaving Ash alone in the kitchen was a disaster waiting to happen, and Y/N found that out the hard way. Having her entire apartment building evacuated because he’d managed to set the fire alarm off with a couple of slices of bacon was enough to ban him from using anything other than the microwave for life. He was just trying to help and take some of her workload off her, but she would rather have edible food that didn’t make the fire alarm blare.

After that incident, it was decided that Y/N would take care of the cooking and Ash would do the dishes afterwards. Ash didn’t always follow that and it just so happened that on a rare occasion that he was off work while Y/N was out, he would try to surprise her with a meal he cooked himself. Or at least tried to cook.

Luckily, Y/N had gotten home before the smoke detector woke up, but to an apartment full of steam and the distinctive smell of burnt beef. She sighed as she took her coat off and hung it up before making her way to the kitchen. Ash was standing at the stove, trying to fry two steaks in a pan that was too small, completely oblivious to the disaster waiting to happen.

“Hey, baby,” he said to Y/N as she grabbed a towel and stretched up to waft it against the smoke detector. “I made dinner.”

“Yeah, I see that,” Y/N said and reached around Ash to turn the burner off. Steam billowed off the pan and she was glad to see that Ash was holding it with his right hand, saving her from doing any first aid. “I don’t think we can eat it, though.”

“Why not?” Ash asked, moving away from the stove and letting her take the pan from him. “You like your steak well done, right?”

“Well done and charred are not the same thing, honey.” Y/N set the pan aside and turned around to face Ash. “Ash, what did I tell you about cooking?”

“Hey, I’m not as bad a cook as you think I am,” Ash said, his voice taking on a slightly defensive tone. “I want to get better at it, and I can’t do that if you won’t let me.”

Y/N sighed and reached up to take Ash’s face in her hands, her skin still warm from moving the pan. 

“I know you want to help and learn but you could at least let me teach you,” she said gently. “And not almost start a fire in the kitchen while I’m out.”

Ash let his face lean into her touch before stepping forward to wrap his arms around her. “I just wanted to do something nice for you,” he said. “You always work so hard.”

“You don’t need to do anything nice for me, just not destroying my kitchen or getting me evicted is enough,” Y/N said as Ash rested his head on her shoulder. “What’s the occasion, anyway? There’s been nothing going on recently.”

“Well, I did forget Valentine’s Day.”

“Ash, that was a month ago, I don’t care about that anymore.”

“I still wanted to do something special,” Ash said, his voice muffled by Y/N’s shoulder. “They told me those were the best steaks in the store, I got a huge discount on them.”

“We could always order in,” Y/N suggested as she nudged his head off of her. “I got paid so we can afford it.”

“No, I’ll pay,” he said firmly. “If we’re gonna make this to be like a date, I should pay. I’m the man, after all.”

“But you spent the last of your paycheck on those steaks, Mr Man,” Y/N teased. She giggled when Ash visibly deflated, remembering that he was, in fact now, broke.

“Damn, guess you will have to pay then,” he said as he let Y/N guide him over to the sofa so they could sit down together.

“Don’t worry, honey, your manly ego will recover,” Y/N said and cuddled up to him. “And I’ll help you the next time you want to cook something, you don’t need to do it yourself.”

“I just don’t want you to feel like you’re waiting on me, that’s all.”

“I understand completely, but I would need a functioning kitchen in order to do that.”

“So you’re not mad that I burned dinner?” Ash asked sheepishly.

Y/N tipped her head up and leaned in to softly kiss him. He returned her kiss, feeling her warm face against his, their noses brushing against one another as he pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She broke away for air briefly before letting him kiss her again and again as he stroked her back and she ran her fingers through his hair.

“I’ll take that as you not being mad,” he mumbled against her mouth before she fully pulled away from him, still seated on his lap.

“Of course not,” Y/N said and stroked his cheek with her fingers. “I could never be mad at you for wanting to help, you know that.”

Ash smiled warmly at her before leaving one last kiss on her lips.

“So, what’re we gonna eat tonight? Lady’s choice.”

[baddieladdie]

FO4 Companions react to Sole's chem addiction

@falloutchicken Alright! Finished it~ Sorry it's a little long, I had an idea for a different format style and I ran with it - but I love how it turned out <3

tw: addiction, drugs, trauma, chem-use as an addiction

----------------------------------------------------------

While trading at the Diamond City market, the Sole Survivor of vault 111 overheard folks whispering over their steaming noodle bowls about an abandoned shopping center filled with valuable loot. The only barrier between them and the score of a lifetime were the supermutants inside. The gossiping locals didn’t have the fire power for such an altercation, but the sole survivor did. And they certainly would not be going alone.

----------------------------------------------------------

Selecting your companion:

Cait: I’ll come, but just don’t make me wear anything stupid

Curie: “Oh! Shopping!” She mused delightfully, her voice ringing with pleasure.

Codsworth: How delightful, mum! I do so miss shopping expeditions and, please pardon my saying, but your jumpsuit is looking rather drab. Off we go, miss!

Deacon: Sounds like my kind of dig! I could always use some new disguises.

McCready (sarcastically): Oh, we better hurry. I hear clothes practically fly off the shelves with their discounts.

Piper: Jesus, Blue. Sounds dangerous. Something wrong with the clothes you already have?

Preston: Absolutely, General. I wouldn’t want you facing this on your own.

Hancock: *heh* Thought you’d never ask. Let’s get the fuck out of Diamond city.*grumbles, muttering under his breath* Never understood how these bigots can sleep at night…

Danse: I advise against putting yourself in unnecessary danger. The gossip of strangers isn’t worth risking your life, but I’ll be damned if I let you face this alone.

Nick Valentine: Well, if it’s worth your time kid, than it’s worth mine *grabs his hat and coat before locking the detective agency door behind them* Lead the way

X6-88: I agree. We might find something useful. A large shopping center may have valuable pre-war goods. Right behind you, ma’am.

----------------------------------------------------------

The Sole Survivor walks out of Diamond City with their companion, combat shotgun in hand. Though well armored and stocked with plenty of ammunition, they carefully made their way south through the ruins of Boston. Sole and their companion had not walked far from the Boston Police Rationing Site when they heard the unmistakable sounds of feral ghouls, clumsily kicking tin rubbish and bones left on the broken streets. Sole and their companion crouched behind the remains of a building’s wall. Daring a look, sole peaked above the wall, only to notice the dirty, ruined faces but unmistakable faces of her pre-war neighbors, Mr. Donoghue and Mrs. Donoghue. Sole immediately felt sick and dizzy watching the two ghouls stumble down the street aimlessly, eyes white and staring at nothing. Mr. Donoghue and Mrs. Donoghue were expecting a child as well. Sole had spent hours in their kitchen, chatting about the excitement of parenthood. They swapped ideas over coffee and pie. 200 years after the bombs dropped, while sole was safe in a vault, her neighbors had been turned into radiation monsters, void of the humanity they used to possess. Alive in a physical sense, but her neighbors were lost. Sole had no choice but to put them down and out of their miserable experience. It’s what they would have wanted…

----------------------------------------------------------

Your companion reacts:

Cait: Jesus Christ, not a way to go. At least you had the ‘ol Vault-Tec treatment, eh? *Cait notices tears filling in sole’s eyes, rapidly decides to change her approach* I - er - um…..I know this must be difficult for you…I…I am here if you need to talk, or something.

Curie: One must wonder, what causes the deterioration of this ghoul condition? Some "ghouls" are in possession of their mental faculties. Others are not. I wonder why Mr. Donoghue and Mrs. Donoghue became feral while many other ghouls have maintained their mental capacities [Sole - Those were my neighbors, Curie. Not a science experiment] My apologies, sir/madam, I didn't mean to offend you. Grief can be managed with a well balanced diet, exercise, and spending time with loved ones!

Codsworth: Oh dear *emotional processors cracking through his speakers* Is that…the Donoghues? Mum, I’m…I’m so sorry *offers a hankie*

Deacon: Well, that was terrible *sigh* radiation, you unbelievable bastard.[notices how upset sole is] Ah..Look, I’m sorry. This…I mean, what you’re going through, I can’t even imagine. If you wanna talk or something…[trails off]

McCready: Oh man…*He pauses, letting the information sink in regarding sole’s neighbors* I’m really sorry. We can turn around if you want. That department store isn’t going anywhere. 

Piper: You okay, [sole]? You seem pretty shaken up. Why don’t we rest for a bit.

Preston: Oh, I’m really sorry, General. *he removes his hat, holding to his chest, tired eyes looking away in respect* Take all the time you need. I can help you bury the bodies if you would like to give them a proper burial.

Hancock: Ah shit. Old neighbors, huh? Hey, let's just get outta here. I hate seein’ you so broken up like this.

Danse: You’re awfully quiet. Want to tell me what’s on your mind? [listens intently to what Sole says about the feral ghouls they had recognized and killed] I see. Take as long as you need, soldier. I can’t imagine what you must be feeling right now.

Nick Valentine: “You seemed to recognize those two, who were they?” [response from sole] “Oh, I’m so sorry for your loss,” he spoke softly, placing a supportive synth hand on sole’s arm.

X6-88: Those were your neighbors? My condolences.

----------------------------------------------------------

The sole survivor heaves in grief, but is eventually able to continue on, intrigued by the elaborate wooden welcome sign to Fairline Hill Estates. They had toured the gated community long ago when looking for a house. Sanctuary Hills, the houses of tomorrow, had captured their attention more, with all their technologically advanced features the estates lacked. But all that remained now were the corpses of friends turned into monsters from nuclear radiation and two lazy yao guai, chewing on the bloody bones of rotting brahmin.

----------------------------------------------------------

Your companion reacts:

Cait: Oh! Such fascinating creatures! Shall we get a closer look? I wish to study the effects of radiation on these beasts

Curie: You’ve got be fucking kiddin’ me. yao guai? That’s the last thing we need right now.

Codsworth: Oh dear. You don’t think they can see us, right mom?

Deacon: That is disgusting *he giggles* How do you want to play this, boss?

McCready: *Chuckles gleefully, silently pulling out his well polished rifle* This is where the fun begins.

Piper: Well that’s just great. Breaking news: Diamond City reporter torn to ribbons by a giant, stupid, irritated bear.

Preston: Dammit, I think we're in trouble here *pulls out his musket, at the ready* I’m with you, general.

Hancock: We ain’t alone *drops shotgun ammunition into the barrels of his gun* Those yao guai are mean bastards, they hit hard. Just lemme know when you’re ready and I got your back.

Danse: Yao guai..Not to worry, we’ll send those monsters right back to hell [Charges, heavily clad in power armor, laser weapons firing away, breaking the silence of a sleepy afternoon] Die, you godless heathen! Die!

Nick Valentine: There’s no getting out of this without a fight *loads his 10mm with a satisfying click* You ready, kid?

X6-88: Good, I was starting to feel a little bored. You ready to engage, [sole]? This shouldn’t take long

----------------------------------------------------------

The Sole Survivor and their trusted companion gawk at the yao guai corpses, bleeding from their many fatal bullet holes. Sole sighs in exhaustion, dropping to squat and holding their face in hands.Their companion rubs their back sympathetically and suggests the tempting idea of spending the night at Fairline Hills Estates. The area was relatively safe now, with Mr. Donoghue & Mrs. Donoghue and the yao guais dead. Keenly aware of the mental torment they both witnessed and given Sole’s fragile state, their trusted companion led the way to the southeast house. Sole collapses weakly on the sunken couch and watches as their companion wanders into the brokedown kitchen to prepare dinner for the night. They ate the meal peacefully without many words to be said about the days’ events. The sole survivor turned down every request to talk about the killing of her neighbors and the close call they had with the yao guai in what used to be a highly sought after gated community. Their companion accepted that sole just wasn’t ready to talk about. They offer to take the first watch to let the sole survivor get some much needed rest.

Once their trusted companion shuts the door to the house to begin their watch, the sole survivor slinks away to the attached garage. They had noticed the chemistry station earlier and knew exactly how to use it. There were piles of dead leaves everywhere, a natural fertilizer. Using the leaves along with the plastic from some junk lying around the house, sole knew they could craft jet - lots of jet. Sole gets to work, tinkering feverishly at the chemistry station, sweating from the withdrawal and desperate for relief. The Sole Survivor sighed in contented satisfaction, admiring their own craftsmanship. Not even bothering to step from the chemistry station, they begin taking hit after hit of jet. Sighing happily as the pain of memories and her broken heart eased into comfortable numbness. Sole wanted to take jet until they couldn’t remember who they were, much less what had happened to them. Sole stumbled back slightly, the room a spiraling blur. No matter, they take another hit and watch the world slowly rise until they felt their back hit the floor. The stared blankly at the ceiling, surrounded by empty jet cartridges. Hearing the loud THUD sole’s companion rushed into the room, fearing the worst (an intruder, a kind of murderous threat) only to find in their horror, a close friend in indescribable pain.

----------------------------------------------------------

Your companion reacts:

Cait: “*tsk* Havin’ a good time now, are we?” Cait teased, pointing on the jet in sole’s hand as they slouched against the chemistry station. Cait’s eyes scanned the scene further, noticing the familiar signs of a serious addiction problem.Given the amount of empty jet canisters scattered on the floor around sole, it was a miracle they were even still alive.] I think you’ve got a wee bit of a drug problem, [sole]. Which ain’t right, especially after everythin’ you watched me go through. Why would you let yourself get hooked on the stuff? Can’t believe you’re doin’ this to yourself?!” She shouted, breathing deepling like sole had taught her to calm down. “You’re an idiot, [sole]. But I’ll help ya, just like how you helped me. Let’s go, we’re getting you cleaned up”

Curie: She stares curiously, “I have more than enough data on the physiological effects of chems, there is no need to provide me with more data, sir/madam.” She notices the dilated pupils, racing heart beat, the sweating… “Are you alright, sir/madam? I believe you should see a doctor, we cannot treat your condition here.”

Codsworth: “Are you well, mum?!” Codsworth panicked, desperately trying to assess the situation. A Mister Handy bot was designed for household duties, not crises.

Deacon: Wow, looks like you’ve been partying pretty hard with out me. Miiiight want to lay off cause I think you’ve enough.

McCready: *Slaps the empty get out of sole’s hand, they glare at him angrily, demanding an explanation* That crap is gonna rot your mind. This stops right now (Dad-mode activated)

Piper: Ooooookay (nabs all the empty jet cartridges) I think you’ve had enough, Blue. (Stares at the insane amount of jet in the room). I think we better get you to a doctor. I just hope it’s not too late (she sighs heavily, emotion tightening around her neck hotly) This is why I wanted to talk, Blue! So you - you wouldn’t do anything stupid! Arg! What a mess. Come on, (she lifts sole up) let’s get you to a doctor.

Preston: This is how it ends, [sole]. You keep this up and I’ll have to bury a friend. The Minutemen need you. I need you. And you don’t need those chems. You have people who love and care about you.

Hancock: “Woah!” Hancock froze, staring at the used jet scattered about the room. 2..4..6..three over there, that makes 9…pile of 5 in the corner makes…14? 14! How are they alive? Hancock glanced at the sole survivor, slumped pitifully against the chemistry station, empty jet still in hand. They just kept staring at his boots, completely unresponsive, but he could see the steady rise and fall of their chest with each shallow breath. Hancock began to sweat, panic sweeping in, staring at sole’s chest. What if it they stop…what if they breathing stops - he’s mayor, not fucking doctor.”H-hey, stay with me, now! Look,” He turn’s sole’s face to look at him only to be greeted with dull and empty eyes. “Hey, sunshine. It’s me, remember? Hancock. D-don’t go, you can’t do this to me. I need you, please. Don’t leave me alone.” Tears welled in the crevices of Hancok’s face as he sat beside the sole survivor, holding their hand. He gasped as a familiar smooth hand rested on his. “I could never forget you, Hancock.” The mayor choked back sobs, gripping sole’s hand like it could fade away any moment. “Don’t you ever do this again. Never trip alone. We’re getting you help. Like, now now.” He takes sole’s arm and wraps it around his shoulder’s, pulling them to their feet.

Danse: [Stares in stunned silence mixed with disgust and concern] He crouches beside sole, pushing the drugs away, and whispered angrily, “How can you fight when your brain’s clouded with those drugs? You’re going to get yourself killed. And I’m not just gonna stand here and watch brotherhood’s best, my friend, die unnecessarily. We’re getting you clean and that’s an order.”

Nick Valentine: “SHIT!” Nick hissed under his breath. He'd see a lot of folks at their worst in his line of work. He’d seen this scene too many times before. A case closed in an overdose. There were even some rare occasions where he found Mayor Hancock after a few too many chems. But usually, there were warning signs. How could he call himself a detective when he couldn’t even save his friend from themselves. Nick crouches beside the body, holding their limp wrist in his. A pulse, weak but still there. “Alright, now you’ve done it, kid” He scooped up the sole survivor into his arms. “We need to get you to a doc.”

X6-88: Oh god…[composes himself] You don’t look so good sir/ma’am, Might want to lay off the chems for a while. I’ll be throwing these away (disposes of all the chems the Sole Survivor made and had on their person)

The Sole Survivor wakes up in a familiar bed at the Castle, a stack of addictol was left on the nightstand. This was certainly a more permanent detour to Fallon’s Department store than they planned for. Sole’s companion apologizes for moving them and delaying their trip to the department store. But sole’s close friend promises profusely that it was and always will be for the sole survivor’s own good. They promise again and again that they do not feel any different about them and still deeply appreciate the relationship that they share. So much so, they couldn’t bare to lose their friend to addiction. After some time and regular check-ins with the Minutemen Surgeon General, The Sole Survivor will finally leaves thre Castle and continuing their journey.

[yesyourstalker]

Ikkan: well I thought you liked Raian...... Well then ask them out on a date.......... Well then ask the hangout you know just the two of you I'm sure they'll understand what you mean when you ask them............................ We're not in elementary school noji I'm not sending them a note................... You need to do it on your own you'll be great. You should start dating........you know what I meant..... Well then try doing it after the tour..........no.. I don't think we're going to do anything this year. we're kind of at that point where days like Valentine's Days and isn't really a big deal for us.

Neta: surprise babe!! [kisskisskisskisskisssmksss] I got you flowers chocolate and treats!! and it's your favorite chocolate. [Kisskisskiss] from haddaido!!!

Ikkan: it's super expensive to ship overseas you didn't need to- [kiss]..................mmm [kissing]

Noji: ......uh hello

Ikkan: oh! noji sorry.....yeah I think I'm just going to stay inside maybe buy some discount candy tomorrow just feels like another day..... Your hands are cold

Neta: [kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss] I got a reservation at your favorite restaurant I was thinking we can have a nice dinner maybe a movie and get freaky after hehehe like we used to do. [Kiss kiss] I bought you another present but imma save it for tonight

Ikkan: shush hehehehe he might hear you!.... uh I wouldn't say settled I don't think I settled. We're comfortable, we're secure we don't...umf ..........we don't need to go above and beyond for each other anymore you know that we love each other

Neta:[kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss] we can get freaky now fuck it

Ikkan: heheh .. stop that tickles....hehe.... .*ahem*..I guess content would be a better word. Like mom and dad but you know......... Eventually we're just going to be like them fighting like old people

Neta: [kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss] hang up the phone. [Kiss kiss]

Ikkan: no

Neta: fucking body slam you

Ikkan: don't you dare..... Okay to be fair I did think they were divorced too apparently not. They don't really tell us anyTHING.... NETA PUT ME DOWN! HAHAHAH STOP.. HEHEHEheh .... Ooff! Neta!

Neta: heheheheheheheh

Noji oh that other line:........................... Oh yeah exactly like Mom and Dad.

Ikkan:........I'm sorry.... HA! stop heheh I'll-I'll call you back........... Could at least take my shoes off before my pants... I'll call you back see you noji. Bye

__________________________________________________________________________________________

[t0kidal]

Filler 1, How could we not?

___________________________________

Late, but it’s simping time

___________________________________

There was no Valentines day in the Netherworld, but they did have something similar called Offering Day where you simply gift offerings to your favorite demons. (Or the ones you think will bring you victory)

When Kalego was born on this day, he was miffed to witness how his Demonic Rites seemed to be overshadowed by pitiful holiday... at least, this was the case when he was younger.

As a mature young demon attending Babyls, however, he could not care less. You could say he grew out of them faster. 

Or so he thought.

~~~

You and Shichiro could only gape in awe at the sheer mountain of candies and other kinds of gifts on Kalego’s seat after you three returned from lunch.

“... are you sure you’re not some kind of incubus?” you ask, and in your mind it’s a fair question, Kalego does nothing but scowl and yet some demons or demonesses just fall over themselves. As if you don’t.

“Tsk! No. Rather, everyone else seems to have impeccable taste.”

“Mhm mhm.”

Shichiro only hums placatingly, unbothered and unsurprised by his empty chair.

“Hm? Mmm, Y/n-san. Where are all your offerings?”

“...”

“...”

A sigh, “Meh, I’m not really interested in that kind of thing... ish... I mean, I made some to give out...”

“Hmph, I wonder... who did you endeavor to gift an offering?”

“WELL, Mr. Nosey, I made one for Shichiro. Here you go, Shichiro-kun.”

You hand him a scrap book.

It looks sad...

“I-I’m really sorry, but I figured I’d get you something that you’d like... and you happen to like things about monsters s-so...”

It looks sad but it was also filled with slightly blurred photos and names of monsters found around your house, many of them also came with a little sample of fur, scales, or hide. (save for any really dangerous ones because you don’t want to die)

“It’s Perfect! Thank you very much, Y/n!”

“You’re welcome, I also have a little something for Opera-senpai but I haven’t seen him around...”

“Hmph! That tiresome senpai must be robbing someone else of their offerings.”

“You mean, like you Kalego-kun?”

“Ngh!”

Ah, speak of the devil.

~~~

Finally, Kalego could go home. His bag was heavy with Offering day gifts, and his head was heavy with all the homework he had to do.

But he wasn’t off the hook quite yet.

Just as he was about to go home he’s tackled, bundled up, and toted away.

“WHAT THE HELL!? Y-Y/N!?”

Were they in their wicked phase? Wait, not important.

“WHERE ARE WE GOIIIIIING!?”

~~~

Now here he is, seated on a... a really sad looking throne... wait... this was...

A Demonic Rite ceremony!

A really sad looking one but he supposes... it’s the thought that counts.

“Thank you for being such a useful Kouhai. I heard that dogs really love this kind of thing so...” 

It was a chew toy...

“SeNpaI...!” his teeth grit, a vein starts pulsating.

“SqUeEEE” Oh... he’s gonna break it.

Oh! It’s Shichiro’s turn.

“I hope you like the rite! It was mostly Opera-san’s idea but Y/n decided to host it here. I brought you a pair of of ear muffs” They were... really fluffy, “they may not suit you too well but I figured something practical would be good for when you’re studying. Ah, also, a pen.”

It was one of those nice fountain pens... Now this gift, suited Kalego really well, a deep pitch indigo purple, a tarnished gold nub. Engravings with the word ‘Integrity’ etched into it.

“Thank you, Shichiro... but where did you get this?”

“Ah, it wasn’t too hard. They were having a sale of these at the student store!”

As it turns out it was one of the first sales they had in a while so they gave the cutie a huge discount when they learned it was a gift.

“Thank you for being born!”

Kalego, covering his mouth, gave a light cough. (He hiiiides a smile!)

And now you.

“Opera-senpai told us it was your birthday today! So I figured... It must be annoying to have everyone overlook it in favor of Offering day. Sorry if it inconvenienced you but I really wanted to show... how much we appreciate you! Thank you for being born and being with us!”

He sighs, about to say something but then...

FHWUMP

“Mnph!?”

“I got you a pelt!” 

“ARE YOU A BEAST?!”

~~~

(Fluffy Blanket for Fluffego)

Late! But happy birthday Kalego

[halloweenthief]

Deadly Valentine

2023 December edit: This is still centered on Valentine's day, I wanted to share it again because hey guess who got dumped, I rewrote some parts but overall still the same - End of the edit

I wrote this in the same way I write my own books or fanfics, so yeah, It may look weird?

This is an au where Streber didn’t survived to Bob

This is also the first fic(?) I post in Tumblr, it may look crappy but I tried to make it good enough

TW: Commented death, commented murder

……………………………………………………

A long, loud beeping sound echoed in Kevin’s room, it didn't matter, Kevin was already awake

It's hard to get used to sleep alone once you’re already used to sleep with someone else, to wake up and see the face of your loved one

Well, he still doesn’t have time to, it’s Valentine’s Day, obviously the Candy Club had to be open, and since they weren’t giving free candy he would at least get more money than he did on halloween

It’s been 5 months since the accident happened, 5 months since that sick fuck killed his boyfriend, 5 months and he wasn’t able to move on

He didn’t even had time to mourn

God, he hated Halloween even more

And he was just about to start hating Valentine’s Day as well, even if he didn’t had a free day, he could always take dinner with Streber, or watch movies, anything

………………………………..

There’s nothing now

Better to go to work, if he’s lucky enough there won’t be a lot of annoying costumers

Maybe the spooky kids won’t ever appear today to drive him nuts

Oh what a day it would be...

He heard the sound of door opening, sadly, it wasn’t a normal costumer

The day was surprisingly calm, a lot of kids coming to buy candys for gifts, either for friends, familys or partners

Must be nice, at least other people was going to enjoy Valentine’s day, but it was still hard to see couples being so lovey-dovey knowing he won't get the chance to do that anymore

—… Here we go —Kevin sighed as he saw Skid and Pump entering the store, he didn’t have the energy to do anything

— Hi Kevin!

—Two candy cans please!

—Are you two kids going to pay this time at least?

—I’m not in the mood for this  —He reached for the candy cans and gave it to them— Just get out

Ah, they forgot there’s no free candy on Valentine’s day, only discounts

Pump tried to search for money on his pockets, there’s no money on his pockets, he’s just trying to pretend there is

—Thanks Kevin!

—Oh! What are you gonna do today?

—What?

—For the spooky Valentine’s day!

—You two just add “Spooky” to everything, don’t you?

—Because it is Spooky!

—So? —Skid returned to the first question

Pump sounded really proud about that

They were getting really annoying today, why aren’t they gone yet? Don't they have anything else to do

—I’m working, that’s what I’m doing, now go

—Aw…

—Huh, I could’ve sworn you… You really aren’t doing anything today? —At least Skid was confused, he was pretty sure he heard Kevin mentioning having a partner at least once

He never got to meet him tho, at least that’s what he thought

—Yes, I’m pretty sure

—Mom bought me some lollipops

The kids looked at each other and shrugged

Skid took out a lollipop from his pocket and offered it to Kevin

—You already had candy? And yet you came for more?

—I wanted a Candy Can!

—The lollipops are for sharing

Kevin took the lollipop, it was one of those heart shaped ones with a pink packing, it had a cheesy message on the back, it was hard to read

—… Thanks kids

—Your welcome Kevin!

—Let’s go to the forest! —The kids got out of the Candy Store with the cans, heading out to the forest, they're really loud when they're running

It wasn’t really safe but at this point Kevin knew that he could do little to nothing to stop them

At least there wasn’t any kind of weird shit today

At least he got a lollipop

At least Valentine wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been...

[gutsfics]

what are your headcanons for the hss prime characters after high school? who goes to college? what do they major in? for any that don't go to college, what do they do instead? any post-high school romance hcs? anything else you want to share?

ok so first of all, my prime world takes place begining in 2014, with Simon being a sophmore when he becomes a student at Berry High so he & most of the other main characters graduate in 2016, with choices hss taking place the year after in 2017, so the only prime students still attending Berry High during the events of choices hss are Mia and Katherine (also pb was wrong for breaking them up and never putting Katherine in choices 💞)

as for majors/the futures of these characters (in no particular order) (also not all of these r as thought out as others) (also also im not doing every a-lister or whatever the fuck hss prime calls them. thats too much man. if u wanna know about em ask about em seperately):

Ezra would take a few courses at a community college so he has at least a little college experience before he signs back on with.... whatever record label the band had signed on w in the story i forgor. he plays guitar for Lisa Valentine and also has his own solo career, but every now and then Kingslayer will put out an album together when they all have the time to. he marries Wes in Vegas while on tour to give Wes an alibi for something, but they've had feelings for each other for a while. Eventually Simon joins their relationship & the three of them raise a kid together

Payton would get a degree in communications and become an events coordinator. every time a friend (from high school or otherwise) says they want to have some kind of event, she always tries to plan it for free or discounted but they convince her to take the money lol also she and her partner are foster parents!!!

for Koh, i love how in choices she decides to do premed in community college!! i think she eventually does her residancy at Edenbrook, where the only attending she respects is one Dr Baxter Lucafont, for the time they stole from a big pharma company to help a paitent that wasn't even their's (also all the doctors that helped them pull it off, but in a different way). also Zaid and Esme. i can see them being friends lol

Kallie gets a degree in library science and becomes a capital L Librarian in Boston, where she and Koh reconnect & start dating <3

also like in choices canon (but this was mentioned in prime a few times as well) Wes' intention is to go to law school and study criminal justice, but it kind of... takes a while for him to do it. while he's in community college for undergrad, he just kind of gets an antsy feeling that he could be doing things to help people now instead of waiting around to get a degree, so he drops out for a bit to do what he can, even if it isnt technically """legal""". he starts looking back into it after he and Ezra get married, but he pauses again when they (+ Simon) have their kid bc he doesn't want to be the kind of dad that his own father was. he does go back to community college during this time, but he does as much of it as he can online so he can be a sahd until their son is old enough to not need him around so much. then he fucking kills it in law school (he doesnt go to one of those fancy schmancy ivy leauges though, just a state university) and becomes an associate at Ricci, Lee, Tanaka

Julian gets a scholarship to do football in college, and while he is good enough to be scouted for professional teams, he isn't sure if its what he wants to do beyond school. he's always been Macho Football Boy, but he's not sure if that's all he wants to be forever, yknow? like he's smart. not Nishan, straight a's, 4.0 gpa smart but he's never at risk to lose his scholarship bc his acedemics are too low. i might change my mind on it later, but i think he might get a degree in physical education (& he's good at it. none of that "run the mile. no i wont tell you how to stretch or keep yourself from hurting yourself. just go as fast as you can" bs, he actually teaches his students how to work out safely and correctly, bc working out can be fun if you know what you're doing)

Autumn would go at Hollywood U, bc while it is mostly a film school, it does have some very good classes in the classical arts and photography. i don't have much of an idea of what she'd do beyond that though. its Autumn! what else is there to say. (also my version of Autumn isnt whitewashed to hell and back like she is by the time she's in choices ill forever be mad about that)

Mia would become a manager. Ezra's manager! i think she'd get her degree at HWU as well. she and Katherine would take a breif break from dating each other but ultimately they'd get married. no kids, but they are the Cool Aunts to their friends kids

Katherine would double major in English and Music and become a playwrite professionally. Mia is her manager as well <3 sometimes she and Ezra will collab on a musical together

Nishan will get as many STEM degrees as fast as he can. dude has like 5 phds and hasnt slept since high school. he eventually gets an author husband who he met online bc said author husband was curious about how some science thing worked so he could write it correctly for a science fiction novel. i literally just invented his author husband so i know nothing about him yet. but i did misspell the word "him" so i think his name will be Jim

Sakura gets a degree in computer science and starts her own indie video game company. its very successful

Ace gets into an ivy league college and gets a degree in political science, then works his way up from local politics to national politics. he's still trying to get Simon to run for president.

Max also gets a football scholarship at the same college as Julian, but he stays with football professionally though. i think he'd be at risk to losing the scholarship due to grades bc he was able to coast through high school thanks to Dad Principal so he enlists Julian to help him. Julian eventually begrudgingly agrees and they tolerate each other until graduation. at some between starting college and graduating, he and Simon will end up back in Cedar Cove together and become.... well friends with benefits isnt the right term because theyre not friends. i think he'd fall for Simon but Simon would be like "ummm.no" and cut the relationship off there

Kara goes to HWU and becomes an actress. at first she and Autumn mostly just ignore each other bc while she stopped bullying her they're not exactly friends. until they get paired up for a project they both have a class in & gradually become friends. and then girlfriends.

and now Simon. my guy. my boy. Si-guy. Slimeon. my son. he graduates high school a little early so he can focus on his gymnastics career and go to the Olympics. he does really good. good enough to place bronze his first year. but also his first year compeating, he breaks his foot real bad about half way through his routine. he doesnt realize until someone points it out to him though, he thinks he just landed a little funny and pulled a muscle. during the time his foot is healing is when he and Max have their weird little gay thing and also he decides that he doesn't want to keep doing gymnastics professionally. it was fun, but he's ready for something else now. he kind of just does whatever he wants, from working in haunted houses, to acting, to joining Ezra on tour and playing the violin during some concerts. mostly though he's Wes and Ezra's trophy boyfriend and dad #3 to their son

and i think thats everyone? lol lmao

[justablah56]

TJ anon once again: this is great because it's like writing a multi chapter fic but there's no plot and it's made for a readership of one person

Cass "Hey, if there's no security footage, there's no proof" Swift-Close-Foster-Freeman-Stampler is definitely a bit of a chaos gremlin. She and Lark once almost got arrested for public indecency when she got him to unbutton her shirt in a nightclub. Why? No one really bothered to ask, they were too busy trying to bargain with the police. One of them turned out to be Jodie's old work mates, who let them off.

You know what, this is going to be a clubbing themed ask. Disclaimer: I have never been clubbing. Legally, I cannot

The kiddads, Rebecca, Marco, and Cassandra have gotten kicked out of multiple clubs. At some point, they developed a system to create the wildest night possible, involving when you can start dancing on tables, and the best place to make friends for the night. The answer to the latter is the girls' bathroom. There is always a crying drunk girl in a bathroom, and Cassandra and Rebecca are very skilled at comforting and befriending them. Your boyfriend broke up with you? And he's here with his new girlfriend? Girl, you're so much better than him, we will buy you drinks and hype you up. We have 6 hot men who will dance with you and treat you like a goddamn celebrity for the entire night, let's show that fucker how much you don't need him. And if you're worried about them being weird, two of them are gay and all of them are respectful. Have some discount coupons for Swallows Ice Cream and a random makeover. We will turn a terrible night into one of the best for you.

Certain members of the group have been mistaken for erotic dancers on multiple occasions. No comment as to who. It does mean that they have more money for drinks though.

Cassandra and Nicky will be the ultimate gnc couple. Cass goes in a suit, but one of those more casual ones that have lowcut shirts and a deliberately loose tie. Nicky goes in a crop top and mini skirt with fishnets. They have switched outfits part way through the night without people noticing at least 7 times, because honestly, they would both wear each outfit.

Terry and Lark are usually the sober ones, as Lark is often the designated driver, and Terry just assigns himself designated drunk people wrangler. Since they're also the two who (at the time) are not in a committed romantic relationship, they carefully accumulated embarrassing moments for everyone's weddings, knowing that there was no sufficient retribution.

(Side headcanon that Terry and Lark go on platonic Valentine's dates every year in college/uni. They take lots of photos of Terry being cutesy and couple-y and Lark just being grumpy. Terry Jr always buys him sunflowers for the date, and although he'd never admit it, he keeps them for as long as possible. One year, TJ actually had a girlfriend on Valentine's Day, but he told her he was busy and still went on the date with Lark. She broke up with him after seeing the pictures of them together on social media, which, in retrospect, Terry Jr admits was completely fair)

hello again tj anon !! <3 also , this is great bcs I get soso many hcs and fun storylines that are vaguely connected , all written specifically for me to read and it's absolutely lovely <3333

anyways , the kiddads and co just being the most chaotic clubbers to ever exist <333 they commit enough crimes when they're sober , so it only makes sense they'd commit even more when drunk LMAO but them also just being like . that one story that a bunch of random girls have . just some club cryptids that find random sad girls and then proceed to be the nicest people ever and give them the night of their lives dbnsnsmsm also multiple of them being mistaken for strippers 😭😭 love that for them honestly <3 also glad to see Nicky is continuing Glenn's legacy of having the most gnc "straight" relationship to ever exist <333 them sharing outfits is everything , actually <3333 but lark and terry collecting everyone's embarrassing moments for weddings dbjsnssksk they are so silly <33 it's just the Lark and Terry dynamic !!!! they are the qpps of all time !!!!! and Terry ditching his gf of valentine's for lark 🥺 like yes that sucks for the gf , but Terry and Lark !!!! I love them !!!!!

[nami-ramen]

Look on the bright side nami. The valentine's day chocolate is/will be on discount. so you can get some for the most important person in your life: you! :)

Tbh I don’t think that we have such discounts in shops in my country (at least not in every shop)and the nearest shop that I know is in 10min of walking from my home,im too damn lazy for that lmao

[wontgodowninhistory]

VALENTINES DAY DRABBLE

TEAM ANTI VALENTINES DAY

“Oh don't get me wrong. I'm totally Anti-Valentines Day all the way this year.” Okay, maybe she did have just the tiniest bit of a soft spot for Cupid’s commercial holiday of love. Robin Buckley was a romantic at heart and nothing could ever change that. She loved love and she wanted it more than anything. She'd just never had a special someone to do all the disgustingly sappy things for. If she ever did, the band geek would be all in, you'd better believe it. Buying obnoxious candy in boxes shaped like hearts and even giving her girl the ones that tasted best and keeping the gross flavors that no one liked for herself. Definitely, one of those enormous teddy bears like the ones you threw darts to win at the fun fair. Maybe even a card that played some music when it was opened. Go big or go home, right?

But not this year. She and Steve had made a pact. They were both single and their romantic lives - not that Robin had ever had one so to speak - were looking pretty barren. Kind of like one of those tumbleweeds blowing across the road on a lonely desert highway in the middle of nowhere. She almost laughed at the mere thought but somehow stopped herself. She managed to have a little bit of tact and anyone that knew her was well aware that was not a strong trait for Robin. Quite impressive if you asked her. Steve seemed to feel shitty enough so sparing him that depressing analogy seemed like the right thing to do. At least for now - unless the word vomit started flowing. If that happened anything and everything spilled from her lips without any hope of stopping it. Completely out of her control and she couldn't be blamed.

“Or well… pretty much every year to this day. Totally anti.” She gave a nod of her head just to emphasize the fact that she was trying to get across. “But especially this year. Best friend solidarity, right?” To make it more official, Robin even held out her pinky to quickly link it with Steve's. The sacred pinky swear that they didn't dare break. It was a sealed deal. Might as well have been cemented in concrete.

Her eyebrows furrowed and her freckled nose wrinkled slightly as it did when she was really trying to figure out how to say something. “But I just have to know…” Blue eyes were focused and she was serious. “That doesn't include indulging in the half-price clearance candy at Melvalds on the day after does it?” That was the one good thing about Valentines Day. The silver lining that practically screamed ‘it’s over we survived!’ “We can go shopping for it together. Just buy a ton of it and rejoice that it's over for another year.” A trademark grin graced her glossed lips and there was a clear hint of hopefulness gleaming in those electric blue eyes. Robin really wanted that discounted candy.

[pbandjesse]

I feel a little out of sorts. A little frustrated. I am trying not to fall into anger but it's hard. It's mostly about tomorrow. But at least most of today was really nice.

I woke up after an alright sleep. James came and laid with me for a few minutes before we had to get up. They made the bed and I got dressed.

I was excited to wear my valentine's Halloween sweater. But really I should have put another shirt on under it because I was cold!! It was so chilly today!! I ended up wearing socks and leggings and boots. And was still a little chilly. I would be fine but man. It was surprising.

We left here and got me breakfast before heading to the museum. It was drizzling. And would be on and off rain all morning. The wind was pretty strong as well. James and Stanley would come out and put the sides down and that helped a lot. Made the day a lot more pleasant and a lot less blustery.

I was pretty focused on my knitting today. But I would spend a good amount of time talking to Ginny. She apparently loves to travel and we were just talking about that and wedding stuff and she is so nice. I got a pumpkin roll and an apple cider donut. I would jokingly run away and tell her James would come out and pay later. And of course they did come out to get their pastries and we laughed about me running away. And later one Ginny would be one of my 3 sales. She bought my beaded "have a nice day!" totebag. Made me feel good and I gave her a little discount.

I had some nice conversations and got to see cute babies. I did my knitting and had lots of people watch me and compliment me and it is very easy to make me feel all proud of myself and my work when that happens. It's nice to share this type of knitting too.

I would space it out well and would finish my last row right around 12. I had had a nice chat with Helen about possible alternatives to flowers because she is going to be cleared out because of another wedding she's doing. And I talked to Stanley for a bit about my fiber works. And I chatted with Bob the blacksmith for a long time. Got to tell him about my bronze casting background and I think I impressed him with my patina knowledge.

Around 11 Anne decided, based on vender feedback, that we should close early. Didn't have to tell me twice. So at noon we all packed up. My stuff takes like 2 minutes to put away so I waited until I saw someone else putting things away. And then I was off.

I got all my stuff in my box and loaded up the wagon and over to the car. I went in to say goodbye to James and remind them to print our stickers. And then I headed home.

When I got back here I brought my knitting up. Grabbed the mail. And pet Sweetp for a bit. I have a heating pad in the couch for him because I'm worried he will be cold.

And then I changed and got in bed.

I spent a while brushing out my bear. The little windbreaker I got him came and so I wanted him to not look as scrungly. It's not perfect. But using a file card and a cat brush got most of the mats out. And the little windbreaker looks so cute. I did end up ordering a black hoodie off of Etsy since I couldn't find one anywhere else. I will later the two so he can have a hood again. Which I think looks better.

I still stand by the colts being funny because that used to be the football team in Baltimore before they were stolen in the night. James looked at the shirt and said that it was a funny way to spell Baltimore. Which is fair enough.

I worked on some knitting stuff. Experimenting with the yarns I have. A lot of mine are either to thick or to loose. I was able to make a few more tubes I will attempt to make into plushies. It's fun to try stuff.

I would start trying to sleep. I ended up looking at advent calendars and I am excited that this year I actually was able to order the jam Advent calendar!! It is usually sold out by the time I remember it but I used the Amazon gift card the dentist gave me and the Cashback I had on my credit card so it's basically free. I'm really excited.

And then I slept. I slept to long honestly. James was home from work when I woke up and we laid in bed together. Which was very nice. They felt very cold so I hope I warmed them up a little.

Then we had dinner in bed. And watched videos. Eventually I went to work on cutting out the stickers they printed but the ink didn't stick to the paper and just flaked off and I was so upset. At first I thought they just didn't dry and had rub off because of that but if I ran my finger on them it just came right off. Super disappointed. So I ordered a different brand of paper to try out. We'll see what happens I guess.

I was really uspset then. And then got more upset when the street fair tomorrow still hadn't emailed me. The last one I did have me a 72 hour out email and a 24 hour out, and then a day off. This fair started on Friday and they never even confirmed they got my application!! The only reason I know they did is because my name is on the website. But I don't know anything. I had emailed them twice this week but no answer. So I finally set them a Facebook message since they had been posting photos. And whoever runs it did message me back but just said the vender coordinator would take care of it in the morning. What does that mean?? I don't even have an address. Or a spot number. Or anything!! I don't even feel comfortable with going with how the rain is going to be. And I'm going to be alone.

I have basically decided that I will wake up at 8 tomorrow. And if they don't send an email by 9 when load in is supposed to start I won't go. I really don't want to go anyway but I feel bad wasting $60 on the table fee. It basically wipes out my profit from today. But like also. It's a really long market, 9 am load in, goes until 6pm. And it is going to rain literally all day.

So I am just not feeling my best. I feel just this side of angry. It isn't a nice feeling.

I did get to test more yarn tonight. And hang out with James. And I got a shower. But I have a lot of tension in my jaw. And I don't know how to make it stop.

I hope you all feel okay and are taking care of yourself. Stay safe. And be careful. Goodnight everyone.

[radiomonkeys2]

Bolloi Masculinity

~Seacar14

One of the big discussions in recent years has been about the concept of "Strong Female Characters" and "girlbosses." People argue about whether or not they're realistic, if they are actually empowering to female audiences, if they are are feminist, if they're pseudo-feminist pandering, if they're shallow and simply toxic masculinity with a female face, if it even matters as long as they're fun, and so on

Bollois decidedly do nothing to further that debate.

From the outset, on a purely physical level, bollois are the spawn of bioengineering, much like all Yabans, and while their roots may be in the Getabaru-Saiyans, bollois are not quite equivalent to Saiyan women since, on a pure secular level, male and female Yabans are already much denser and heavier than an equivalently sized human or Getabaru-Saiyan, on top of their very biology and psychology being engineered towards combat. An average secular bolloi— that is completely unsparked with chi— is still much stronger than the average man.

But even if you discount their pure biology and energy, bollois are still different from the "Strong Female Character™" archetype in other ways. For all the chuds and reactionaries talk about girlboss action-oriented women as being "men with boobs," when you compare them to bollois, it becomes very clearly obvious that they are still written with feminine or at least female-oriented conventions in mind. Simply being strong, or strong-willed, being "Lad-ettes" or "tomboys", does not quite bring you to the level of bollois and vroda kvltvr.

Bringing this up again:

Originally way back in 2018, I decided bollois were "hypermasculine" just because they liked fighting and proving themselves in battle, and in retrospect those early bollois were pretty much exactly like the Strong Female Character™ archetype and not the "Literally Men with Boobs" they are now. I pretty much had 100 different rules for bollois for why they Aren't Like Other Girls and are boyish and badass fighting femmes; nowadays, I just have five vague rules that work a hundred times better: "Aromantic as a rule," "No culture of vanity," "No culture of protection," "Lack feral maternalism," and "Have little intrinsic worth"

I was writing up an explanation earlier, but got distracted. However, a comment on DeviantArt got me back on track, so here we go:

Aromantic as a rule: Probably the single biggest culture shock humans have with bollois is just how little they regard romance. For us humans, this is basically a "no-no" when it comes to female characters, because we almost always view female characters and femalehood in general through the lens of romance. I mean think about it: besides the Venus symbol (♀), what symbol do we most often use in association with girls and women? The Valentine's heart.❤️ We tend to view women as sex objects. We tend to view women's issues as issues of love and relationships first and foremost. We expect girls and women to grow up idealizing marriage. When female characters are introduced into a story, the question of romance and shipping almost immediately follows. There are genuinely a lot of people who cannot dissociate "female" from "love interest." So for a female character to not be involved with anyone romantically or even have any romantic interests definitely goes against the grain.

What's especially funny about this is that Dragon Ball allegedly claims Saiyans don't care for romance, but has literally never followed through on that with the only exception being Son Goku himself. It's a pure background detail that's widely accepted, but at least after the original Bardock special (where Selypa didn't get enough screentime to be romance-baited in the first place), whenever a female Saiyan is introduced, the question of romance is immediately raised. Gine? Just so happened to be a "rare" example of a loving, romantic Saiyan. Caulifla and Kale? Almost as soon as they're introduced, the question of romance with Cabba is brought up (though admittedly shot down). Heck, most recently in the Bardock DLC of Kakarot, guess what Selypa's missions focus on? You guessed it: romance. I think Toriyama had it in his head that Saiyans don't care for romance because Goku doesn't, but he and Toei are too traditionalist in mindset to actually carry through with that in the series proper. They're actually incapable of telling stories involving female characters that don't involve romance. Except the Kaios, I think. I don't think the female kaioshins have ever been romance-baited.

[In retrospect, this was a bit asinine to describe, as we barely ever see female Saiyans at all. Honestly not too sure what exactly I was talking about here with the Saiyans besides nitpicking like a monkey]

So to that end, bollois actually not caring about romance can come off as weird and even disappointing to people. There might be a propensity to think that a female character who isn't into romance was simply hurt or is hiding her true self, or even that they just haven't found Mr. or Ms. Right just yet, so genuinely lacking any interest is definitely not common. Them being estrous certainly pushes that to its limit.

No Culture of Vanity: It may be "problematic" to say this among certain people, but there's no lie in saying that women are generally more interested in their appearance and matters of beauty. And this is culturally reinforced, we almost always tend to compliment women on their appearance and reinforce their sense of vanity as often as possible, something rarely done for men. Heck, "Beauties" is a somewhat common alternative for "women." The very names we give girls reflect "beauty" or "delicacy" or "gentleness." (If you're a girl, look up the meaning of your name; more often than not, it's a name reflecting appearance or femininity). Especially in the West and Far East, we actively expect women to wear make-up, get plastic surgery, and just generally look as cute and presentable as possible. And even if they don't do this, we still reward them with compliments.

Bollois don't have that, nor do they get that. The most a bolloi will get in terms of comments on her appearance on any random day, even surrounded by nagois, might be "You look like shit." They have zero expectation of being complimented, and very little in the way of beautification.

No culture of protection: In modern times, we like saying that women are capable and independent and strong, but let's be perfectly honest, that culture of chivalry didn't simply die out in a few decades any more than racism did. We still very widely view girls and women as vulnerable and in constant danger. There's still an overwhelming, unstated expectation that men should never hit women under any circumstance, that girls are inherently more delicate, and that women should stay out of dangerous situations. This also goes that girls are less culpable for their decisions and shouldn't face the same consequences as boys for the same offenses, which goes as far as believing that only men can be truly evil; women are only made to do evil by evil men. But it's even as simple and innocent as punishing a boy more harshly when he and a bunch of girls do something wrong.

Again, bollois don't get off that easy. In other words, there's no cultural belief that bollois need to be protected more than nagois or are less capable of handling themselves and thus should be insulated from danger, peril, and hardship. There is no belief in the idea that bollois are more delicate and fragile. And this goes the other way as well. A human girl holding her own at a challenge, getting through a tough situation, and matching or even overcoming the boys will be celebrated as an example of girl power. A bolloi displaying such competency proves nothing and earns no similar praise. At least among Yabans.

Lack feral maternalism: Among humans, we view motherhood as the highest and most powerful expression of femininity to the point many women are shamed for not getting married or bearing children, certainly far more than men are for not being fathers. In fact, we tend to view motherhood as so central to a woman's life that a lot of the more conservative and traditionalist mindsets say that a childless woman is the unhappiest woman. Also notice that a lot of the "good" strong female characters that are defended by people who otherwise chastise Strong Female Characters™ are described as being "motherly."

Bollois can certainly be mothers, but they lack a lot of the nurturing, motherly instincts we find intrinsic to mature femalehood. A bolloi is basically a mother for the first year, and then a female father for the rest of her child's life. And of course you have yenois further complicating matters, which is no better represented than with....

Have little intrinsic worth: It's a cold fact every man must face in his life: that he is an expendable human compared to a woman. This is very widely reinforced in society, no better summed up than in the saying "women and children first." This is very closely related to the "culture of protection" I mentioned above. A hundred thousand men can die and be overlooked, but the death of a single woman is a horrific tragedy worth special notice and attention. There's an old sexist saying that goes that "Women are, men must become." Which is to say that a woman can simply be pretty to win at life, but a man is worthless unless he accomplishes something.

Bollois don't really get this. Since they still have wombs, they're surely seen as being worth more than a man, but then you run into the issue of yenois, the primary "breeder" sex among Yabans, and thus the sex with the most "intrinsic" worth. Bollois are raised basically with the expectation that they're disposable extraneous grunts. A bolloi who wants to be worth anything has to actually achieve something.

So when you combine all this together, you wind up with a sex that doesn't really care for romance, cares virtually nothing for beautification, is treated harshly and without comfort in life, has little in the way of a nurturing motherly spirit, and can only be considered worth anything if they make something of themselves. This all sounds very similar to how we traditionally treat and view men in the world, so no wonder bollois go beyond simply being "Strong Female Characters™".

These are fundamental cultural expectations that you can't simply erase just by making a female character strong, aggressive, muscular, tough, headstrong, and independent. They inform just about all of our more subtle creative decisions, even our unconscious ones. In fact, this is a big reason why I went with nonhuman creatures in the first place: even if you disregard biological nature affecting behavior and psychology, it is almost completely impossible to create a female human character with the same socio-cultural traits of a bolloi (unless she's from an alien world or some bizarro alternate history). This is because there is no culture on Earth (as far as I know) that comprehensively raises women the exact same as men on such a profound and all-encompassing level that these traits will not appear. Indeed, because there is no dedicated third "dominant breeder" sex among humans, it is actually impossible on some level for Earthling women to be like bollois because we place such high value on the ability to bear children.

Simply being a tomboy or a Butch lesbian or a turbo-Ladette is not the same. This isn't about your personal decisions and lifestyle choices. It's about the entire society in which you live that molds you every second of every day of your life, whether you realize it or not.

Thus, it can be a massive culture shock for bollois to come to Earth and suddenly be treated like the girls they are. Yulaan, for example, has quite literally never been complimented on her appearance in her life. She goes to Earth-Prime, and all of a sudden, you've got all these people calling her "cute" and "sexy" and wondering if she's going to find a boyfriend (or girlfriend?) and calling her hair a "perpetual bad hair-day" and so on. You have some celebrating how much she's a badass and a strong independent girl who can handle herself, which to Yulaan seems like needless aggrandizing flattery.

It's like, imagine if some really macho gangster/mafioso, Yakuza member, whatever, imagine they go to another planet where men are treated like princesses and are widely viewed as a beautiful, elegant, and romantic sex. Probably wouldn't know how to react, would he? That's Yulaan.

And do recall the kagoras.

Planet Vegeta likely would not see anything like the vroda kagora, as the Vegetan women seem to be more in line with "strong-willed and often physically super-strong women" as opposed to bollois.