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Ignatius isn’t as big on words as they are on gestures, but they’re also a little too shy to present gifts in person, sending their new companion in their stead. Unfortunately, they may have forgotten to leave any indication that the gifts were from them, leaving Lily and Lyrryn to guess at their secret admirer and the origin of the curious flying creature presenting them their gifts.

Bucket wasn’t the romantic sort. At all. And if she ever was going to express her truest, deepest feelings to that special someone, she sure as hell would not wait until the one day out of the year that everyone would be expecting her to make such a gesture. Valentine’s Day never did appeal to her beyond the excuse to gorge on an excess of chocolate and pink sweets. She’d just never met anyone who screamed “Valentine material”. Needless to say, she had never been the target of any admirer’s affections either.

But this Valentine’s Day would be different. As the day approached, Bucket found herself giddy with anticipation. Once January was halfway through, the usually irreverent Ineki actually began to plan her Valentine’s Day surprise.

On the 13th, the kitchen was filled with the decadent aroma of dark chocolate. Bucket paused for a deep, self-indulgent inhale. Her mouth curled into a proud grin as she surveyed her handiwork. Rows of shiny chocolate candies sat patiently on the baking sheet in front of her. She dipped a final strawberry into the molten chocolate and moved onto icing the cookies and cupcakes waiting on the cooling rack.

As she worked, she wondered how to address her Valentine. She couldn’t help giggling. It was very silly, the writing of love poems and messages. There was no need for obfuscation or questioning. No pleas or persuasion. Her “Valentine” knew full well what was going on and what to expect. And yet, no matter how self-evident a heart shaped box full of sweets would be, it just wouldn’t feel right without the note. It was part of the package. The ritual.

She’d keep it simple, she decided. Short and sweet.

Raven
I hate you. I hate you for what you’ve done. I hate that you left. I hate that you’re hurting others. I hate your magic. I hate your flames.
I hate that you think you’re right. I hate that you’re wrong. I hate that new gleam in your eyes. I hate that new smirk. I hate that you are no longer who you once were.
I hate myself. I hate myself for what I’ve done. I hate that I turned you away. I hate that I made you leave. I hate it that because of me, others are suffering at your hands. I hate that I cursed you. I hate myself for giving you fire. I hate myself for turning you dark.
Today is a day for loving, yet all we have is hate. Although, there is one thing I don’t hate…
I don’t hate the way you hate yourself.
Alice

I took another deep breath. Come on, Ruby, it should not be that hard! I struck the phrase again. She isn’t waiting for a masterpiece, just write! I sighed. It should not be so hard to tell Rose that I love her. So why can’t I figure out how to write this goddamned love letter?
Alright, keep calm. What do you feel for her? What do you want to tell her? I tried to write again. Keep calm, it doesn’t have to be perfect.

“Hey! I love you. Let’s go in a date?”

Are you even trying, Ruby? I guess not. That looks awful! Ok, ok. Let’s keep the I love you. Strike the Let’s go in a date?. Replace the Hey for something more…lovely? Just try again, Ruby, you can do it!

“Hello, my dear valentine. I love you. How do you feel about me? ”

It looks too cheesy now! My dear valentine? Seriously? What’s your problem, Ruby? Maybe you should use a famous quote to tell her everything? No, no, she would not like that. She would think that I don’t love her enough! And that would be even more cheesy, ugh. Try to be more personal! That’s the way! And don’t ask anything, if she wants to tell you something, she will.

“Hello, Rose.”

Good start, now keep going….I can’t think in anything?? What do I write? That I love her? Just that? Or that I love her caramel eyes? Maybe tell her how cute she is when she wants to show me an air trick? Or how I can’t sleep at night thinking about her and how much I want to kiss her. Damn, I can’t tell her any of this! What if she doesn’t like me back? She will know…But isn’t it the purpose? Make her know how much you love her? Alright, it’s time to tell everything! You can do it, Ruby!

“Hello, Rose. I love you. As simple as that. And as much complex as it is to explain.
I fall in love with you every time I see your caramel eyes looking at me, wanting to know if I’m having fun with you. And I want you to know that I’m ALWAYS having fun with you.
I fall in love with you too when I see how excited you are to show me a new air trick you learned. And I get so excited to know that you want to share it with me and no one else! Even if I shouldn’t, I love to know that I’m special to you.
I fall in love with you every time you try to remember who you used to love before the winter, but reassure me that you would not let me for anyone. And I know it’s true, I know that you will be my friend forever, even if I don’t deserve it.
I keep falling in love with you every time I can’t sleep at night because I’m too distracted wanting to kiss you.
Please, be my valentine, at least for today.

With all the love in the world,
Ruby”

It looks so bad. You are an awful writer, Ruby. And Rose will think so too! What should I do?
“Ugh, I can’t write something that she deserves!” I screamed in annoyance.
“Does that mean you write bad or that she doesn’t deserve a thing?” I could hear a feminine voice saying. Oh, no. It’s not. It can’t be. I can’t be so unlucky, can I? I slowly turned to face the girl.
“Hi, Rose. What are you doing here?” I asked carefully. My love letter is not ready, what do I do now?
“I asked something first, Ruby. It’s not polite to ignore your guests questions. Besides, I’m really curious about who is that she that make you scream in Valentine’s day.” She talked with her usual charm, always looking me with that caramel eyes. She was clearly hiding something in her back, but I ignored that, I had more pressing matters.
“It’s…” I sighed, it wasn’t worth lying, was it? “I’m writing a love letter for my crush, but I’m bad at writing and my letter sucks and I should just give this letter to her before I write something even worse!”
“Shut up, Ruby! I’m pretty sure your love letter is wonderful, you should really just give this girl the letter but because it’s good, not because you will write something worse!” Rose, as always, tried to make me feel better. How could I not love her? “And who is this lucky girl, if may I ask?”
“She…” I hesitated, could I tell her the truth? I mean, I would tell her the truth at some point, but should it be now? I breath deeply and decided about what to do. “You know what? You are right!” I picked the letter and walked closer to Rose. “I love you, Rose! And this letter is for you!”
Rose opened her mouth and closed it less than a minute after. She didn’t pick my letter. What should I do? Rose blinked and then smiled. Wait, that’s a good sign, right? She slowly showed what she was hiding: a heart-shaped box full of chocolate.
“I’m glad, because I love you too and this chocolate is for you, sweetie.” I picked the box, a goofy smile in my face. Rose gave me a kiss in the cheek and picked her letter from my paws. “I hope my letter is cute, because I would not like to go disappointed to our romantic dinner.”
I smiled even further. I sat in my chair again, eating a chocolate while I waited for Rose to read my letter. This was going to be the best night in my life.
She loves me! Haha! She loves me!

Fate hadn’t been doing much. They’d checked over their threads; the ones that needed immediate attention. So much to do, humans died everyday, and he needed to make sure they died how fate—how they—intended them to. A quick snip with their too big claws and it was over. Just like that, easy really. If it wasn’t for those people, the absolute worst. The ones who dared go against what they made for them, their hard work.  Destroyed, all because the mortals didn’t like it. It isn’t fair, I don’t want to die; to lose this or that, just constant complaints from the ungrateful spawn of Life.

And still, none quite so ruined his mood as that human. The one who thought it funny to not only deny his death, but deny others their fate. Constantly messing with threads, making them unravel. Fate couldn’t keep up with it. (Not they they were supposed to, exactly. New orders, people getting to decide their own path. But if they let them, what would be the use of them? This was their job, and they would do it. Until explicitly told not to. With force.) And Death, of all things, found it funny. She loved the chaos; then again she’d always loved skirting the rules with that blasted crow of hers, never caring that dead things should stay that way. And she was the one that was supposed to care the most! It was her domain, hers to watch over.

And she found this Gabriel, the one who refused to just fucking die, funny.

Life, well. Fate couldn’t really blame him, much as they hated to say it (and would never admit to it). After all Life had never been angry over his children dying; sad, of course. But he’d grown used to it, as they all had grown used to their roles. But ever since the new rule change, ever since he knew his children had a chance to beat their intended doom, he secretly rooted for them. Fate knew, fuck even Death knew. Life, of all the things he was and would be, had always been a terrible as fuck liar.

Huffing angrily, Fate almost missed Death slinking in. A smirk on her face, wicked and so very amused. When was she ever not? Always delighting in their misfortune.

They idly noted that she had her glamour on, hiding her skull of a face with her recent preference. Long black hair, flat black eyes, grey skin. Though they could see just a slight flicker every now and then of her real self, deadly and oh-so-fucking annoying. And she looked entirely too mocking, too happy for them to be anything but suspicious and wary.

“I have,” she drawled, still mockingly smiling, “a message for you, a letter. Specifically, a valentine’s letter. You know of that adorable little holiday the mortals have?”

Fate could only stare, their glare immediately replaced by wide eyes, mouth open to say something though no words came to them. Of all things they’d expected, this had not even made the list. Of course they knew of it; they made fates. And that included everything, what happened to who, who died, who lived just a little longer; tragedy, heartbreak, love. They gave people love, took it away even, so of course they knew of that holiday. Of that day. The day everyone fucking got obsessed with their fucking emotions. Love this, love fucking that. Or they got morose and even more fucking annoying.

Obviously impatient from their staring, Death thrust the letter even closer, her fingers close to revealing the bones of her true form. Her glamour was close to dropping; why was she even still wearing it? Everyone here knew what she looked like. Fate didn’t believe they could ever understand her and her quirks. After all, they hadn’t made her. Heaving a sigh, they relented to the inevitable and took the pink letter. Fuck, it even had a heart on it. But now that the shock was wearing off slowly, if slower than they’d like, Fate couldn’t help wondering: who the fuck had sent this?

Death was out, she’d do it in a far more creative way. Life too; though not creative, he was nicer, and he certainly wouldn’t send Death—no, if he was giving out cards to Fate he wouldn’t send the one person that Fate had near daily fights with. His workers he marked off too, they couldn’t feel enough to… and they were much more professional…? Right? Jester was gone (thank fuck). Death’s workers, no fucking way, none of the other stations would ever do this either…? So who?

Burning with curiosity, Fate opened the envelope, pulling out a small note.

And crushed it between his fingers. That fucking mortal, that fucking soon-to-be-dead mortal! They’d increase their efforts, triple it until they could erase the very thread of his existence. They’d make sure they removed him so thoroughly no one would ever remember him, think of him, know him. They cursed the day they ever made him—vowed that they would be rid of him someday. And that useless fucking worker! Claws still tearing holes into the note, they stalked off, unaware of a laughing Death behind them.

And Life, looking confused until Death explained through her laughter. Then he tried—and failed—to look disapproving. Though anyone could see the corners of his lips quirk up.

Dear Fate
Go fuck yourself
(I’m not coming back)
Signed ———-&Jester
[/spoilers]

Yvaine rubbed her nose and stole a glance at her father.  Dinner was going about as well as she expected for her first meeting of Blaine and her parents.  Her mom was trying to keep up the good front, being civil, cheerfully asking Blaine about his studies, and interests.  Her dad.  Yvaine sighed again and closed her eyes to blot out the scenes at the table.  She could feel the table jiggling as he tapped his foot, a sure sign of agitation that he was attempting to keep hidden. 

Yvaine felt a touch at her right elbow.  She opened her eyes to find Blaine leaning towards her, his big deer eyes wide with tender concern, “Yvaine, are ...are you feeling okay?”  he anxiously looked at her, then back towards her Mom and then back to Yvaine.  “Am I doing something wrong?” he whispered.

Yvaine shook her head and gave a weak smile.  “I’m okay, just lost a little in thought.” 

“Hummpft!  There seems a lot of that going around”, her father added, with a pointed stare at Blaine.  Blaine blinked back, the barb had completely sailed over his head.  He gave a lopsided grin to Yvaine’s father and glanced around the table, then to his plate where he decided to shift his utensils into a pile.

Yvaine’s mother promptly stood as though on cue, and reached for Blaine’s plate.  “All finished?”  she asked.  When he nodded, she completed the reach and began to collect the plates from the table.  Yvaine and her father exchanged glances. 

“Blaine”,  Yvaine’s mother continued.  “I have some desert I made.  Would you mind helping me?” 

“Oh sure thing!”  Blaine bounded from the table and in his rush, made Yvaine’s plate and utensils clatter.  Her father shot him a dirty look before he could control his face.  Blaine’s ears drooped downwards.  He was trying his best, but neither parent seemed keen on him, and he wasn’t sure what he could do.  “I often times help my Mom with the kitchen work!  I can help you wash up, if you need?” he added anxiously.

Yvaine’s mother’s eyes widened slightly, horrified at the imagery of broken dishes,  “I wouldn’t dream of having you wash dishes!  Though it really would help if you could lend me your paws for the desert?”  she nodded to Yvaine as they left the table. 

Yvaine’s father had already retreated to his study.  Yvaine followed.  Better to get The Discussion over with now.  He whirled on her as soon as she entered, “What are you thinking???”  he hissed, his double tails lashing.  “Honey you’re smart, way wwaaaaaay smarter than him!  Why are you even with him?  Why are you even giving him the time of day?”  At this point his fur was bristling along his spine.  “You’re the Head of the Astronomy Department!  The youngest to ever hold that position ever  and you bring a fruitloop home?  As a potential boyfriend???

Yvaine looked up from the worn carpet where she’d been tracing the patterns with her eyes.  “He’s not a fruitloop Dad, he’s an artist.” 

“Yght!”  her dad made a strangled sound and threw his paws up in the air.  “Like that’s going to support a family?!  Honey you’ve got to think down the road too.  How is he going to be a helpmate to you, and support and provide for a family if he’s a - an artist!”  he spluttered out the last word, paws flung open wide, chest heaving, attempting to reach through the fog to his daughter. 

Tears brimmed as he saw so many various ages of her standing on that very spot as a kit.  She’d been clever, so keen to learn, what happened?!  Where did he go wrong?  The deer she’d brought home from uni seemed sweet enough, but he also seemed about as bright as cottoncandy.  He looked at the top of her head, tears in his eyes, fearful of the precipice she seemed to teeter on and for once, he had no words, no way to coax her back from what seemed a terrible, imminent threat to the rest of her life. 

“Colour.”  the word was so small he almost didn’t hear it.  “He gives me colour Dad” Yvaine repeated as she lifted her head and her pale blue eyes held tears too.  She cleared her throat, and her own tails vibrated with controlled agitation.

“When I look out and see the stars at night, they twinkle and they give me joy and my heart leaps to see them”, the smile curled on her face, “but they are set always at night.  Everything is dark, and black.  The world around me is leeched of colour Dad.  When I’m sitting out there, night after night, I see the pinpricks of light through the lense, but when I look around even if there’s moonlight, it’s all shades of white, black or grey.  Red?  It’s black at night.  Greens?  They turn a grey if I’m lucky.  I can barely remember what oranges or yellows are.”

He looked at her blankly, “But you see the sun!  You’re out and about during the day, you have your classes…”

“I have my classes, but we both know my passion has always been the stars and nighttime Dad.  Blaine gives me colour and he gives me balance.”  she heard his choked sound and pressed on. 

“He’s goofy!” she blurted.  “He’s silly, he’s clueless, half the time he can’t remember if he’s locked his door, but he has manners, he’s polite, he’s clean, and he tries his heart out to be nice and sweet to people.  No, he doesn’t have a clue about the real world, or jobs.  His world is Colour Dad.  His world is rainbows and swirls and hearts, and the most insanely gifted, surely drawn art I have ever witnessed being drawn.  He reminds me of the things in childhood I missed.” 

Yvaine watched her father open his mouth, but she shook her head, “It wasn’t you, or Mom.  It was ME.  I chose books and charts and stars.  I thought doodling was dumb.  I didn’t think it mattered much who painted what, or even what the seasons might be unless it was to watch for a favorite constellation coming over the horizon.”  she smiled weakly, “No, what Blaine’s giving me is colour, and art and he’s reminding me to not take myself so seriously all the time.  I set out to prove to everyone just how smart I was, just how good I was ~ and I am!  But I need some balance.  That’s why he’s here.  That’s why he’s in my Life Dad.  So please, just grant me this.  I don’t know if we’ll stay together or not, but for the moment, he is worthwhile to me.  Just like Mom brings you joy and makes you smile, let me smile too.” 

She looked up with tears streaming down her cheeks and was swallowed in her Dad’s enormous embrace.  She could feel him shaking as he cried too.  “Honey I never knew!  I never knew you were missing those things.  I -I would have given them to you.”

“I know Dad”  her voice sounded thick and choked.  “I’d no idea I was missing them until he showed up and opened my eyes.”  She stepped back and dashed her paw at her eyes, scrubbing away the wet. “Kinda hard to miss something if you don’t know it’s missing.”  she added.  “I love you Daddy, and that will never be replaced, but for now, trust me.” 

“Hey you two!”  Yvaine peered around to see Blaine’s face sideways in the doorway.  She grinned at him as his ears flopped at funky angles.  “The strawberry shortcake’s on the table and ummmm….”  His eyes drifted up to her father, “She says the cream will go funky if you don’t come eat it soon!”. 

Yvaine looked back and grinned as they bumped through the doorway.  “Can’t have that happening!  Mom’ll kill us if we don’t eat her artwork on time.”

    Alice Telire was in a frenzy. This morning when she had gone into town with her patents she had seen ineki everywhere giving each other things. She sought her mother for an answer to the strange phenomena, she had been told it was Valentines Day—a day to give letters and gifts called Valentines to the ineki you care about. To Alice, this was the perfect opportunity. Having emerged from her flower mute, the five year-old could only express herself through actions, doodles, and written words.
    The pup grabbed three sheets of paper in her tent, grabbed her doodle wand from where it was tucked behind her ear, and laid down on her belly to start.

Dear Daddy,
    I love you very much! Thank you for letting me ride of your back when you go running really fast. Happy Valentines Day!Love,
Alice

She added in a few drawings of her and her dad together. Satisfied with her work, she folded the paper into a letter shape and set it aside. She placed her wand to the new sheet of paper.

Dear Mom,
I love you! Maybe next time you go to trick daddy, I can help? Thank you for making pretty pictures for me. Happy Valentines Day!Love,
Alice

Alice added in a large drawing of her and her mom together in a field of flowers. Now it was time for the third letter. She pondered how to go about this one. It wasn’t to somebody she really knew, she’d just seen him around and thought he looked lonely.

Dear Abel,
Hello! My name is Alice. I am five years old. I’ve seen you around the guild where my parents work. My mom said your name is Abel. Want to play together sometime, Abel? I am mute, so I won’t be able to talk to you, but I can draw you a picture if you’d like! Happy Valentines Day, let’s be friends, okay?Love,
Alice

Alice decided to finish off the letter with a bit of magic, adding some drawings that moved across the paper as they would if they were a cartoon. Hoping that she would finally make a friend, Alice folded the last valentine up. Now all she had to do was get them all delivered before the day’s end. She left her tent, and bounded off to find her parents.

One of Eve’s most disliked days is Valentines Day. A day for love, where people give each other cheesy gifts? No thank you! She would much rather use this day for evil. Elfie of course, was a lover of well… all things love. So he liked Valentines quite a lot, and was planning a special day for her, unbeknownst to her.

She sat down at her desk to write her very own anti-valentine. This is her favourite tradition for Valentines day. This years Valentines was going to be particularly fun, as she had finally located one of the few remaining scientists that had helped create her. The same scientists she vowed to eliminate the day she escaped.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Today is the day
I’m coming for you.

She signed it with her pawprint, and then also drew a drawing of the scientists logo with a huge x over it. She proceeded to set out and send it via space mail, which would arrive at it’s destination within the next hour or two. She proceeded home to get ready - gather together her weapons, particularly her trusty neon ray gun.

However, these plans changed. Upon returning home and walking through the door, Elfie surprised her. He grabbed her paw and lead her into the dining room, where there were lots of flowers covering the table, along with candles and a perfect smelling dinner. “Happy valentines day.” he whispered, nuzzling into her.

Although she hated the idea of so much affection on one specific day, Elfie was her soft spot. She smiled at his kind gesture. She knew how much he would have enjoyed setting it up. Even more, she knew how much he would disapprove of her ruining a lovely valentines day for revenge. She sat down at the table to enjoy a romantic evening with her partner, deciding that her plans of annihilation could wait one more day.

Dove ended up being very busy with some super important work things, so Prose and I took over the commenting this month!

Loon - That gore warning certainly is applicable here, haha. The heart is beautifully drawn, and it’s definitely a unique take on the idea of giving your heart to someone special. I’m so curious about Samuel now!
vihuff - I love the softness of the colors you chose, as well as the way the koi seem to flow across the page. Everything combines to form a serene, quiet atmosphere that definitely befits a dream.
Lena - These letters take Valentines in an interesting direction, and I love the idea of a father dutifully writing a letter to his daughter every year. He sounds like he’s had a rough life, but she’s clearly still so important to him.
Vely - This is an adorable picture, and it makes great use of the fiendish companion. I think it’s a wonderful deliverer of Valentines, though I can certainly understand where Lily and Lyrryn’s perplexed looks are coming from.
dessieh - I’m not much of a letter writer myself, so I can definitely relate to Ruby here. They sound like a fun character, and I’m so glad that that little burst of courage resulted in a dinner date!
radio - Anti-Valentines are always an interesting read, especially when set against the love songs that pervade the month. That last verse in particular stands out and seems really honest coming from a floating singer with beer on his breath.
Zukana - Drum is such an observant character, especially when they’re looking at Fell. Their description of Fell make it so clear how important she is to them.
OregonCoast - This is such a sweet story. It’s always unnerving, introducing your new boyfriend to your family, but Yvaine’s done a remarkably good job on explaining just why she likes Blaine. Opposites do attract!
Jordii - You had me at ‘space villain.’ The poem made me laugh, and I love how love made Eve set aside her evil plans for another day. Good for you, Elfie.

[@macaron] - Aww, I think it’s super cool that Bucket decided to treat herself for Valentines day. 8) The picture you drew is really nice — those cupcakes make me hungry, haha. I hope she enjoyed her sweets!
Nephele - Ryan sounds like he has a very interesting family situation! I’m not familiar with any of these characters or their world, but it sounds like they’re all pretty well developed and distinct, which is awesome. :)
Vysal - It sounds like Raven and Alice have a very tumultuous relationship and history! Reading this anti-valentine made me want to know more about them and what transpired between them.
Titan - Aww, poor Quin. She seems so lonely. I’m really intrigued by her situation! I’d love to learn more about her and her family. :D
Dracogryph - Elianora sounds like a real sweetheart. :) It sounds like she’s a very well loved figure in her community! Everyone’s grandma. :D
Adrian - First off, the picture you drew of Raphael is really cute! You have a very nice style! I’m interested in learning more about Raphael and his past. I want to know who the valentine was for (or from). :I
Knight - Tristan is a brave guy to let a stranger watch his kid, haha. Meliodas is super cute though — and very thoughtful to give out so many valentines! :D What a sweetie.
DelightfulDragon - It’s always interesting to see characters who embody concepts (Fate, Death, etc) interacting and how they view the mortal world. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Fate portrayed quite like they are here — very cool!
Arintol - Aww, I love Alice’s doodle magic. Imagining those little moving doodles on her letter to Abel was really cute! I hope that her valentine hits its mark and that her and Abel become good friends. :D
Azurrys - Aww, I really love that you sort of continued from January, in a way. It was really nice to read more from these characters! I love the sort of melancholy tone to the whole piece; I feel so bad for Landen!
arcticfoxies - Super cute! The best part of valentine’s day was definitely making cards as a kid, haha. I like that Kire’s statements of love are simple, but still give me a pretty good idea of her character. :D
raus - Naos and the Professor seem to have a really cute relationship! I really enjoyed her letter to him. :D I hope to see more from these characters in the future!