Valentine's Day in Devout America
#32 of Maverick Hotel side content
Just another in-universe report I made up, detailing the state of Valentine's Day in my dystopian world of Devout America.
NOTE: To avoid shitposting and political ranting in the comments, let's all just agree that you're reading this because a) you're looking for some entertainment b) you want to read a dystopian furry story or c) the most likely of reasons, you want to read something that'll make you feel like a romantic horndog. Let's all just have fun. Alright? Alright.
Valentine's Day started off as a Christian feast day honoring the historical figure Saint Valentine, which then gradually transformed into a celebration of romance and love over time. This was no different in Old America, but with the rise of the Revenant Party and emergence of the Devout government, Valentine's Day unofficially turned into a holiday focused on two tenants; proving your devotion to your spouse through extravagant yet moral gifts, and proving your own heterosexuality to Devout society.
Cubs as young as five years old are encouraged to celebrate Valentine's Day as a holiday focused more on familial love than romantic love. According to National Church guidelines, children could make homemade gifts or proclamations of how much they love their mother and father. Preteens and young teenagers are basically forbidden from dating or 'courtship' without supervision, parental or otherwise. The reasoning behind this is as simple as it is complicated. However, depending on if said 'courtship' takes place in a small rural town, suburban sprawl or a densely populated city, restrictions can actually vary and how much the two genders can interact beyond platonic courtesy. On Valentine's Day in particular, it isn't until later high school that it is slightly encouraged for young adults to form romantic relationships. If not to get married and produce offspring to grow the Devout American's next generation, but to disprove any rumors of their perceived sexualities. From their peers, family, friends, loved ones, and even local clergy.
Valentine's Day dances, though not widespread, are easily controlled by church and school authorities, with provocative dancing or public displays of affection banned at best and illegally outlawed at worst. The more conservative (by Devout standards) the state or city, the more restrictive these dances could be. In some towns, even the act of simply kissing in public or kissing while romantically dancing at a public celebration might result in a fine.
Past university and graduate school, single men who do not date or participate In the holiday would be labeled as 'assumed homosexuals', while single women uninterested in the holiday are viewed as 'potential spinsters'.
Interestingly enough, the red rose isn't the only flower seen as a symbol of Valentine's Day in Devout America. For the more patriotic couples coming from middle-class/upper middle-class backgrounds, the white lilacs represent purity and innocence. In an old interview between a reporter and the then-U.S. President David Farthing, the timber wolf mentioned how white lilacs were his wife's favorite flower, so he made it a tradition to always give her a bouquet of them each Valentine's Day as opposed to traditional roses (in fact, the then-First Lady had been noted to include lilacs in decorations for various holidays during their stay in the White House). Loyal supporters and voters entranced by this display of affection slowly incorporated it, and ever since the formation of the Devout government, this new tradition of white lilacs has become an unexpected staple of the holiday.
Regardless of how the holiday is honored, the Devout States of America has heavily sanitized Valentine's Day. The government and nationally supported church groups have removed iconography and commercialization that framed the day as a celebration of vice, lust, and sexual immorality.