#and then i made an unintentional valentines day card

[bleh1bleh2]

Alien Pick-Up Lines

#keith. profusely blushing: lance im half galra. you know this. #my brain went 'hmmm.... lance using alien themed pick up lines on keith' #and then i made an unintentional valentines day card #klance #voltron #also ​i was struggling to decide if keith has a frown bc hes Totally Not Effected or the small smile #you get the small smile bc its cute #and fit my unintentional valentines card theme better #my art

[bleachhaven]

Soutaicho’s Secret Admirer (Shunsui x Reader) — Part 3/6

Author’s Note:

I know I said I’d have something for you this weekend, but all the love ya’ll showed Part 2 of this story had me super inspired that I just sat down and wrote this out. After all, feedback is what fuels writers xD There should be a few more parts left after this. I know I know...the 2-parter story has evolved into a 5-parter :P

First off, thank you so much for all the love! Secondly, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

A very special thanks to @sexintheseireitei​ for all the encouraging words! This chapter is dedicated especially for you!

--

Read Part 1 and Part 2 first...

As much as Nanao-chan strictly insisted that today was just like any other day, the bits of pink and red popping up all over the black and white of the seireitei said otherwise. Of course, Squad 1 was devoid of such nonsense, despite Shunsui's several clandestine operations to host a party in the 1st for the last decade. He had been sternly thwarted by his fuktaicho who did not believe this day to hold any meaning at all.

Maybe that's why it was that much more fun to bother her thoroughly with something she would definitely think to be too extravagant.

"Happy Valentine's Day, my sweet, sweet, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said with a cheeky smile, plopping the gift down on her desk.

She stared at the little teddy-bear donned in red bows and holding a red plushy heart saying "sweet, sweet, Nanao-chan!"

Her gaze turned upwards towards him. "This is a highly inappropriate gift to give to your fuktaicho."

"Ah, but we are practically family. And you are my sweet, sweet, Nanao-chan after all..."

"Hmm..." was all she said in response.

Even if she said she hated the gift, she dared not move it. She allowed the fluffy thing to take space on her desk and carried on working.

Shunsui continued to stare at her, waiting impatiently and expectantly. She continued to look over another expense report from the 11th for property damage, but Shunsui didn't move.

Finally she looked up. "Did you need something?"

He pouted at her. "Did Nanao-chan forget?"

She wanted to pretend and feign ignorance but she just couldn't do it. She has clearly gone soft in the past couple of years if his pouting face could make her cave this easily.

"Fine," she sighed, and reached into her desk drawer. In her hand was an assorted box of chocolates all complete with a white ribbon tied into a bow. "Happy Valentine's Day, Taicho," she said.

"Why, thank you, Nanao-chan! You really shouldn't have," he said making Nanao snort a bit. He was already opening it as he sauntered towards his side of the office.

On top of his desk was...well, nothing but paperwork, and he had to say he was just a little bit disappointed. He had been wondering what his beloved Secret Admirer would give him this Valentine's Day. Truthfully, it was all he had been  looking forward to this week. But there was no love letter hidden beneath other official mail or left on top of his window sill.

He sat down at his desk and pulled out his latest project. He popped in one of Nanao-chan's chocolates, the taste of salted caramel teasing his taste buds, and spread out the fancy lavender colored paper.

After all, she wasn't the only one with a way of words.

Even after becoming the Soutaicho, he continued to write a few chapters for "Rose-Colored-Path." Sure, that was mostly erotica but writing a love letter couldn't be that difficult, could it?

He already had a bit written out. He was still trying to figure out how to tell this sweet Secret Admirer he would want to get to know her, without making it sound like either its a command from the Soutaicho, or as if he was a complete and utter lecher trying to score a night or two of fun.

Then of course there was the bigger problem. How in the world was he to get this love letter to her? He still had no clue who she was let alone if she was actually serious about the things she said. It was both frustrating and romantic.

Right now, as things were, it was mostly frustrating.

It was in times like this that he desperately wished Juu was around. He was certain his best friend would have had some kind of solution or at least some words of wisdom to offer to this heartbreaking dilemma. Or maybe he would have admonished Shunsui for falling for someone he hadn't even seen yet. With Juu gone, and with the position he now held, he had no one to talk to about things that bothered him.

He had no peers after all. Being the man at the top was not easy. He knew it would be a difficult job when he stepped up to it, but he had no idea that it would be this lonely.

All of his quiet sighing and restless shuffling naturally drew Nanao's attention.

"How difficult is it to read through a missive and stamp your seal of authority?" Nanao asked, stepping up to his desk. He tried to hide what he was working on, but Nanao's sharp eyes would not be waylaid. "Unless...you are not working on the paperwork as you were supposed..."

"No, no!" Shunsui insisted, knowing the lavender paper was peeking through his hands. "It's just a bit of difficult paperwork. Strictly official business, I assure you, my dear Nanao-chan."

"Oh I see," she said, and Shunsui hoped she really didn't see at all.

"What is it?" he asked warily.

She had a strange smile on her face. One that had Shunsui wanting to run for cover. It did not bode well when Nanao-chan bared her teeth like that.

"Does this have anything to do with...your Secret Admirer perhaps?"

Shunsui could swear he tried to remain expressionless as to not give anything away, but maybe his heart stopped a little."I don't know what you are talking about."

She raised a brow at him. "Really? Do you really think anything would get by me in this office? That I wouldn't notice the fancy little letters you've been hiding from me?"

"You knew?" Shunsui asked, a bit shocked. And here he was thinking he was being so hush hush about the whole thing.

Nanao rolled her eyes and returned to her desk. "It offends me that you thought I didn't."

Interesting turn of events this turned out to be. He couldn't help but wonder. If Nanao-chan did indeed know all about his Secret Admirer...maybe...

"Do you know who it is?"

Nanao, who had picked up her paperwork again, smiled down at the form before her. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't," she said non-commitedly.

"Please, Nanao-chan! Don't be so mean to your Taicho. Just tell me."

She shook her head, denying his request. "I'm not telling you anything about anything. Now, please either do your work, or run along and let me do my work in peace."

"So mean," Shunsui mumbled, picking up the brush once more and dipping it in ink.

However, the whole conversation planted a terrible thought in his head. What if there really was no Secret Admirer? What if it was some elaborate prank on the poor lonely Soutaicho by someone? Maybe the SWA was having a laugh. He wouldn't put it past Matsumoto-san honestly. Or even his own Nanao-chan. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. And the more it made sense, the more it made his mood plummet.

But he didn't want to believe it. He longed for these letters to be true, for it was too late now. He was halfway there...falling for a nameless, faceless woman who had romanced and seduced him with just a sweet words. How cruel would it be for it to now turn out to be nothing more than a prank?

A few minutes passed by, the silence broken only by the scratch of brush on paper. Then a commotion outside startled Shunsui out of his reverie.

A sharp knock, and a bid to enter, was followed by an officer of the 1st relaying some strange information of something or the other that Squads 11 and 12 had gotten up to. A fight or a brawl.

Nanao sighed, standing up from her desk. "Not again."

"It's alright, Nanao-chan. I'll take care of it. You carry on with whatever it is that you were doing," Shunsui said making a move towards the door already. His mood was feeling low and this was the perfect excuse to get out of the office for a while.

Once he was gone, Nanao cleared up the completed paperwork on his desk to be sent to the relevant divisions. If the little lavender paper got stuffed between some forms and approvals, it was purely an accident. If that specific set of forms ended up in Squad 13, it was surely unintentional. If it was found by the third seat of Squad 13 it was only because their squad was without a fuktaicho still and all the paperwork fell upon her.

Nanao definitely couldn't have predicted any of that after all. But then again...Ise Nanao almost always knew exactly what was going on, did she not?

—

Shunsui was in a glum mood when he finally returned to the office. Nanao had left a message with another officer to let him know that she had a SWA meeting so she would be leaving the office a bit earlier than usual to attend that before the Valentine’s Day Party at the 8th.

He almost thought to go straight to said party. Lisa had continued with his silly tradition as the current Taicho of Squad 8, and she went all out. He dared not be too late and risk all the good sake provided generously by Squad 6, and the cellars of  Kuchiki manor itself, running out. But he had to finish his love letter, even if he knew he might never get to send it to the relevant individual...if there even was an individual in the first place.

When he stepped in, he couldn't see the lavender paper on his desk. Truth be told, he couldn't see anything on his desk at all.

It was covered with a huge, and by huge meaning gigantic, bouquet of red roses. He shunpoed to see if there was a card left for him, and there definitely was.

Dear Shunsui,

I have to say I don't need a special day out of the year to show you how much you mean to me. Still I know how much you enjoy this day. I used to love the parties you threw back then. Yadomaru Taicho carries on the traditions but I feel it's not just the same. Not without you.

Every day feels like a day dedicated to love when thoughts of you haunt me always...but what a beautiful way to be haunted indeed.

Happy Valentine's Day, Shunsui!

These roses may one day fade, but my love for you never will. I've loved you for a lifetime already, and I know I would love you for another lifetime more.

These are chocolates I made especially for you, infused with your favorite sake, just the way you like it. Every time you taste one, I hope you'd think of me thinking of how much I yearn to taste you.

With love,

Your Secret Admirer

He picked up the box of chocolates he hadn't noticed earlier as it was hidden behind the elaborate bouquet of roses. It was an elegant box with a pretty pink print of sakura blossoms, tied together with a pink bow. It almost looked too pretty to undo. Almost.

He slowly opened it and popped a cute heart-shaped chocolate into his mouth, savoring the taste of delicious chocolate mixed with the mild bite of the sake. It tasted absolutely divine.

He was floored. If this was a prank, it was truly an unnecessarily elaborate one.

But he allowed himself to cherish this moment in the solitude of his now quiet office. Handmade chocolates and flowers...it was something he would do for someone he was romancing. Now to be romanced by someone so extravagantly, it felt truly amazing. He couldn't believe someone made these with her own hands just for him. He didn't think he had something so sweet done for him in a very long time...maybe not forever.

He was the one who had always played the role of the romantic, the seducer, the lover...it did indeed feel nice to have this kind of charm turned on him.

But as much as he devoured the attention, he also felt strangely dismayed. Instinctively, he was a giver. It applied to his family and friends, and it definitely applied to his love life. Even if it was a summer fling, he still treated his companions with respect and adoration. In whatever way possible, he tried to give everything he could to those he loved and valued. It was not in him to not reciprocate. He didn't know how to not be a giver. It wasn't in his nature.

This time, he truly desperately wanted to shower his admirer with so much love and affection, and it killed him inside to not know who she was...

—

Read Part 4 next!

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#shunsui kyouraku #kyouraku shunsui #kyouraku shunsui x reader #shunsui x reader #shunsui kyouraku x reader #bleach x reader #soutaicho’s secret admirer #bleach imagines

[kaaytea]

Valentine's day hcs

⤷Includes: Eijun, Chris, Furuya, Mei

Warnings: None, just some baseball fools

A/n: Happy Valentine's day Daiya fans! This is honestly a pretty monumentous post because it's the first time I've written for Furuya and Mei! Enjoy! ❤️

Eijun

PLEASE THIS KID IS AN ACTUAL PUPPY

Sawamura is our Shoujo king, so he absolutely loves Valentine's day 😤

Like, a full day to show your friends and or partner how much you love them?

Yes please, sign him up!

Eijun would always make his friends handmade cards back home

His mom once told him that things made from the heart are far more valuable than anything store bought, so your card is definitely a handmade one

It's probably pretty messy and just the normal construction paper heart cutout, but he's still very sweet about it

Probably writes the sappiest note about how much he loves you and that you're his world

Eijun is so focused on expressing his appreciation for you, that he entirely doesn't expect something from you

And then when you give him a gift he just :0!!!!

Definitely gives you a big hug, like the kind where you both sway side to side for a bit and your faces are tucked into eachothers necks

Sawamura Eijun is so precious I swear 🥺

Chris

TAKIGAWA CHRIS YUU, MY KING OF UNINTENTIONAL ROMANTIC GESTURES!!

When I say unintentional I mean he just thinks they're nice things to do

But you on the other hand can't help but SWOON

He gets you a single red rose and a bag of your favorite convenience store snacks

He opted for a single rose because a full bouquet (in his opinion) is a bit over kill

Plus, one rose is easy to transport, especially when he tucks it behind your ear and proceeds to call you the most beautiful thing in the world

:')

Just saying, it's a crime if you don't get this man chocolate

it's literally his favorite food

Has the sweetest, most gentle smile when you give him his favorite chocolate!!!

Honestly, I feel like the both of you would end up sharing the food parts of your gifts

I mean Chris definitely would . . . I guess it's up to you if you'd share your food or not 👀

Furuya

Oh Furuya...you sweet boy

Valentine's day? That's . . . a thing you're supposed to celebrate?

Sawamura lectures him on the importance of the holiday. He's so offended that Furuya just disregarded it

Furuya has no idea what to do, so Sawamura and Haruichi try to help him out a bit

So the chaotic trio are wandering around the store the NIGHT before Valentine's day trying to find a present for you

Eijun is going the very traditional route and is like cards! Flowers! Candy!

But nothing he offered felt very . . . you

Eventually Haruichi just asks what you enjoy and the light bulb goes off in Furuyas head

So the three of them leave with a grumbling Eijun and a very pleased Furuya with a fluffy, heart patterned blanket tucked safely in a bag

You, on the other hand, have the easiest time getting Furuya a gift

Originally, you were gonna get him the little ice cream bars he loves, but then a polar bear plush caught your eye and you couldn't turn it down

When you give it to him his eyes are all sparkly and he's got the hint of a smile on his face

He immediately hugs it to his chest and then gives you the blanket

Obviously the two of you cuddle and take a nap together. A plushy and a blanket are a great combination

(Furuya sleeps with the polar bear plushy every night because it reminds him of you )

Mei

HES SO ANNOYING OH MY GOD

Even if he had a partner and their relationship was public he'd still end up with a bunch of Valentines from classmates

He's not gonna shut up about getting a bunch of gifts

He's all "Oooo look how many I got! As expected for the ACE of Inashiro 😝✌️"

He'd eventually stop his bragging, but he's still all smug

I feel like Mei would be absolutely whIPPED for his partner, so he wants you to feel extra special

I'm cringing so hard writing this, but ya know those huge ass teddy bears people get eachother?

I'm talking those 3 to 4 ft. bear plushies

Yeah he rolls up to school with one for you

HE HAS THE DORKIEST SMILE WHEN GIVING YOU IT TOO

Mei is also like the corniest lover ever, so he also gets you a card with a bad pun

And yes it's a baseball pun . . . would you expect anything less from this fool

It's probably something like: "Forget stealing bases, because you stole my heart ❤️"

Hot take, but I don't think Mei likes chocolate all that much

He loves ice cream though, so definitely get him that instead

He's a baby and gets VERY excited when you give him ice cream

He'd press kisses all over you face as a thank you

#sawamura eijun x reader #takigawa chris yuu x reader #furuya satoru x reader #narumiya mei x reader #sawamura eijun #takigawa chris yuu #furuya satoru #narumiya mei #daiya no ace x reader #daiya no ace #ace of the diamond x reader #ace of the diamond #ace of diamond x reader #ace of diamond #diamond no ace #diamond no ace x reader

[wedreamedlove]

Speech Quirks in MLQC

Archived Reddit post but this is the improved and updated version. I've linked the Reddit one though because @sharinluna made fantastic comments which I hadn't considered.

Spoilers include content up to Chapter 18 and some unreleased calls and cards. None of these are plot lines though, just snippets to support their speech quirks. Also, my eternal disclaimer is that I'm pulling from CN lines so don't be alarmed if the quotes differ.

BAI QI

The cutest habit this man has is defaulting into a sincere and solemn tone whenever he doesn't know how to respond to MC. He's so genuine it hurts. It's especially apparent when he goes along with weird topics.

Here are some examples of Bai Qi being an adorably confused puppy but trying to do his best. He always takes MC's concerns seriously:

[CN Soaked Heart SSR Misunderstanding Date] Context is they keep misunderstanding each other today. "Though I don't understand women's hearts, yours is the only one I don't want to get wrong. Can you give me some more time?"

[Lightbath SSR Tenderness] Context is after he excessively praises MC to her embarrassment. "I'm sorry, maybe it's because I didn't convey it well enough. But I just wanted to express all my thoughts out. Next time, I hope I can use a better way to express them to you."

[Summer Loving SSR Undo Fail Call] Context is MC having a terrible day and mis-sent her messages to Bai Qi. "If you don't want to go to work then you can take a day off. As for your hairline... how about..."

[Blaze Up SSR Age Rage Call] Bai Qi takes MC's opening extremely seriously, thinking something happened, before having a small laugh at her being called "auntie" by the boy. But he immediately regains his seriousness to talk it over with her.

It's not that Bai Qi doesn't get jokes, but his response to them tends to be serious too (which leads to unintentional killer lines). I think his humor tends towards more of the deadpan kind, like Li Zeyan (except Li Zeyan has some witty sharpness).

I've also seen people mention this phrase and I love it because it encapsulates him so well: Bai Qi is either shy and blushes or he goes straight for the kill LOL.

Here are some examples of lines that may sound sleazy or too flirty if they weren't delivered in such a straight and sincere manner LOL:

[Cold Shower R Refreshing Moments] When you pick the choice saying you thought he was going to upload a picture he goes: "Um... I can DM you." I've seen that he uses a smiley in English but it's not there in Chinese.

[Against the Light SR Sweet Bomb Moments] When you pick the choice saying that he's become cola-flavored he asks: "What do I normally taste like?"

[2018 Valentine's Text] I chose a conversation path which had me telling Bai Qi that he needs to get used to pet hair if he's going to raise a pet and that one day I'd like to raise one. He seriously promises to do his best to get used to pet hair and asks to raise one together.

[Grocery Moments] When you pick the choice that he can use his other hand to carry bags he answers simply: "My other hand is for holding yours, so I can't use it."

Honestly, the takeaway in Bai Qi's speech is the unconditional support and love he gives to MC. He never questions her feelings about things, and oftentimes vehemently objects to her thinking she's bothering him or that her problems are trivial or silly.

He wants to hear about her happy news, her sad news, and everything about her. (I joke that Bai Qi is the perfect fit for the meme where it's like "Why are you crying?" "Oh, it's just these onions" "What the hell did you say to my girlfriend!?").

He always gives a heads up before he acts, even though he generally tends to be moving already. Like going to pick up MC in the rain or at any other location.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of this came from his family life. Through his Rumors and Secrets and [Seize SSR Sad Thoughts Call] you can get an idea that his mother didn't have any standing with his father, often got cut off, and nothing she wanted or felt mattered.

Even though Bai Qi was young at that time it probably left a mark on him because he never does that with MC; he lets her express herself before he brings up any of his feelings. Her feelings are always valid, but he does tend to be a proactive fixer and provides solutions if he can (much like Li Zeyan). Bai Qi will try to solve MC's problems, but I'm sure if she just wanted to rant then he'll gladly listen (ex. [Blaze Up SSR Age Rage Call]).

One other notable thing is that, in Asian cultures, social harmony is very important and that's why there's a culture around speaking indirectly and preserving the other person's dignity.

So Bai Qi's indifference and ability to cut straight to the point probably doesn't stand out that much in the West but it's actually a bit shocking and impactful in Chinese. Especially because he doesn't shy away from expressing his feelings. He might stutter, cough, clear his throat, and be all embarrassed but then he just delivers monologues of blunt emotion (ex. [Love Of My Life SSR Goodnight Wish & Wish Calls]).

I find that Bai Qi and Li Zeyan are the most stereotypical types of masculinity among the four men.

ZHOU QILUO

As always, I need to thank my Luoluo-loving friend for the discussion here because I always have the least thoughts on him. Oops.

I don't think I'd be wrong in saying he has the most range among all the men. He gets to play with a pouting baby voice, his acting hero voice, his KEY voice, his Helios voice, and then his normal voice.

He has a harder speech habit to pin down because of this massive range, but I think you can catch how he leans into a sly or teasing tone. He's very quick with comebacks and jokes and I'd say he's the first to establish an inside joke with MC (both being each other's superheroes).

He and MC have a relationship where they're both building each other up. If Bai Qi provides unconditional support and acceptance then Zhou Qiluo is all about cheering her on whenever possible.

It's also interesting to point out that even though he's so emotive on the outside, when things are serious he goes deadly quiet and calm. You can see that in Chapter 8, 14, and his Helios persona in Chapter 17. They say watch out for the quiet ones, but more like watch out for the people who use their jokes and loudness to hide their quiet intensity.

I'm not sure how clear this came across in English but Luoluo notably repeats himself on several occasions in Chinese. It's sad because it's like he's reassuring the person he's talking to and himself at the same time.

[Main Story 14-20] "It'll be okay, it'll definitely be okay [...] You'll be okay."

[Main Story 14-20] "Miss Chips, wait for me... will you wait for me?"

I've also noticed that, even though he tries to be as genuine as possible, he's actually not as emotionally open as someone like Bai Qi. Luoluo tends to bring up his own emotions in a third-person or hypothetical perspective. For example:

[Call after Main Story 11-8: Important Decision] Luoluo calls and talks around the subject of an important decision he needs to make (aka. turning into Helios) and whether or not MC would be able to accept him if he changed completely into another person.

[CN ASMR Bear Cub's Troubles] He tells a story about a number of bears doing things and they're clearly supposed to represent him but he never admits that either.

We're about to hear much more from Helios but, as a start, he's extremely curt. Luoluo is definitely pulling an opposite here with his speech style, but it's neat how you can hear tones of Zhou Qiluo throughout too.

See, there's these things called modal particles in Chinese that you stick on the end of your sentences to give them meaning, emphasize meaning, strengthen meaning, or soften the meaning and tone.

Luoluo has the habit of using one 啊 (ah) which can have all these sort of meanings and other ones you just sort of pick up on:

[attached to the end of a sentence to indicate admiration]

[attached to the end of a sentence to show approval or self-protectiveness or to urge or enjoin]

[attached to the end of a sentence to indicate doubt]

[sign of pause in the middle of a sentence to draw attention to what one is going to say next]

[attached to the end of each item enumerated]

In Luoluo's case it makes his sentences sound more excited and younger and goes really well with his bright atmosphere. However, when he's Helios, this modal particle is dropped completely. Helios is flat, blunt, and basically pulling a Li Zeyan LOL.

XU MO

I think I've talked way too much about how Xu Mo is a wordsmith LOL but I'm always impressed by how he can corner MC into accepting his invitations without it being creepy. But I suppose this is a point of contention due to localization decisions and voice direction.

Putting that aside, it has to be noted that Xu Mo asks for a lot of permission. His speech style is designed to get you to lower your guard as much as possible, which I've touched on in my wordsmith post.

Again, returning to modal particles, Xu Mo has ones that basically gives all his sentences a "May I?" "Could I?" "Would you...?" style.

[Sound of Silence SSR The Little Prince Call] "Would you like to hear what I have to say?"

[Call after Main Story 3-1: Movie Invitation] "Then, would this lady be willing to watch Manhattan with me this Sunday?"

[CN Archery Date] "May I ask this lady here for some assistance?"

To be more specific, he uses a lot of 吧 (ba) which has these sort of meanings (the first one especially):

[a particle used at the end of the sentence to indicate discussion, suggestion, request, or instruction]

[an indication of agreement or approval at the end of the sentence]

[an indication of doubt or guess at the end of the sentence]

[an indication of uncertainty in the sentence]

[it can express a pause, tone of assumption, difficulty in making a choice, or dilemma in the sentence]

You can imagine how much this softens his sentences right? It's why he's so good at sounding disarming LOL and then you walk away and take 5 seconds to realize he said something alarming and/or got you to accept a date.

On another note, much like Bai Qi, Xu Mo quietly accepts all of MC's feelings and doubts. But he's much more of a natural at gently refuting her points and wording things in a way that helps her mature slowly (a big theme with him).

Compared to the others, he checks more often on whether MC wants to listen to his opinion before he gives it. Or, he supports his view from an empirical standpoint (like how he's been the adviser to Miracle Finder pretty much at the beginning and seen her growth from there).

Because of how his speech habit is designed to be soft when he's Xu Mo, it makes his Ares persona really interesting. He drops his softeners and speaks in a more clipped tone but he still maintains his politeness.

At the news conference in Chapter 16 you can hear how he uses starts using rhetoric to push the MC around (as a mix between Ares and cold Xu Mo). He actively challenges her opinions, compared to before when he was just providing alternative (and supportive) views. The news conference is actually amazing because in Chinese they both become EXCESSIVELY polite to demonstrate this new distance between them after Chapter 13.

CRIES WHENEVER I THINK ABOUT XU MO AND ARES. So, Xu Mo also has a quirk that's very apparent in his ASMRs where he repeats himself because he flusters the MC so bad she's always like "Huh!?".

But as Ares he literally has a line where he coolly says that he doesn't like to repeat himself and that he won't repeat himself...

Switching gears, Xu Mo also shares a habit with Li Zeyan where they give nonverbal responses. In Xu Mo's case, he goes "Mm?" "Hm?" or "Oh?" and tends to raise the end of his sentences to soften them. Li Zeyan just grunts acknowledgements LOL but it's the hottest noise in Chinese.

Lastly, Xu Mo really, really loves nicknaming the MC and has called her kitten, sea otter, this lady, night owl, etc. It's adorable! (I'm not mentioning his use of little fool or silly girl because I'm going to go more into that in Li Zeyan's section.)

LI ZEYAN

Okay, let's get the elephant out of the room. One of his speech quirks is calling MC a dummy, idiot, or moron LOL.

But there's an extremely interesting cultural difference here that people might not be aware of. In Chinese, the word he uses for "idiot" and "dummy" (笨蛋; bendan) is actually light and almost negligent. If I were to give an analogy, it's more like he's calling you "silly" all the time.

Obviously, the fact that you're being called something still hasn't disappeared. But the word Li Zeyan uses lands as a 0.1/10 on the insult scale in Chinese.

I don't have enough background in sociology to explain why this is but there's an interesting talk about the vagueness of Japanese insults vs. English ones that basically applies here to Chinese too:

One likely reason for the relatively few Japanese words for 'fool' is vagueness. In both English and Japanese, the words for 'fool' have meanings that vary along scales of friendly–hostile, or joking–serious. In English, at one end of a scale are words like silly goose and at the other end are words like stupid asshole. And in Japanese, at one end are words like kamaboko baka 蒲鉾馬鹿 'silly chump' and at the other end are words like baka-yarō 馬鹿野郎 'damn fool'. The difference is in the degree of lexical diversification along the scales of meaning. English seems to have more 'fool' words with more specificity – Japanese seems to have fewer 'fool' words with more vagueness. There are decided pragmatic and communicative advantages to such lexical vagueness. If you call me a stupid son-of-a-bitch, I know exactly what you mean. But if you call me a baka-yarō, I cannot be so sure of what you mean. The expression baka-yarō 馬鹿野郎 is one of the most insulting terms in the Japanese lexicon, but it is vague and can range in meaning from an affectionate 'silly-willy' to an abusive 'jerk-off fool'. Baka-yarō is so widely used that it has become semantically weak and vague. Such vagueness can serve to conceal hostility and thus to maintain social harmony.

Carr, Michael (1982). "Baka and Fool". The Review of Liberal Arts. 63: 1–18. Retrieved 2013-04-19.

On this note about insults, all the other guys have their own terms for the MC as well. For example, Xu Mo and Bai Qi use 傻瓜 (shagua; fool, silly melon) with Xu Mo often adding more affection with the diminuitive 小 (xiao; small, little).

I've seen Luoluo take some heat for also calling the MC "stupid" like Li Zeyan but did you know in Chinese he only uses 笨 (ben; dumb) which is even more lighter than Li Zeyan's word? It's like a 0.01/10 on the scale.

Putting this cultural difference of insults aside, I've mentioned above that Li Zeyan is also a fixer of problems like Bai Qi. Except he goes straight for it without checking with the MC (overbearing CEO style). He decides on an action, carries it out, and then tells MC after the fact.

[Marauder SSR Change Hotel Call] He switches her hotel immediately and gets her to move only after he's done it during their call.

[Chapter 11] Pretty much the entirety of this chapter and how he had her treated at the hospital, escorts her to and from work, assigns bodyguards for MC, etc.

Basically, whenever Li Zeyan receives MC's problems, he'll make a dry comment about it first, but then end up solving it.

I also think that, out of the rest of the guys, he questions MC the most on everything (remember, Xu Mo isn't naturally confrontational until he goes cold or Ares-mode). Li Zeyan can't seem to stop himself from challenging MC's views and opinions every step of the way (in his mind, he's doing it for her own good).

On a side note, I think he also has the habit of being unable to say what he truly wants to say sometimes and you can hear him swallow back a lot of words or just sigh heavily. For example:

[Call after Main Story 11-19: Routine Greeting] Granted he was really emotional due to story reasons here. But there were so many pregnant pauses and heavy silence.

[Gentle Confrontation SSR Tacit Game Call] In Chinese, when MC opens with her question you can actually hear him go "Uh..." LOL. IT'S HILARIOUSLY CUTE. But the rest just has him sighing deeply.

I mentioned above that he and Bai Qi share a similar sense of humor in being deadpan, but Li Zeyan definitely takes it to another level. He also delivers a serving of dry wit or sarcasm. I think it's cute that he mimics the MC a lot though and their inside joke is him recalling everything she's called him.

[Main Story 11-16] Same speech pattern. "Are you Li Zeyan...?" "... Are you a moron?"

[Winter Infatuation SSR Before Sleep Call] "Even though on the way back you were clearly crying, 'Ah, so tired... ah, so sleepy...', the moment you get home you have the energy to turn on the computer?"

There's too many occasions where he quotes her words about him being an unsmiling K(ing), but whenever it happens some cute back and forth ribbing gets brought up. Like how it slipped out of her mouth, but he just so happened to recall it too and it's not like he remembers this stuff on purpose or keeps it in his mind. Uh huh.

Despite how exasperated he gets though, Li Zeyan never stops participating in all the silly games MC drags him into. Is this true love--- LOL.

Lastly, I want to bring up how Li Zeyan gives nonverbal responses much like Xu Mo except his are like grunts of acknowledgment. His favorite words is probably 嗯 (ng). The sound is more like "en" with a bit of a nasal noise and just means "mm". It can be used as a question too.

But hands down I think it's the hottest noise in Chinese LOL especially when Wu Lei (Li Zeyan's Chinese voice actor) does it in his deep voice. Erm, oops, getting distracted.

My main point here is to say that Li Zeyan leans towards being brief and monosyllabic, moreso than the other men. For example, in [Main Story 18-8] Li Zeyan uses the shortest words possible to reply to Xu Mo. At one point he literally just goes "Reason?".

I actually think he uses the most Chinese idioms to get across his meaning as short as possible (but this would be impossible to carry over in English...). Xu Mo tends to use 4 character combinations too but those are for scientific theories and don't count.

A Chinese player actually compiled the majority of idioms you hear from Li Zeyan LOL and here they are. By the way, these are supposed to be said as one whole phrase but I've added spaces to make the pronunciation clearer:

少见多怪 (shao jian duo guai); lit. seldom seen very strange. It means making a fuss or being excited over something normal.

上蹿下跳 (shang cuan xia tiao); lit. leap up jump down. It means jumping around excitedly and being hyperactive.

当众出丑 (dang zhong chu chou); lit. public fool. It means making a fool of yourself in public or making yourself a spectacle.

差强人意 (cha qiang ren yi); lit. lacking improvement to one's expectation. It means being barely passable or barely satisfactory.

不近人情 (bu jin ren qing); lit. not close to human emotions. It means being unreasonable or inhuman, and this one was actually Li Zeyan asking if MC sees him as this.

乱七八糟 (luan qi ba zao); I don't think you can make this literal but it basically means a complete mess.

自作多情 (zi zuo duo qing); lit. self-made many feelings. It means being full of yourself, like a narcissist, or flattering yourself by thinking people love you when they don't LOL.

漏洞百出 (lou dong bai chu); lit. full of leaks. It means you're full of loopholes, inconsistencies, and all your arguments are faulty.

莫名其妙 (mo ming qi miao); I'm not sure if this can become literal either but it means baffling, ridiculous, or incomprehensible.

想都别想 (xiang duo bie xiang); It literally means don't you even think about it LOL.

笨手笨脚 (ben shou ben jiao); lit. dumb hands dumb legs. It means being clumsy.

罪加一等 (zui jia yi deng); lit. adding a cardinal sin. It basically means becoming doubly guilty or you just keep piling up wrongs.

叽叽喳喳 (ji ji zha zha); lit. chirp chirp. But it basically means you're being a chatterbox, babbling, and jibberjabbering.

Of course we can't forget 笨蛋 (bendan; dummy, idiot) and 白痴 (baichi; moron) which are the insults Li Zeyan uses the majority of the time, the former more than the latter. These aren't idioms though.

#mlqc #mr love queen's choice #love and producer #mlqc victor #mlqc gavin #mlqc lucien #mlqc kiro #mlqc xu mo #mlqc li zeyan #mlqc bai qi #mlqc zhou qiluo #love and produc(ing) meta

[hockeylvr59]

Be My Valentine || Tyson Jost

Requested: [x] yes [ ] no

Authors Note: So uh...this was supposed to be a blurb...and well it turned into not a blurb...enjoy. 

Warnings: fluff, fluff, and more fluff. And maybe like one curse word. 

Word Count: 1,963

You’d first met Tyson when he moved into the apartment across the hall from you. His rambunctious personality and the fact that there were constantly people in and out of his apartment meant that he was the only neighbor whose name you even knew or who you’d honestly even seen in passing before though. It had been a few months after he had moved in that he’d come knocking on your door almost shy but at the same time anxiety filling his expression. He’d explained that his mom’s Christmas present was delayed in shipping and now he was supposed to be out of town when it was delivered. He’d added that it wasn’t something he wanted sitting around and his ramble ended with him pleading with you to collect the package for him and to deliver it into his apartment so that he didn’t have to worry about it. 

You’d agreed without hesitation because it was an easy ask. Since then, he’d asked you to collect other packages/mail for him and to water the plant he’d been trying to keep alive while he was away. He’d explained dramatically that he couldn’t let the plant die because he needed to prove a point to his captain who’d bet him that the plant wouldn’t last the season. On the occasions that you talked when he was leaving town or had arrived home and was checking in, you enjoyed the tales he told about his teams’ adventures and antics. His stories alone told you that there was never a dull day for the Colorado Avalanche and you looked forward to bumping into him in the elevator or parking garage because he never failed to cause you to leave smiling even if your day had been crappy otherwise. 

It had been a rough week by the time Friday arrived, so rough in fact that though you’d mourned spending another Valentine’s day alone earlier in the week, by the time the hallmark holiday arrived you’d completely forgotten that today was Valentine’s day. By the time your day was over and you’d returned home with plans to change into PJs and curl up on the couch with a movie, takeout dinner, and wine, you were shocked to find a bouquet of flowers sitting outside your door with a card tucked into them. Adjusting your bag on your shoulder you bent to pick them up, a soft smile gracing your face as you caught a whiff of their sweet scent. 

Flowers in hand, you unlocked your door and headed inside, setting the flowers on the counter while you put your bag away and slipped off your coat and shoes. It was only then that you reached for the card, pulling it out of the envelope. The front of the card had a cartoonish image of a wedge of cheese on it and read “sorry about the cheesy card” and once you opened it you couldn’t help but laugh at the scratchy writing inside in what you recognized was Tyson’s handwriting though he hadn’t signed it. 

“...but since we’re both provolone on Valentine’s day will you have dinner with brie?” The card was so cheesy (no pun intended on your part) that you weren’t sure if this was a friend’s thing or whether it implied something more. So setting the card aside you quickly worked to get the flowers into a rarely used vase before pulling out your phone from your bag and pulling up your text conversation with Tyson. 

So…someone left me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and inquired about dinner...know anything about that?? 

Standing in your kitchen waiting for a response you couldn’t help but feel your heart thud in your chest in a way that it hadn’t before. Still, you chastised yourself that he probably was just talking about a friendly dinner...even if that wasn’t something he’d ever done before and it likely didn’t mean anything more. When your phone finally buzzed on the counter you felt yourself jump in surprise before you reached for it, blush growing on your face. 

I might know something about it. 

Change into something comfy and come over?? I have pizza and wine…

Be over in 5. 

After changing into a pair of sweats and a too-large sweatshirt you grabbed your phone and apartment key before making your way across the hall. In response to your knock, Tyson called out that it was open and the moment you stepped through the door, you froze in shock. The entire living space of the apartment was dimmed and lit only by candles and while there was a bottle of wine and a pizza box on the coffee table in front of the couch, you were immediately distracted by the fact that Tyson was sprawled out on the floor in sweats and a t-shirt with a half dozen tiny kittens crawling all over him. 

“What is going on here?” You found yourself asking and when Tyson glanced up at you after settling the kittens onto the floor his smile grew. 

“So uh...I think you accidentally called me the other night and before I realized it was an unintentional call I heard you whining about Valentine’s day…” The moment the words left his mouth you thought back to the other night and suddenly an apology was spilling from your lips. 

“Oh god...I’m so sorry you had to witness my pity party...I absolutely did not mean for that to happen.” You explained. Tyson was now standing in front of you and he shrugged his shoulders for a moment. 

“I know. But anyway...it got me thinking about how much you’ve done for me and how I haven’t really properly thanked you...so I thought maybe since we’re both single we could spend the evening together making fun of hallmark movies or something. 

You started to say that he didn’t need to do anything to thank you because you doing little things for him wasn’t a big deal but he stopped you before you could even start. 

“Okay. Fine. This sounds nice.” You agreed, stepping forward to press a quick kiss to Tyson’s cheek. “Thank you.” The fact that his cheeks had gone rosy sent your mind reeling but that thought pattern was stopped when you heard a soft meow at your feet. “Okay...so explain the kittens...because you do not have time for one cat let alone six Tys…” 

Chuckling, Tyson bent down to pick up the kitten that had wandered over to you, cradling it in his hands and petting it gently. 

“You mentioned a while back how much you missed your family’s cats so...I may have made a call to the humane society…” That still didn’t explain anything and when you raised your eyebrow at him Tyson continued. “They had a litter of kittens that isn’t quite old enough to be adopted yet, but they agreed to let me borrow them for the day as part of their house training. I thought maybe cuddling and playing with them might make you smile…” As he spoke the last sentence his voice dropped to a whisper and then suddenly he was tugging your hand pulling you over to where the rest of the kittens were rolling around on the floor. “Come play with them! They’re so fucking cute.” He exclaimed, picking a little grey furball up to hand it to you.

The small creature wiggled in your grasp and you immediately felt yourself relax at the feeling of soft fur under your fingers. You had certainly thought about getting a kitten, but the rent increase and going home for the holidays had prevented you from doing so. Looking over at Tyson wrangling two of the other kittens you couldn’t help but acknowledge the aching feeling in your chest that had appeared tonight for the first time. The fact that Tyson even remembered you saying you missed your cats when it had been an offhand conversation was mind-blowing and the ‘friends’ lens of your vision was quickly becoming blurred. 

After a few moments of play with the furballs, Tyson settled the quickly tiring kittens into a soft bed at the corner of the couch. Once all of the kittens were settled in for a bit of a nap, he moved to the table to pour two glasses of wine, handing you one of them along with a plate to eat the pizza off of. 

Snuggled onto his couch with pizza and wine and Tyson on the other end, he started the first of tonight’s movie selections. Within five minutes he was chirping the movie and how ridiculous it was causing you to laugh. By the end he was questioning why women even watch these things when they’re so predictable and you couldn’t help but shrug.

“Maybe because it’s nice to think that maybe something could just be that good even if it’s not realistic. Sometimes it’s nice to think that there are good guys out there that aren’t afraid to admit what they want.” 

You could feel his eyes on you as you finished your glass of wine, leaning forward to set it back down on the table. Silence spread through the room for a minute before suddenly Tyson was shifting and his thumb was brushing against your cheek as his lips pressed gently into yours. It took a moment for your brain to process what was happening but when it did you kissed him back causing him to smile against you before pulling away. 

“How’s that for an admission?” He questioned softly, his thumb still brushing against your skin. Basking in his touch for a moment more you eventually spoke. 

“I mean it could use a little clarity…but it’s a good start.” You murmured, your gaze focused on him. “Because I just don’t want to read more into this than it is.” You added, your hand brushing over his knee gently. Kissing you gently once more, Tyson pried himself up from the couch, moving to his kitchen for a moment before returning with a box which he handed you with a sheepish smile on his face. 

“So I was hopeful but didn’t want to presume so I left these in the fridge…” He mumbled. Opening the box you flushed not at the chocolate covered strawberries but at the chocolate bark with ‘be my valentine?’  written in elegant script on it in white chocolate. 

“Tyson…” You breathed only to be cut off by Tyson insisting that it was fine if you didn’t feel the same. “Tyson...are you serious?” You found yourself asking and when he replied that of course, he was you jumped up off the couch to kiss him once more. 

“Does this mean you’ll go on a date with me?” He inquired when you finally broke the kiss to breathe. Your affirmative nod in response caused him to let out a whoop of excitement which caused you to laugh once more. 

With plans pending for an official date, you settled back onto the couch, this time curled into Tyson’s side as he started another movie. By the time it ended, the two of you had kittens snuggled all around purring happily. 

Considering how shitty your week had started, the fact that it was ending like this was incredible. In a matter of hours, you’d gone from spending another Valentine’s day alone, to being the Valentine of a man who made you laugh more than anyone else and who listened and remembered the things you talked about, a feat which spoke volumes. 

Thinking about it, your story seemed like one that could feature in a hallmark movie. It was cheesy for sure. But it was also absolutely perfect and you wouldn’t have it any other way. 

#tyson jost #tyson jost imagine #colorado avalanche imagine #hockey imagine #hockey imagines #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #cavalanche #021

[deathbanchou]

>> it’s @crossfortun​‘s birthday.

   Valentine’s Day, huh? It was pretty hard to ignore, and next to impossible to forget. For the past week or so, advertisements for various products and events themed after the day decorated the shops and television screens in all their pastel pink glory, attempting to catch the attention (and the money) of Sumaru City’s consumers. This event did not slip past the former Boss either, and though the box of chocolates received from Miyabi a few hours earlier had the boy both in high spirits from the romantic gesture as well as internally struggling over the thought of having to down an entire box of fattening sweets all by himself (to refuse to do so would simply have been rude), the thought of another important event also found its way to the boy’s somewhat jumbled mind. 

   It was Jun’s birthday. Kurosu Jun, his best friend since childhood (even with the unintentional, 10 year break) and someone who, for all the pain he had endured, perhaps most deserved some love and attention on his special day. That he was sure to be getting; there was no way Tatsuya or Maya or even Ginko could have forgotten. Still, Eikichi obviously needed to do his part just as well, even with the bouts of uncertainty he had toward the stuff he had bought and made for today. Was it enough? Enough -- with the risk of sounding cheesy -- to truly express the gratitude for having someone like him as a friend? Jun was patient and understanding and -- alongside Miyabi -- someone who undoubtedly knew Eikichi the best. And so, clumsy as it may have felt, upon arriving home from school the boy gathered up the three little packages of different sizes and shapes, haphazardly hidden in a backpack under the bed, and waited for his roommate’s arrival. 

   Then, roughly half an hour later. Click and crack, the two distinct sounds of a key being placed and turning in the apartment door’s keyhole. Eikichi, still in his school uniform, sitting on his bed and touching up his makeup in front of a mirror for the date with Miyabi later that day, got up, grabbing the presents and the card, approaching Jun with a slight flush of embarrassment somewhat discoloring his otherwise makeup covered, white face. 

      “Dude, there you are. I -- uhh--       Since we’re both gonna be out all day, thought I’d give this right now.       It’s-- well, just open ‘em!” 

   And then, presenting the birthday gifts and flashing a big grin.

      “-- Happy birthday, Jun!” 

#[ i cant conveniently mention here what the gifts are but i told u on discord LKDSFKSDL ] #IC; ʟᴇᴛ's ᴋɪᴄᴋ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴊᴀᴍs! #VERSE: AU — ᴄʜᴇʀɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀɪᴇs. (ᴀʟᴛ. ᴇɴᴅ) #[ i love the roommates bff au DSLFSD ] #[ im dying its been so long but i miss them so much just kill me rn ] #[ HAPPY BDAY JUN BFF ILYSM ] #[ also anna heck i miss writing with youuuu !! ] #[ thats my fault for being away tho DLKFDLFD ] #crossfortun

[justanotherpurplebutterfly]

Looking back on the Sanders Sides

Okay, so Thomas/@thatsthat24 admitted to stuffing as many references as he could in the new video. Here are the ones I noticed so far:

Patton not being able to catch the files => Dad's Big Game Day Tips ("I was always more of a thrower than a catcher." Not mine, someone else spotted it and Thomas shared it on Tumblr)

“Dad joke?" "Never... Intentionally." => Heart vs. Mind (Logan made an unintentional dad joke there)

"I'd really rather duck out" "quack" => Accepting Anxiety pt. 2

"Five ruined kids' films" => Dark side of Disney 

"Five second cookies" => My Personality Q&A 

"Are you trying to rap?" => Am I Original? 

"I do not like to sing." => My Personality Q&A ("I'm not much of a singer.")

"C'mon Virgil, you can do it." => Moving On pt. 2 

"Five "FALSEHOODS" phonated" => My NEGATIVE Thinking (3x), Making Some Changes (1x, courtesy of Joan), Fitting In (1x). THAT is why Logan said it was ideal! So far he said "Falsehood" five times, hence why he wanted to trade with Patton! This is so cool, I'm just geeking out, lol :D 

"Five Crofter's jams." => Fitting In 

"I don't like you." => Battling Anxiety, A New Year of Lying to Myself, Making Some Changes, Accepting Anxiety pt. 1 (although the tone is entirely different here)

"Merry Christmas, everyone." => Fitting In ("Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin. That's it, end of Sanders Sides Video. Until next time, everyone." He says it in the same tone of voice.) 

Sherlock Holmes => Losing My Motivation

Pasta => Becoming a Cartoon ("I don't know what they're looking at, but I'm eyeballing that fridge because there is some leftover pasta..." 

The card => Accepting Anxiety pt. 2 

"Redundant, but Roman's not wrong." => Moving On pt. 1 ("I'll take redundant statements for 400.")

I feel like "Eleven fire slang words" also references some videos, but I don't have the time or energy to go through all the vids starting from My NEGATIVE Thinking to count how many times Logan used slang words. Knowing Thomas and Joan, though, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are eleven.

Also, I feel like the song references Thomas’ Christmas video from last year, but that one is not Sanders Sides so it might just be a coincidence. But he did use Twelve Days of Christmas for a part of that video.

Please add on, I’m sure I missed a couple! I didn’t find any for WAY TOO ADULT, Alone on VALENTINE’S DAY and Growing Up, or instance.

#sanders sides #theory #references #I love this man so much #Patton sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #thomas sanders

[kdlovehg]

Authors note ~ Happy valentine's day! If you celebrate it. Hope you enjoy this. It's my first ever one-shot for valentine's day so I'm proud of it. Hopefully someone like this. Thanks for reading! This is my submission for Love is @loveinpanem. To pluck a heart's rose. •~• •~• The red foil shines as the light from the fireplace reflects onto it. The fake rose lays at the bottom of the handcrafted frame housing the faded photo taken the day they met, exactly four years ago. Katniss was sleeping in the children's area of the library after reading the books of her childhood - the ones her dad had read to her mum whilst she was pregnant with her. She'd been volunteering at the local nursery and in her rush to leave she'd forgotten her library card, by the time she returned they'd closed for the day. Restless and desperate for some comfort she'd sat down to read but the sun shining through the blinds only aiding in lulling her to sleep. Next thing she saw was the comically wide eyes of a young 12 year old boy trying to crawl away from her. It took two years until he confessed about the photo. Apparently, he'd seen the small girl and assumed she was taking a nap, after all, didn't all sane teenagers do that? The boy - Peeta as she'd come to learn - was even more shy than she was, with dirty blonde hair that would block his sight and shirts with sleeves stretched out over his hands. He'd heard of valentine's day but in a house full of boys and with few friends he'd yet to actually prove that he could connect with a girl. Until he saw her. Quickly he had dusted off his father's camera, set the timer for ten seconds and crawled over to her. Katniss imagined he was poking his tongue out throughout the process as he had attempted to be sneaky and lift the sleeping girl's head so it was resting on his shoulder. Unfortunately, he said, that he was acting too bold for his age and attempted to kiss her. He succeeded, giving her a peck on the nose as the second flash went off, except as he moved away. Well she sneezed. 'I thought you were allergic to me' he'd told her shyly at the end of his story. He couldn't have been more wrong. That's why the valentine's gift made her want to cry. Four years later and he'd got her a half fake, half chocolate rose. Who would want that? She wouldn't have minded previously but they'd been together for a year now. He was her boyfriend. They were grown up. They progressed in their relationship. Oh yes, they were past nose kisses - although they were still ongoing. They'd moved onto eye contact. So a chocolate rose? Well Katniss wasn't a romantic or anything, and personally she thought that valentine's day was pointless, but surely he could have put a bit more effort into choosing her a gift. I mean she'd prepared his surprise gift for a week and all their pets came round to watch as they painted their favourite designs on each other, or at least he did as she gave him the supplies and made up stories for each image. Not to mention he had to live up to her parents standards who viewed love as sacrificing anything for a small smile. It hurt. It hurt a lot. Cause Katniss cared for him, however unintentional. Sometimes it seemed she was the only one. She picked it up as the door behind her creaked open. He's slow, heavy footsteps showed he was hesitant. Damn well should be. She sniffed. "Did, did you like it?" he stuttered as she turned to look at him. His hair hung over his glasses obscuring his vision just like it had years before. The dark green frames where her favourite colour and likewise the reading glasses she wore were his - a gentle orange. "Yeah" she whispered watching as he bit his lip and tugged the sleeves of his T-shirt over his hands. "It's" she searched for a word that he'd take as a compliment "sweet". "Well it is chocolate". She hummed and swayed slightly as they stood opposite each other, neither moving. From a look he could sense that she wasn't pleased with his gift. "But I... you like food" he says scratching his head as a blush spreads on his cheeks. "I mean that's what you said". "I did" she murmured trying to dismiss the feeling of sadness that his gift caused. "But it's not cheese buns" she replies, grateful that she found an excuse. Peeta clears throat and uses his sleeve covered hand to wipe at his glasses, a nervous tic she's noticed. "I can make you some if you like. Its past eight but I'll stay up past my bedtime and run to the bakery if you-". "No" she interrupts pausing as she remembers the curfew his mother made him follow since he was born. If he ran home and got caught then he'd probably end up with a beating from the woman, though for some reason she doubts he wouldn't do it for her. He was odd like that. "It's okay". He gestures to the gift as his voice cracks during his attempt at a romantic speech, "You rose above all other girls and stole my well you know..." he blushes and evades my eyes "my heart and my... I shouldn't finish that sentence. I'm not old enough to. So um could you be my valentine?". She replied with her a small smile and a pun of her own. "Rye wouldn't I?". Katniss lifts up the rose with a smile. "I guess I'll go um, eat this. Thanks". He huffs, the breath blowing his curls up before they lazily drift back down. "Can I just. Do you mind if I...". "What?" he shuffles over at the sight of her furrowed eyebrows and pecks her cheek, his thumb brushing against it as she blushes as though trying to wipe it away. Ease her discomfort. She blushed harder. •~• •~• •~• •~• She stumbles down the stairs as she recalls what happened prior to the nap Peeta took with her. She remembered crying after she'd ate the rose and was left with a plastic stem. She'd wasted his gift and was too embarrassed to admit that she'd have preferred a real flower even if it would've died a day later. It seemed only she would make the sacrifices in their relationship. Yet soon as he saw her bloodshot eyes peeta dragged her into the kitchen and melted down some chocolate so that he could make her some more roses in an attempt to cheer her up. Katniss argued that valentine's day was over at 12:01 but Peeta explained that the time zones were different in every district so technically they had at least four hours left of valentine's day. That made her smile. She still didn't think he deserved her. But he'd do anything for a small smile. He was odd like that. So very odd. Whilst it was melting on the stove he showed her how to pipe flowers and imprint a design into ingredients like flour which consequently ended with her giggling and Peeta standing in the room blushing despite being covered in flour. As they settled into the last hour, they had drawn their name and the date into the chocolate before placing it in the freezer to act like a little fossil that they could eat in the morning. They had then sat on the floor and he wrapped his arms around her with a promise to spend their next valentine's day at the beach. How she got to her room she doesn't know but that doesn't mean she regrets it. Katniss strolled over to the fridge and pulled out some of the chocolate before she sat down and began to read the book logs of their savings. Her nose crinkled at the taste. The chocolate seemed different than the rose, which she resigned to the idea that however useless a gift it was it made her happy if only for a moment. The chocolate was still flavourful and would melt within seconds if she didn't chew but it didn't seem as rich. The rose must have been dark chocolate? But that must be artificial. No-one can afford real dark chocolate. Well unless they were from the Capitol which her and Peeta weren't. She flips open the log and scans through the records. Income from bakery, coins spent on trade. A violet coughing racked her body and she clung to the table, squeezing her eyes shut as she heard his footsteps thumping down the stairs. Forcing herself up she ran to the sink to get a drink of water, trying not to choke herself in the process. A deduction. They were missing at least 3/4 of their college funds, or at least Peeta's. She knew he'd been saving. They both had. That money would have taken almost his whole life to earn. Did he give it away? Damn his mannerisms. "Peeta" she screamed slamming the empty cup down, her eyes darting around rapidly. Sixteen times two meant thirty years. He couldn't wait thirty years to go to learn. "What the hell? Where's the money? You son of-". She jerks to a stop. A labeled tag lays among their rubbish. Crumpled and torn she catches a glimpse of the words written. "Peeta... what?" her voice trails off as she goes silent, stunned. {Authentic Gourmet Chocolate, Hand Crafted. Distribution - Capital.} The familiar price lays scrawled at the bottom as she gapes at it with a small phrase. {Love is sacrificing all for the smile of someone who sees you as no-one.} She doesn't deserve him. Oh no. Oh no. Her gaze collides with his as she blinks back tears. He flattens his hair down. Straightens his glasses and with a shy smile, he shrugs. "Happy valentine's katniss".

#submission #valentine's day #love in panem #Everlark #Peeta #katniss #shy #fanfic #ao3 #enjoy

[placetobenation]

Making the Case for Al Snow

Al Snow came into WWF and was saddled two failed gimmicks. As Avatar, he came to the ring with a mask, put it on, and took it off after the match. As Leif Cassidy, he was an out of touch New Rocker teaming with Marty Jannetty. Snow briefly left WWF as part of a lend-lease program with ECW, where he was able to retool himself and find the gimmick that dominated the rest of his career, for better and for worse. A lot of the Attitude Era was a blur for me. With the accelerated pace of booking and the addition of Smackdown, so much was happening all at once. Snow’s work can be lost in the blur, with only a few of the most notorious angles standing out. Remembered mostly as a comedy/hardcore act, not too many people have gone back to examine his work. I have watched a number of matches and angles. What I have found is one of the hidden talents of the Attitude Era and secretly good TV workers. Today, I would like to share with you my perspective on Al Snow’s run in WWF. Using the NJPW rating system, I hope to make the case on why I believe Al Snow deserves to be on your Top 100 WWE Wrestlers of All Time list.

Nuance

Al Snow’s run with the company went from 1995 until 2003, with exclusion of the previously mentioned ECW run and the inclusion of a brief WWECW run in 2006. During much of that time, he was planted firmly in the midcard. Upon his return to the company from ECW until he became the head trainer on Tough Enough, Al Snow often had an angle running on TV. The comedy aspect of his act probably kept him from being a gatekeeper to the main event. During one of the hottest periods in company history, in the middle of a war with WCW, the company believed enough in this act to place him on TV quite frequently. During his eight-year stint with the WWF, he was put in a good position on TV for much of that time.  Granted, he got a slow start as Avatar and Leif Cassidy.  But from doing the JOB on the PPV to being head trainer of Tough Enough, Snow had some good roles in his tenure with WWE.

When searching for footage, invariably one will come around shoot interviews. Al Snow seems to fancy himself a heel, stating that he had played heel most of his wrestling career prior to being with WWF and ECW. In WWF, he was mostly a face and had little success as a heel. There was a period in ‘99/2000 when they tried to turn him heel, following a split with Mick Foley. The idea was turning Al into a sadistic crazy man instead of the friendly crazy man he had been to that point. That run featured some good work against The Hardy Boys and Too Cool. This is quickly transitioned though into teaming with Steve Blackman as Head Cheese. You could see him working hard to get this change in direction over but it just wasn’t connecting with the audience. They gave him some creepy theme music that I forgot upon hearing. One reason this may have not taken off is that he still had Head with him. No matter how hard JR tried to sell us that Al Snow was a sick man, fans wanted to chant “We Want Head”. Of course, when discussing flexibility and heel characters in regards to Al Snow, I have to mention The New Rockers. People didn’t want to boo The Rockers, new or otherwise. Fans, by and large, liked Marty Jannetty. Marty and Leif’s heel work consisted of stomping their feet and pumping their fists in the lowest energy way imaginable. My observation is that The New Rockers weren’t feeling it and neither were the crowd. Their work isn’t as bad as you may have heard. But like much of 1995 WWF, it didn’t connect at all with the crowd. Certainly, the booking didn’t help either. Who cares about a team that can’t win a match when one partner walks about on the other, such as this Smoking Gunns match from Superstars on 10/27/96.

You may think that this lack of flexibility would hurt his case. And you are kind of right. In addition to only getting over as a babyface, his spot on the card was laid in cement. There were attempts to elevate him. The aforementioned heel turn was an example. I recall reading in one of Mick Foley’s books that the company believed Tough Enough would elevate Al into the mainstream consciousness. That really didn’t happen. The impression I got from the feud with The Big Boss Man which lead to the Kennel from Hell Match was another attempt to elevate his position on the card. I guess they thought that a guy who talks to a dog would be more endearing than a guy who talks to a head. This isn’t a case where they didn’t try to elevate a guy. There was effort made. But the fans seemed to have a clear impression of who and what was Al Snow.

Which brings us to the intangibles. He had a connection with the audience. He was exactly over. The Head gimmick was over. Not super-hot. Not cold. Just over. While the audience got on board with what he was doing, there was only so far you could go with that gimmick. When they tried to move away from it, the fans weren’t terribly interested. For example, in the infamous Kennel from Hell Match, which I recently watched, the only thing in the actual match that fans reacted to was when Al pulled out Head and walloped Boss Man with it.

Another thing I think Al Snow brought to the table that is difficult to measure is how much he could do in the ring in a short period of time. Having watched a lot of TV Matches from this period of time, he manages to fit a lot of work into a short period of time, usually three to five minutes. There is a Raw match against Val Venis from late ’99 that is a good example of a match that felt like they did more work than the time would allow. I have also come to appreciate how much good work was being done on the C-Shows at this time. On Heat, he had decent matches with Edge, Christian, and Essa Rios which I will link to but there are plenty more examples. Look, I like Greg Valentine taking a half hour just to get warmed up as much as the next guy, and Valentine will get a high spot on my list than Al Snow. But since the Attitude Era, no one is getting half hour matches on Raw, least of all mid card comedy acts. Al being able to get the best match possible in the time allowed for a TV match was a real asset to the company.

Jump Up Factor

For a guy who was mostly a comedy act, it is perhaps ironic that the most memorable moment he had in company history was unintentional comedy. That would be the angle in which The Big Boss Man fed Pepper the Dog to Al Snow leading to the Kennel from Hell match at Unforgiven 1999. This match overshadowed the far superior Hardcore Title Match between these two at Summer Slam ’99, which I thought was a lot of fun but had a crap finish. The Kennel match has become the stuff of legend and taken a life of its own. But if you bother to watch it, you are not going to see dogs doing the nasty around ringside. The match is a pedestrian plunder fest in front of a dead crowd with three moments that got a reaction. One was the return of Head which received a collective “Thank God” from the audience. Second was Boss Man handcuffing Al to the ropes. I think a few people expected Snow to get beaten ’89 jobber style but it didn’t happen. Third was Al’s escape from the cage which was quite athletic. It was also one of the few WWF Hardcore title matches featuring Al Snow in which blood was drawn. I’m not going to tell you it was a good match. It wasn’t. But the echo chamber opinion that it was the worst match ever is really overblown. Obviously, what the dogs were doing outside the ring took the crowd completely out of the match. But what took place in the ring was not that bad. The angle itself was also a piece of brilliant unintentional comedy. And why? It’s pretty sadistic that Boss Man would kidnap a dog and feed it to the owner. But Boss Man’s dialogue and delivery is just too damn funny. On paper, it looks like a horrific storyline. In practice, no one took this seriously. Or at least very few people did.  I know I am supposed to be making the case but I must be honest. This is Al Snow’s most memorable moment with the company.

There were other big storylines Al Snow was involved with. In late ’99, Al Snow hatched a plot to get in between The Rock ‘N Sock Connection. Snow throws The Rock’s autographed copy of Have A Nice Day in the trash where Mankind finds it. Mankind learns to forgive and forget which forces an angry confession and heel turn from Al Snow. Al Snow teams with Chris Jericho against The Rock ‘N Sock Connection. The blow off between Snow and Mankind is an average Falls Count Anywhere Match on the 12/14/99 Smackdown. Snow gets a win over The Rock in a Brahma Bull Rope Match on the 12/20/99 Raw. The next night on Smackdown, The Rock gets his win back in a Steel Cage. These matches are all out there on line but not in great quality. This storyline also found its way onto one of the videos games storyline mode. At this point in the company, it was a pretty big deal that they use Al Snow in this position.

This heel turn for Al Snow lead to him chasing some bonus money put up by The McMahon/Helmsley regime against The Hardy Boys. The 1/3/2000 Raw featured a Steel Cage Match between Jeff Hardy and Al Snow that was quite good. The follow up was Al employing the help of The Dudley Boys in a Six Man Tag against Edge, Christian, and Jeff Hardy, also a pretty decent match.  They really tried to sell that Al Snow had become a sadistic, crazy man but it didn’t last long. By the end of the month, he was teaming with Steve Blackman with the team name of Head Cheese. I feel like they could have gotten more mileage out of heel Al Snow, but I am here to talk about what is, rather than what could have been.

A personal favorite that I came across was Al Snow’s European Title reign setting up for William Regal’s introduction to the WWF. This time, he wasn’t coming in as A Real Man’s Man. Now Regal was appointed Good Will Ambassador to the WWF by Mr. McMahon. He was here to teach all of us Americans proper manners. So, he would do guest commentary for European Title Matches. The European Champion at the time was Al Snow. Snow would proudly misrepresent various countries in Europe in the most stereotypical way possible. Regal’s commentary was priceless. Snow had some decent TV matches during this run too.  This leads to William Regal challenging Snow and capturing the European Championship. I love the way this was built. It was a good way to reintroduce the audience to William Regal. They took a title that didn’t mean much, put it on a comedy act, and used it to launch a new-ish character. Al Snow’s dumb American idea of what Europe is like vs William Regal’s worldly knowledge. This kind of well planned, week to week storytelling, with a tangible goal in mind is really something you haven’t seen in WWE in a while

Promo and Character Work

How one rates this category depends entirely on how you felt about The Head gimmick. Avatar left the audience confused and wasn’t around long enough to move the needle on anyone’s opinion of his promo or character work. Perhaps if he had worked with different masks and changed his wrestling style based on the mask he was where, that would have been cool.  I doubt Vince has played Majora’s Mask though.  Leif Cassidy doesn’t really factor into any of this either, unless you were impressed with how well he played a dork.  I can only speak for myself here but I felt no need to boo the New Rockers for being out of touch dorks, as I myself was an out of touch dork.

I rather liked The Head gimmick and Crazy Al in general. He never rose to the level of Tom Hanks in Castaway but I think that was the general idea with how Al interacted with Head. The crowd seemed to be behind the gimmick. Early into the run, he started a stable of guys who generally lose called The JOB Squad. Much like Head, feelings on The JOB Squad vary. At this point in the 90’s; smart, insider language was infecting the product. Snow, almost from the beginning, would throw around smart terms that better than half the audience didn’t get. This sort of thing played better in front of an ECW audience than a WWF audience. Snow wore the t-shirt long after the faction had run its coarse. They tried to tweak the Head gimmick by giving Al Snow a dog but it just didn’t work the same. Theoretically, Pepper should have worked better than Head. People talk to their dogs all the time. It should have been more relatable but not so much. At the time, Snow was primarily in the Hardcore division. Head was a useful prop. He could use it to smack an opponent and win a match. No one wanted to see Snow wallop someone with Pepper. I think it is remarkable that he could get over by interacting with and playing off of an inanimate object.

If Head isn’t your thing, there was other work he did during his run with the company that I think was quite good. The feud with Foley leading up to 2000 was some of Snow’s best promo work. Some of the anger about the jokes written in Mick Foley’s book came off as real, and for all I know he was channeling some real anger. Between Snow’s team with Foley, the heel turn, and the series of matches vs The Rock ‘N Sock Connection, Head faded into the background. He still brought Head to the ring but it didn’t play a role in the feud or promos. The team with Steve Blackman was another case were his character work had nothing to do with Head. In a way, during the Head Cheese run, Blackman took place of Head as someone Al would bounce silly ideas off. Blackman would then call him an idiot. There were a lot of fun, short segments with Snow and Blackman during the run, based mostly around Snow pitching ideas to Blackman on how they could get over with the crowd. Blackman played a good straight man to Al’s crazy character, they made a good pair, playing off each other. They were a pretty underrated team in the ring as well. Unfortunately, their comedy act wasn’t going to rise above a certain level in the stacked tag division of 2000. They get lost in the shuffle of some legendary tag teams of that year like The Hardy’s, The Dudley’s, and Edge and Christian. Head Cheese is worth reexamining if for no other reason than to see what kind of character work Al Snow could do that didn’t center around Head.

I also liked the role Al Snow played as friendly mentor and trainer to the Tough Enough contestants when they would appear on WWE television. It didn’t lead to great success for anyone but Al did his part as helpful veteran who wanted to see Maven success or teach Chris Harvard some manners. He was a counterbalance to Bob Holly, the cranky veteran who likes to hurt people. This was the beginning of the end for Al Snow in WWE, eventually becoming a color commentator and sparsely used through 2003. Snow’s role as likable trainer on Tough Enough which bled into his role on Raw and Smackdown is still worth mentioning.

Workrate

I feel like Al Snow is underrated as a worker. As a single and a tag worker, Al Snow could really go in the ring. He is large associated with the Hardcore division. From the footage I have watched, that is some of the weakest examples of his work. He was able to get creative with his Hardcore work, adding comedy spots like the Bowling Ball Below the Belt bit. He had a good walk around brawl with D’Lo Brown for the Hardcore Title in ’99.  They did some creative things that I felt stood out. I already pointing out some of the work he did with Big Bossman aside from the Kennel match. Hardcore Matches in the company weren’t really built around giving guys a chance to show their best work. Most of them came off as tame compared to a lot of the stuff happening with other companies at the time.

What I think a lot of people don’t notice is the not Hardcore Matches he had during his time with the company. In particular, how much he could do with limited television time. There is a 2/5/01 Raw Match with Chris Benoit which only goes about four minutes but seems a lot long. They trade stiff looking blows in and out of the ring, work in some arm psychology, and still have time for Al to get in a couple of moonsaults for a near fall. The European Title run which I already showcased also points to this positive trait for Al Snow. One of the best matches he had that I have seen was against Triple H on Smackdown of 10/21/99. The match is only about five minutes but Snow gets momentum on his side and the crowd really gets behind him, hoping he pulls off an upset.

I also have to mention his work as a tag team wrestler. The New Rockers didn’t catch on with the audience but in the ring, they were not that bad of a team. Early in their run, there were certainly some hiccups in terms of coordination. They get it figured out quickly. While they are not as good for a team as The Rockers, they did get their tag offensive working well in tandem. They worked the house shows with Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon which I imagine were good. It’s too bad they didn’t make tv. Snow’s team with Mankind was short lived but fine.  Even though they were tag champions, they didn’t have enough time together to really gel as a team. I have already stated my appreciation for Al Snow and Steve Blackman. Head Cheese was a team that, much like Snow, could put together an entertaining, three to five minute match on television. Their role was usually putting over more established tag teams. Still, they had good chemistry as a team and did a good job making other teams look good. You can find footage of them facing most of the teams of this era on line. I can’t help but think that they could have been a top team if they had been put together a few years before or a few years after this.  The ’97 tag division was virtually nonexistent and the ’02 tag division wasn’t a whole lot better.

Conclusion

Most of the main points have already been made in this article. If I can say anything in conclusion it is that I have found Al Snow to be unrated. If you look just beneath the surface, I think you will find a very polished worked that put on some fast paced, well worked matches in the Attitude Era. Workrate certainly suffered during this period of time but if you look on the undercard and C-Shows, there were some guys putting on pretty good matches. Al Snow probably will come in between 80 or 90 on my list. To me, he stood out as a veteran, solid worker who anchored the midcard during a time when workrate wasn’t a high priority.

– Michael DeDamos

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation