004 // it's the most shoujo time of the year

[cardcaptured]

[Normally, Xiaolang doesn't do this.

Normally, Xiaolang's much more tight-lipped about his personal life, his romantic matters, because... well. He's a fourteen year old boy, an easily embarrassed one at that, and he'd die before giving people ammo to tease him with!!

But his amplified Wood Monkey traits-- hard-working, curious, and communicative-- has worn down his barriers quite a bit, leading him to post something under li xiaolang that he's probably going to regret come the twilight hours:]

What's something good to do with someone for Valentine's Day? Or what's something romantic you'd like someone to do for you?

[... ... ... is he making a Valentine's date idea list? Yes. Is he going to try to do all of them? EXTRA YES.]

Comments

[dereban]

Well, if it's really important then definitely go all in and be impressive as you can. Although you probably should take note of what the holiday means for the other person, since different cultures celebrate it in certain ways, way different from the US.

Although the places that hold those promotions are definitely very crowded, unless you like, reserve a table ahead of time or something like that; some of the fancier places might allow it.

In the end, though, I think the most important thing is to communicate with your partner with what they like, what you like, and keep a good balance to make the day enjoyable. I think Valentine's day is honestly supposed to be like any other day with your SO, to be honest. Just have fun with it and don't stress out.

Sorry for the tl;dr about this, though. I don't have any actual romantic experience, so all of this is just kind of based on common sense and my personal thoughts.

[ says the nerd with the username of "Queen" ]

[cardcaptured]

No, I appreciate the advice. This is all really new to me, too, so I don't really know what I'm doing a lot of the time in regards to it.

The person I'm with is Japanese, but she's been in the US long enough that I think she's mostly used to the customs here for it. She gave me chocolates last year, when we were still friends, but... I think that was something she did for everyone she knew at the time. I don't really know just how important it is to her, or if she's putting as much thought into it, but... even so, I don't want her to do all the work behind it.

Anyway, I want to make it special, but... I also don't want to make it too extravagant, either. Neither of us are really comfortable with fancy things, so I don't really want to make her uncomfortable in that regard. It's more... I want to make some nice memories with her. We're always dealing with weird things these days, that whatever normal times we have now is that more important to preserve.

[dereban]

To be honest, you don't really need to know "what to do" in a romantic relationship; it's not like it's too much different from a friendship or any other relationship. It's just how you see each other and treat one another that changes, in the end. Just go with what you think is right and make sure to talk to each other about the important things.

Like, you say that you don't know how important this particular holiday is to her and well... I think that's something you guys should talk over, really, since people might have one preference over the other and assuming things can potentially get you into a mess.

If you don't want to do anything too extravagant, then just spending time together should be okay? Maybe just a general "spending the whole day together going around to the places we both like and enjoying ourselves" sort of thing could work. Just a thought.

[cardcaptured]

... you're right. I should probably sort it out with her before making any big plans, in case there's something she isn't crazy about doing. But she tends to put others before herself a lot, so I don't want her to downplay what she wants in case she feels like she's inconveniencing me, either.

I don't really want to make assumptions about what's right to do, though. I don't want to wind up doing something wrong and have her think I'm weird because of it. She... means a lot to me, so I don't want to mess things over something like that.

[Granted, Sakura would hardly ever drop their relationship over something like small, but he's just a kid!! He's insecure about stuff like that!!]

[dereban]

Well, if you don't want her to do that, then I think you should actually... tell her that? Like I said before, communication is important because making assumptions can be dangerous. Basically whatever makes both of you happy is the most important.

[cardcaptured]

I have told her that-- at least, in regards to other things in the past. She just... has a habit of not listening to me, sometimes.

[In both this life and the last, which is kind of frustrating! But it's not like he isn't guilty of being stubborn and doing his own thing at times, either.]

We'll work something out together, though. Getting to spend time with her on Valentine's Day is more than enough for me, at least. I didn't really get to see her much last February because of stuff Zee needed me to do.

[dereban]

That sounds like a problem that might potentially need to be worked out between the two of you. Like communicating the issue of wanting to be listened to and vice versa...

But that's something for the both of you to decide, in the end.

Well, at least celebrating it is the good thing. But that guy made you do things in February? What kind of things?

[cardcaptured]

[The idea of problems in their relationship leaves him a bit uneasy-- he doesn't want to think of anything going wrong with him and Sakura-- but Raina does have a point. That, plus communicating more with her about things in general seemed to be something he had to work on.

For now, though, he's going to focus on that other line of conversation... because thinking too much about his relationship issues before Valentine's Day is just going to make him stress.]

You know the other regions outside of the city? Pesgare, Respatrum, Bosuma and Magatus? Zee sent a group of volunteers to each place to do... something for him. Research, I think. The group I was in was sent to Respatrum and we had to look into the various myths and stories there, and we wound up destroying a replica of Vanderweele's staff.

In hindsight, I think everything involved in those missions had to do with Vanderweele, but Zee never told us one way or another about it.

[dereban]

Yeah, I think I saw a little bit about that in my light reading trying to learn everything I could about the application... And destroying a replica of a staff? Do you know what the staff was supposed to do? Honestly the more I hear about Zee, the more of a skeptic I start to get, really. Because sending people on missions without knowing what it honestly deals with kind of makes me think that you were essentially being 'used' and that doesn't sit well with me, in my opinion.

[cardcaptured]

I think someone put up a guide in regards to what you need to know about Retrospec, but I haven't fully read it myself. I know the other regions haven't really been accessible for the past few months, though, thanks to that fire wall and... other things.

But all we knew about the staff-- the original one, anyway-- was a myth the residents told us about. Sometime long ago, someone had used it to split the land apart and it was implied to be responsible for the regions we know. It's said that it had enough power to control the world and destroy all living creatures... so needless to say, a replica of it wouldn't have been good to have around.

Anyway, I can't disagree with you on that. It's true that the missions seemed to be a means to an end, and I can't say I'm thrilled about some of Zee's choices... but he's honest with us, at least. He gave us answers when the rest of Retrospec wouldn't even bother.

[dereban]

Yeah, I got a link to that a while back, thankfully.

So the replica had the same abilities as the original? Is that what is being implied here? Just want to make sure I'm not making any wrong assumptions.

Well, I guess for people who have been here long enough would see someone being just a little more honest as better, but that's not always the case.