• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

EVERYONE: I Love You; I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do [A Gracefulshipping One Shot]

Joined
Feb 15, 2021
Messages
3,705
Reaction score
5,781
Pronouns
  1. He/Him
  2. They/Them
A Facadeverse fic

Me: * writes angst * No one's gonna like this. It's too depressing. I should write fluff.
Also Me: * writes fluff * No one's gonna like this. It's too corny. I should write angst.

I don't know why I'm posting this, because it's the sappiest romantic fluff I've ever written, and I've written Coffee Shop AUs. I wrote this fic for myself and only myself. I don't know if anyone cares about Gracefulshipping, but I do, so someone does.

Story summary:
Wallace was a perfectionist. His proposal to Winona had to be perfect, but he wasn’t even sure what “perfect” meant. It wasn’t enough for him to ask her before they went to bed. It wasn’t enough for him to ask her at her favorite place—in the trees of Fortree City. It wasn’t enough for him to ask her on the most romantic date he could imagine.

But for some reason, it was more than enough for him to ask her right after a Gym Leader meeting.


This story is rated EVERYONE.

Wallace was a romantic through and through. He had always dreamed of falling in love, and dating Winona was like falling in love over and over again. As their relationship developed, as he expressed his love for her through poetry and serenading, he considered proposing to her. He knew she was the one, the one that he was meant to be with, the one he wanted to marry and start a family with and grow old with.

There was one, or rather, two problems. The first was that he and Winona could often be very busy with work and outside responsibilities (his duties as one of Sootopolis City’s biggest cultural and religious figures and her duties studying birds and leading the Hoenn Gym Leaders, for instance). Sure, they managed to plan special dates and stay at each other’s houses, but then there was the second problem: Wallace was a perfectionist. His proposal to Winona had to be perfect, but he wasn’t even sure what “perfect” meant. It wasn’t enough for him to ask her before they went to bed. It wasn’t enough for him to ask her at her favorite place—in the trees of Fortree City. It wasn’t enough for him to ask her on the most romantic date he could imagine.

But for some reason, it was more than enough for him to ask her right after a Gym Leader meeting.

He didn’t even have a ring yet. He just saw her leaving the room (they were the last two people left in it) and impulsively asked, “will you marry me?”

-

Winona loved Wallace, she really, truly did, even if her love language wasn’t as elaborate or pronounced as Wallace’s. He was a good lover, a good person, and he was the person Winona saw herself living with, starting a family with, growing old with.

The problem was that Wallace seemed to take forever to propose.

In Hoenn, if someone wanted to get married, they’d usually get married around the age of 25. There were exceptions, of course: Steven, for example, was 25, and while he planned on eventually getting married, he wouldn’t be marrying any of the rich socialites his dad set him up with anytime soon. Winona and Wallace were both 23. They had been dating since college, when they had been around 18 or 19. And sure, they were both Gym Leaders, both very busy, but if they could go steady for five or so years, if they could live through Legendaries, extreme weather, and Sidney’s karaoke, they could surely make a marriage and children work.

Well, hypothetically they could, if Wallace ever proposed.

Sure, people joked that Winona was a “girlboss”, and “who said women can’t propose?”, but Winona daydreamed about being proposed to. As much of a “girlboss” as she was, she always liked the idea of Wallace getting down on one knee, presenting a beautiful ring, asking her the question. She liked the idea of a cliché proposal. Besides, Winona was good at clothes, not jewelry.

There were many moments when Winona thought Wallace would propose to her, only for him to actually just ask a question about how work was, or what kind of television programs Fortree City got (he only got two), or what, again, is the quadratic formula. Winona didn’t mind those questions, but she sometimes wondered when he would propose.

Why, right after a Gym Leader meeting, of course.

-

Winona stopped walking and turned around. Wallace would often casually ask “would you marry me?”, but “will you marry me?” had such different connotations. It was the connotations of a proposal.

Ever the dramatic one, Wallace was standing from his chair, reaching towards Winona as if to say “wait!” Even his eyes and parted lips revealed a sense of desperation, as if this were his only chance to propose before Winona disappeared forever. She had to give him credit; he hadn’t asked in front of the other Gym Leaders. That would have been too much for Winona to handle.

“Wallace…”

Wallace's arm fell to his side as he stood up straight. A nervous smile spread across his face.

“Winona, you are one of the most wonderful people I have ever gotten the chance to meet and get to know. It would be an honor to get to spend the rest of my life with—“

“Do you have a ring, Wallace?”

Wallace’s eyes widened a little.

“A-a ring? Um…”

His smile slipped away as he realized just how little he was prepared for this moment.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Wallace began to walk out of the room, but Winona took his hand before he could disappear down the hall.

“Wallace, I…” she thought for a moment before smiling. “Yes, I will marry you. Do you want to meet me in Lilycove City this evening?”

-

“Steven, do emeralds have the same meaning in Hoennese culture that they do in Sootopolitan culture?”

Wallace had flown back to Sootopolis City, specifically to Adamas Jewelers, to get an engagement ring before meeting with Winona. He wasn't going to screw up his proposal redo.

Adamas Jewelers was a very fancy store of white walls and chrome counters. Countless rings and necklaces and the like were on display, and a display screen presented a slideshow of different stones, their properties, and their meanings.

Wallace trusted Adamas, but he knew that stone symbolism was right up Steven's alley. Wallace called him up to ask for advice, though he hadn't yet told Steven the news.

“Well," Steven began, "in Hoennese culture, emeralds are more associated with—what’s the word?—pastoral life, the beauty of the natural world. In Sootopolitan culture, they’re more associated with the sky, is that right?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you ask?”

“I’m trying to determine what would be the perfect stone for Winona’s engagement ring.”

Steven gasped.

“Ohhh! Finally popping the question, I see.”

“I already ‘popped’ it.”

Silence. Wallace was beginning to worry if Steven was okay, but then Steven spoke again:

“You proposed to Winona before getting a ring.”

“I wasn’t planning to propose! It simply just happened on a whim.”

“Wa… Wallace, I don’t… you know what, never mind.”

"No, what is it?"

"I just don't understand you sometimes."

"And I don't understand you sometimes."

"At least I don't ask life changing questions without planning!"

"Fine! Sue me for acting on impulse. You win. I, Wallace, fall in defeat, and you, Steven, get to laugh at my folly."

"Are you going to at least plan out the wedding, or is that going to be an impulse, too?"

Dead serious tone. Wallace couldn't help but laugh.

"Perhaps. We'll have to see."

“Perhaps?!?!”

“Of course not, Steven!”

"Do you want me to ask Winona what her favorite stone is?”

“It's sandstone."

"How do you know?"

"I asked. I was going to tell you for a date idea. Long story."

"Wallace, what—"

"But I don't think they use sandstone for engagement rings, and even if they did, I don't want Rubin Adamas to think I'm crazy. Instead, how about this: what stones go with silver?”

“Well, there’s—”

“Wait.”

Wallace’s eyes were fixated on the display screen, as if it had cast a spell on him with its infographic on lavender jadeite:

“Jade is the gemstone of luck and the skies in Hoenn, but lavender jade carries with it the wisdom and spiritual strength of the heavens. Highly valued by merchants of the past for its soothing, beautiful hue.”

“Wallace? Wallace, are you still there?”

"Steven, what do you know about jadeite?"

-

As the sun began to set, the lights on the streets and skyscrapers of Lilycove City began to spark to life.

Winona sat on a bench overlooking the Hoenn sea. She was wearing a long, lavender dress, and her hair was done in a feather braid. She had even put on makeup: dark red lipstick and lavender eyeshadow.

She stared at the horizon, where the sky met the sea. The water reflected the cyans, violets, pinks, scarlets, and yellows of the sunset. A sunset over the sea was one of her favorite things to see and experience.

“I’m here, darling.”

Winona looked up. Wallace was standing a few feet away. He was dressed in a white dress shirt with the top two buttons undone, blue dress pants, white boots, a blue jacket, and, of course, his white beret. His Luvdisc, Elizabeth, floated right beside him.

“I suppose we should… start over from the beginning,” Wallace chuckled awkwardly.

Winona stood up. Wallace quickly glanced over at Elizabeth. With a deep breath, he smiled and dramatically gestured his hand towards Winona.

“Winona, you are one of the most wonderful people I have ever gotten the chance to meet and get to know. In all of my years, I have never seen someone as brave, strong, generous, loving, and beautiful in looks and soul as you. We have seen so much together. We’ve laughed. We’ve cried. We’ve shared so much with each other. It would be an honor to get to spend the rest of my life with you.”

He got down on one knee and took out a small, blue box from his jacket pocket.

“If life is a journey, then I want to travel its winds and waves with you.”

He opened the box. Inside was a silver ring with a band of lavender around it. Set within the lavender stone was a silver bird design. Winona could barely make out the details, because her eyes were already welling up with tears.

“Winona, will you marry me?”

Winona almost knocked Wallace over in a hug.

"Ask me a thousand times, and my response will be yes every time."

Elizabeth circled around the two, creating a ring of glowing, white hearts. She picked up the ring from the box and slipped it onto Winona's ring finger.

"Did I do it right this time?" Wallace whispered. "Was it perfect?"

"It was more than perfect."
 
Last edited:
You already know why I’m here. :LOL:
Shall we begin?

Well, just reading the description, I could definitely tell that this fic was going to be a lot less cerebral that the last one that I read from you, haha, and right on Valentine’s Day too. I was actually kind of hoping for that, so I chose this one specifically for the day based solely on its title and pairing and nothing else; looks like that played out in my favor! Your plot here is simple and sweet: no depressing family drama or radical re-definitions or family here, just one person proposing to another with a predictably happy ending awaiting at the end. But the road to that is filled with its share of silliness and even some rather thoughtful bits along the way, so there’s plenty to keep us entertained until we finally hear that inevitable “yes!”.

A few things I’d like to mention: for the opening scene you give us both Wallace and Winona’s thoughts of the same event with what appears to be third-person limited perspective for both, before a third sequence concludes that scene with what appears to be perspective switching between Winona and Wallace at first before going to a somewhat distant third-person omniscient with no inner thoughts from either (don’t know if that has its own name). This scene is quite fun with said perspective switching, although an English teacher would probably cry at how they kind of blend into each other by the end. Not that I really think that it’s a problem — the scene still works perfectly as intended — but as someone who often can’t help but see the small details in many things (a blessing and a curse, that), it is something that stood out to me just slightly.

Additionally: the next scene in which Wallace seeks to redeem himself with a ring, haha, is also nice with its exploration of gemstones, including how they work in your “Facadeverse” in particular. I’m not sure if the details there match that of actual Japanese and Greek culture (given how little I really know about either) or if they’re unique inventions for the fictional versions of both that are featured here. But regardless, it’s all a nice little way to add some dimension to the setting in a way that connects to the plot (while presumably also back-porting said details into your other “Facadeverse” fics, and while also allowing you to get Steven in there somehow, haha).

Another comment: I feel like similarly to one of your other fics that I reviewed (that Giovanni crackfic, I believe), the author’s note at the beginning runs the risk of spoiling things a bit, specifically in regards to that… “proposal”, haha, after the Gym Leader meeting. Not that there’s really anything to be spoiled here — I don’t think anyone’s expecting a twist like “she said no!?” or something like that — and I’ll admit that it’s actually pretty funny to read about in the author’s notes, too, especially with the way that you worded it there. But I did feel that the whole thing about the “proposal” taking place at such an un-romantic time and place is just outrageously silly enough — yet also reflective enough of an adorably awkward yet also rather important character trait of Wallace — for it to benefit the most by being a surprise. It’s really just a nitpick in the grand scheme in things and it doesn’t really affect enjoyment of this largely fluffy piece, but it’s something to consider nonetheless.

Not much more to add here, I think: this is a solid, straightforward piece of fluff, indeed, and I really enjoyed it! It’s not nearly as sappy as you might think, though, and I don’t think that you need to care about GracefulShipping to like it; you just need to like sweet — and perhaps just slightly silly — love stories. So give yourself some credit with this one! You’ve got something good here.
 
Awww, now this was a cute fic. Here again for the February review challenge, as I missed posting a review for yesterday. I'm normally not into romance and love stories, as many of them tend to be pretty formulaic and melodramatic. Like InfiniteBakuphoon said, this is a nice, straightforward piece of fluff, and sometimes, straightforward pieces of fluff are needed once in a while. I really liked how absolutely awkward Wallace was. I mean, proposing without a plan or a ring? I don't think I've seen anyone do that before, IRL or in cartoons/movies/shows/whatever. But I got a good chuckle out of it, and both Steven and Winona's reactions to it were pretty spot-on. Also, I had absolutely no idea what lavender jadeite was until I read your fic, and it turns out lavender jadeite is real! Thank you for teaching me something new! Another good story like always.
 
Bulbagarden recently advertised this fic over on their Twitter page, so I thought I'd come check it out and see what all the hubbub is about.
From the start, I love the introduction paragraphs detailing Wallace and Winona's thought processes going into the big proposal. It does an excellent job going over what kind of people the two of them are, and how they both feel about each other and the events going on around them (Plus, the part about Sidney's karaoke got a laugh out of me).
The first proposal was perhaps the highlight of the story, what with Wallace doing everything in his power to make sure things get right, only to miss the most important detail, and Winona not really minding his blunder, only for Wallace to flee in embarrassment anyways. It was a fun scene between the two.
The later two scenes with Wallace and Steven discussing various gemstones, as well as Wallace doing his proposal right the second time, are a little less great than the first scene, but they were still good on their own, regardless. I enjoyed the lore you put into the various stones and their meanings, and seeing the two finally get together in the end is absolutely heartwarming.
Overall, a nice one-shot. I don't really have any major complaints with how it turned out; the characters are well written and enjoyable, the prose is done great, and it's written very neatly. Good job with this.
 
I thought this was really sweet and perfect for Valentine's Day. It was really cute that Lovedisc was in this as well. I agree that writing about what the stones meant added a lot to the story as well. Its nice to read about such a cute couple.
 
AWWW torchic's fluff fics always tend to make me smile! of course, this was no exception!

the premise is cute... i guess it's kind of a role reversal(?) in that the very 'has a flair for the dramatic' walllace basically temporarily short-circuited in the face of his... undying love. but it works out and it made me smile!a

the wallace-steven banter was wonderful to read, not exactly a tsukkomi and boke archetype, but a little similar with steven's reactions to wallace being... himself LOL...

i loved the silly bits in there too! like wallace's being deep-in-thought turning out to be him just... forgetting the quadratic equation (i wonder why he needed it lol)!

basically basically, it was really nice... lots of really good description things that took me there in addition to the dialogue itself being really... lifelike(?), too. (thank you elizabeth for helping make the moment nice!!)

basically basically basically, i liked this! it's a cute romance oneshot and the world probably needs more of that right? even a year and a half or so ago torchic wrote nicely!
 
Please note: The thread is from 1 year ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom