#seriously go play superstar saga

[yourladystar]

I find it funny that the new trailer for the Mario movie is what's making people like Luigi as a gay/bi icon.

Like, clearly none of you played Superstar Saga, the game where Luigi was actively crushing on the handsome sentient bean prince.

... Wow, that description is weird without context.

[silenzahra]

Brothership: nods and references to previous M&L games ❤️💚

While I watched the new Brothership trailer yesterday, I noticed a few elements from the previous M&L games that were included in the new one, and since I love them dearly, you best believe that I SCREAMED with every new reference that I noticed 🤩

So I decided to put them together in this post, though I'm probably missing some of them since it's been a LONG time since I last played them, so you're all more than welcome to add the ones you noticed if you don't see them in this post.

Let's start with Superstar Saga! In this game, there are a few times when Luigi must get inside a barrel in order to progress with the story, like for instance, in Chucklehuck Woods or Woohoo Hooniversity.

And then in Brothership!!!!!

Luigi does it AGAIN OMG the way I YELLED 🤩🤩👏👏

Then we move on to Partners in Time and find the special move that turns the brothers into a ball:

And in Brothership... it's back!!!!!

Luigi crying while he hugs Mario, this one is pretty obvious: it made me think immediately of Bowser's Inside Story:

He's so cute I wanna hug him too 🥺💚

Moving on to Dream Team, I really don't know why, but these Idle guys who made Luigi fall asleep remind me A LOT of these four guys you have to fight in Dreamy Wakeport (Heavy Zest, Sorrow Fist, Thunder Sass and Beef Cloud) in order to wake up Big Massif:

This might be just me, but I do believe they took some inspiration when creating them. And btw, the city where we see Luigi having a drink and relaxing and that we've seen in previous trailers? It reminds me SO MUCH of Wakeport:

Am I the only one who sees the similarities? 😅

And finally, last but not least...

THE FREAKING BOMB DERBY FROM DREAM TEAM IS BACK 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

I swear, the SQUEAL I let out when I saw this in the new Brothership trailer must have been heard on the other side of the world. This was my freaking FAVORITE Bros. Attack from Dream Team, I was SO GOOD when using it (not without a few times of the bombs exploding in poor Luigi's face before I got the hang of it 😂).

Seriously, oh my God, I freaking LOVE this attack. I'm over the damn moon to know that I'll get the chance to play it again in Brothership 🥲 This game hasn't come out yet and it's already made me SO HAPPY. Thank you SO MUCH for this, Nintendo. This game is a freaking dream come true 😭❤️💚

Before I go, I didn't double-check the enemies, but I know there are a few that also come from these previous games! Feel free to add them if you'd like, as well as anything else I might have missed 🥰

And also... SPOILER under the cut!!

This one, I saw it in this video which features TONS of footage from the game, and decided to add it down here just in case because it's a very touching thing and I'd totally understand some people wanting to be surprised when playing 🥹

So if you check it, I warned you! And if you don't, hope you enjoyed this post and let's share the hype for this game coming in less than a month!!! 🤩🤩👏👏

So the spoiler is...

When one of the bros faints, the other does the EXACT same thing as in Superstar Saga 🥹🥹🥹

I'm so freaking MOVED this is so damn TENDER and I'm beyond ELATED that they brought it back in Brothership 😭😭😭 The brothers ever!!!! ❤️💚

EDIT: My dear friend @megamagimugi wisely pointed out that they also do this in the other games, only that differently: carrying each other in their backs or in the case of Partners in Time, the babies carried away their fallen adult selves. Can't remember a thing about Paper Jam though.

[gay-jesus-probably]

So like, last night I stumbled upon your discussions of why a lot of TOTK’s whole… everything is messed up, and it had me thinking about it so much I had troubled sleeping afterwards. So uh, thanks for that lol (/lh). In all seriousness, your takes on how imperialist Hyrule is in this game, how much less like unique cultures the various towns feel like, Ganondorf being both completely flat and also seemingly not meant to be, and how weird it is that Zelda is back in power really put into words a lot of thoughts that had been nagging at me as I’ve been playing. Like, the amount to which the writing has suffered from BOTW is staggering when you actually lay out the problems. Out of curiosity, do you have any idea what the fuck happened? Like did the writing team change? The game had so much potential, as seen by the numerous fan theories/AUs etc. So what went wrong?

Honestly? I have no idea. I'm not usually that big on behind the scenes stuff anyways, and I'll be real here, I went into this game pretty much 100% blind - I didn't even watch any of the trailers, I knew NOTHING about TOTK except from a few details I absorbed from hearing other people talk about online (basically, I knew Ganondorf was going to show up as a talking corpse, Link would lose an arm, and the Master Sword would get rekt).

I rarely buy games as soon as they come out anyways tbh; I can only think of three games that I've actually gone out of my way to get as soon as possible after their release, and that was the 3DS remakes of Superstar Saga and Bowsers Inside Story (two of my favourite games ever, and Superstar Saga having literally been my first RPG), and I picked up the Mario 3D All Stars collection on launch day as a favour to my older sibling (who was stuck at work), and got one for myself in the process. The only reason I bought TOTK like a week after its release was because one of our dogs was literally days away from having a puppy, and so I knew that the next few weeks of my life would be entirely dedicated to keeping the other two dogs busy, assisting mom with the newborn puppy, and just generally being on call to provide literally anything mom needed as soon as she needed it. Which meant a lot of sitting around waiting to be required, and I'd need something to do that I could easily pause at a moments notice. So... new video game seemed a good way to fill the hang time.

And it was a good call, like I said, I've been having loads of fun with this game. There's a reason I've almost got 300 hours of gameplay, and it's not (just) because I haven't had anything better to do in between taking care of dog stuff (though that number is somewhat inflated due to me leaving it open and paused for hours at a time while busy with dog stuff). It's just that the story is a fucking mess.

As for what happened with the story... I have no idea. I've seen some people suggest that they might have been planning something a little more ambitious, and then technical limitations forced them to walk it back, so the story had to be hastily reworked to match. And I've heard that the abilities in TOTK were just ideas they had for BOTW that they couldn't fit in, which honestly I can see - the abilities are cool and all, but let's be real here, they aren't nearly as distinct as the BOTW runes. Magnesis, Cryonis, Stasis and Remote Bombs were unique powers with different uses in different areas; now the powerset is just Recall, Get Around Slightly Faster, Ultrahand, Ultrahand But In Your Inventory, and Ultrahand But Faster. But I don't know if that's actually the case.

But honestly, I really don't know why the writing is so awful. To be fair, some of it is definitely just the English translation team shitting the bed - like come on, they didn't need to have Sidon and Yona repeatedly exchange the exact same line about how he's scared she'll die like Mipha. They could have at least changed the fucking wording to make it sound more natural. And I know that other translation teams managed to inject some more nuance into the story - the French translation actually managed to call Rauru on his imperialist bullshit! For the throne room scene, they had Ganon refer to Rauru with 'vous', the formal form of 'you', but Rauru refers to Ganon with 'tu', the informal form of 'you'. 'Tu' is for use in casual settings or between friends, and if someone is using 'vous' for you, referring to them with 'tu' is a MASSIVE insult; it's very condescending, and implies that you have literally no respect for that person whatsoever, but they should continue treating you as a figure of great authority. To sort of translate that into an English equivalent, it'd be like if Ganon walked into that scene using formal language and referring to Rauru as a fellow King, and Rauru responded by treating Ganon like a small, dumb child. Hugely insulting. Also the vous/tu disparity has a History with French colonialism, so that adds some implications as to what Hyrule's really doing with their 'allies'. And in the scene where Ganon takes the secret stone, the French translation has him say Rauru tried to force him to submit, which is an outright accusation of imperialism (as opposed to the English saying Rauru wanted to control Ganon, which suggests the problem was Rauru thinking he could find a peaceful solution instead of just executing a foreign leader for thought crimes)

So the english translation definitely had the room to put some more nuance into things if the team had wanted to; honestly I kind of wish I knew Japanese so I could compare it to the original script and see if any of the problems I've been bitching about were part of the script from the start, or if the English translators were just particularly bad. But Nintendo is a very conservative company, and Japan is a very conservative country with a serious nationalism problem, so I kind of doubt it, especially since the game portrays Hyrule pretty much the exact same way that Japan is portrayed in propaganda justifying their own imperialism. That... does not suggest the English team went apeshit. That suggests that the awful shit was in the script from the start, and the English team was just totally on board with it.

As for the writing teams... I mean, to be fair it's been like seven years, of course the writing team isn't the exact same as BOTW. But honestly, the main issue is just that they've recycled a lot of old problems from the Zelda games, and somehow stripped them of what little nuance they had before. Like, Ganondorf trying to take over Hyrule because Evil has been an issue since Ocarina of Time (which this game was clearly heavily pulling from), but even though OoT never told us he had a deeper motive, the worldbuilding still showed exactly why he would have such an issue with Hyrule. We knew there had been a bloody civil war only about a decade before Ganon's takeover, we knew that the Gerudo were treated with disdain by Hyrule, and we saw that Hyrule's alliances with the Gorons and Zora were pretty flimsy, and neither race felt like Hyrule actually gave a damn about them. But most importantly of all, OoT gave us the Shadow Temple, a horrific prison meant to inflict unspeakable torture on its captives... all on orders from the Hylian royal family. Hyrule's hands were never clean. We weren't supposed to side with Ganon in OoT, but we were shown a long list of reasons for why he was so pissed off.

Someone else said that TOTK feels like a retelling of OoT that's just pro-Hyrule propaganda, and that's a pretty good summary. I don't know what the fuck Nintendo was thinking, but honestly it kind of seems like they're trying to stick to the formula of Zelda games at all costs, while also making the entire game just a huge 'gotcha' to all the fans that have spent the last 25 years seeing Ganondorf as a sympathetic character with depth and reasonable motivations. I find it ironic that they decided to include the Wind Waker boomerang and shield in the game, considering that the whole game feels like an attempt to get everyone to forget Wind Waker ever happened. That's still the most human we've ever gotten to see Ganondorf - he didn't have many lines in that game, but the ones he did have mattered. At the end of the day, WW Ganondorf wanted to have a better life for his people, and he knew Hyrule would never let that happen. But now apparently Ganon just wants to dropkick puppies into woodchippers, and he doesn't give the slightest hint of a fuck about trying to wipe out the Gerudo people entirely by attacking them with an endless sandstorm plus zombie apocalypse. His only character trait is Evil.

If I want to get really cynical for a minute here, I think it's basically just a cash grab. If your game prompts a moral debate, then it can offend people, which means they won't want to give you money for it. But if it's a simple black and white conflict with no nuance, the fans will love all the right characters in the right way, and everyone will love hyrule and want to see more of it! It's like the fucking MCU; they're not willing to tell a fresh story, or make any serious commentary. They just want something safe and formulaic that has been statistically proven to make money. Fucking cowards.

[noelledeltarune]

I still can't believe that there's people out there who think Mario actively hates Luigi like. How bad are your reading comprehension skills man

LITERALLY. matpat and his detriments on society for fucking real. mario and luigi are two of my favourite characters ever and my fave smb characters for sure. their dynamic is soooo so good so it literally hurts my heart when people say mario hates luigi like no actually luigi is like his favourite person. mario adores his brother and this is NOT in question.

like it's not something i see nearly as often in a rare movie only fans W since in that movie it's like

he just misses luigi so much and wants to save him and just see him again so bad. so movie fans have never had a reason to assume they hate eachother which in general is such a huge win

but like in general the fact that it was such a prevalent line of thought that mario and luigi just don't like eachother astounds me so much?? like did we play the same games?? do you even care about mario and luigi holding up eachother's photos inquisitively in superstar saga when you're checking the other's stats when they're separated. do you even care about mario deliberately staying behind in super paper mario when luigi explicitly stated he was sacrificing himself because he wanted to hope that he'd live (not like he actually died but even if we as the players know that reasonably they wouldn't kill everyone off mario himself does not and was lead to believe they died). do you even care about luigi fully gaining power over himself in the dream world almost solely because he wanted to help and protect mario. DID YOU EVEN SEE DREAM'S DEEP. COME ON. do you seriously think luigi lacks so much self respect that he'd go through 3 haunted mansion escapades to save someone who hates him and treats him like shit. why would they live together if they hate eachother. why would they share a bedroom if they hate eachother. come on.

i can't list every "mario and luigi friendship :-]" moment because thats like every time they interact and are on screen together just LOOK WITH YOUR EYES AT THEM. AND SEE.

thankfully again this isnt as much of a problem anymore LOL i don't really see 'mario and luigi hate eachother and mario is the scum of the earth and luigi is so resentful' stuff like ever. but the fact it ever existed is just a testament to how people will see something they "like" and then actively bastardize everything for the sake of making it sadder or fitting a specific trope. it sucks man

[athetos]

old-timey JRPGs. many of them are getting new shiny remasters now, but which ones are your favourites? and/or, fav: soundtracks? mechanics? characterization? storylines?

I’m going to consider old-timey to be anything from PlayStation or earlier for these purposes!

My favorite retro rpgs overall: chrono trigger, one of my favorites of all time, seriously it’s a masterpiece! Such good writing and character designs and side content! Final fantasy iv is a blast, a great starting point for people new to the series, and final fantasy iii is extremely underrated. Earthbound is a cult classic for a reason, one of the most unique and nostalgic games ever made, the vibes are impeccable I can’t recommend it enough. Dragon Quest III is maybe the best old-school DQ game I’ve tried thus far, a real epic. I’ve only played the demo for the live a live remake, but it’s amazing from what I’ve done so far. I’m also required to say Xenogears and Final Fantasy 6 because my friends would beat me if I didn’t!

The following are for ALL jrpgs, including modern ones:

Fav soundtracks: chrono trigger and chrono cross FOR SURE, final fantasy x, xenoblade chronicles, Pokémon mystery dungeon explorers of sky, triangle strategy (it’s by the guy who did the ost for fma brotherhood!! Seriously!!), the world ends with you, octopath traveler, shin megami tensei v, shin megami tensei strange journey, and live a live

Fav mechanics: the world ends with you (everything in it honestly, but primarily the combat); bravely default (using brave Vs defaulting); chrono trigger (tech attacks); Mario and Luigi superstar saga (timed attack inputs); shin megami tensei series (press turns); live a live (multiple character povs); earthbound (the many status effects and rolling hit points); final fantasy x (the skill tree options)

Fav characterization: chrono trigger, xenoblade chronicles, final fantasy x, final fantasy iv, triangle strategy, fire emblem awakening, the world ends with you, tales of symphonia

Fav storylines: chrono trigger, the world ends with you, bravely default, final fantasy x, final fantasy vi, dragon quest iii, xenoblade chronicles, mother 3, dark souls, terranigma

[kim-bobbae]

88. “I’ll see you later.”

This is legit the first gif I’ve EVER made in my life cos I couldn’t find one of Jay looking hot bothered...like mad kinda bothered. Haha. I swear the only reason why I enjoy writing angst is so I can imagine Jay looking hot and shit (is that normal? am I weird??). But he’s such an angel... Like what in the world could he possibly be mad at his girl about??? I know the flow for this one is pretty similar to what I just posted recently, but it’s been in my drafts for a hot minute so I hope y’all enjoy this one nonetheless!

“I’m sorry. Can we please talk?” 

You sighed for what felt like the hundredth time of the day, burying your face in your hands as you threw you phone aside, already expecting Jay to ignore your texts again. It’s been two days since you’ve last seen or spoke to him, and the fact that you were going to see him at work in a few hours amidst the silent treatment was already making you dread it. 

The thing about Jay was that he wasn’t really one to get angry at anyone but when he did, he’d rather cool off alone while you, on the other hand, preferred to iron things out there and then. Then again, despite the little squabbles over the two years that the both of you had been together, there hasn’t been any particularly huge fight…until your dumbass decided that it was a great idea to get yourself drunk as fuck in front of your boyfriend and his colleagues while they performed at the club that you and your friends were drinking at, that is. 

“We can’t dare you to go up there and make out with him, can we?” Your best friend challenged, downing another shot. 

“C’mon, what do you think?” You replied, shrugging her off. 

“Then it’s no fun, why are we even here if we can’t dare you and Jay to do shit!” Another chimed in. 

Your friends were in town for a few days and having not met them for a few years since your graduation in London, you took the opportunity to take them out for dinner where one of them suggested a round of drinks after. Jay who had been scheduled to perform at Soap then offered to book you guys a table and here you guys were, wilding it out on a Friday night with a game of truth or dare after having a shot too many. 

From making out to dancing with strangers, your friends were definitely taking this game more seriously than you had expected them to, especially when you were pretty bad with alcohol yourself and had to down shots one after another when none of their dares for you even seemed logical. Sure, they had toned it down taking into consideration that you were attached hence sparing you from going up to random dudes on the dance floor, but with how some of their ideas were literally out of this world, you were left with no choice but to drink continuously and very soon you were more drunk than you’d like to be. 

“Well, he felt bad that he couldn’t join us so he tried to make up for it. Plus points for a VIP table, no?” You tried reasoning. 

While you tried to be a good sport and answered some of their prying questions about your relationship with your superstar boyfriend, some were inevitably too personal to be answered – not that you really minded, but you were pretty sure Jay wouldn’t be too pleased if you were to spill the beans on your sex life. You were thus left with no choice but to chug shots after shots and in no time, you were too intoxicated for your own good. 

At this point, your vision was a blur and you could literally hear your heart throbbing in sync with the bass of the music playing in the background. Yet, your last bit of consciousness managed to miraculously bring you and your friends to the dance floor. Jay’s voice in the distance as he performed had your body automatically grooving to the music, a stupid drunk smile plastered on your face as you threw your hands up and moved your hips without caring about how ridiculous you looked at this point. 

Egged on by your friends who were in no better states of mind than you were, everything about that situation got you more excited…except you weren’t the only one as a man who had been dancing near you came up close behind you, his hands very enthusiastically helping themselves to the curves on your body as he grinded against your ass. 

You weren’t sober enough to make sense of the situation and it wasn’t until you felt his hands tug at the hem of your blouse did you snap your head up, catching a glimpse of a very unamused Jay through the slits of neon lights in your hazy vision did you finally realize what was going on and the next thing you knew, you remembered being pulled out of the club, the rest a distant memory. 

You debated on the idea of turning up at the office a little earlier in hopes of at least speaking to Jay before the photoshoot and despite the several ‘what if’s, you decided to do just that because no, you wouldn’t be able to just turn up to work, putting on makeup and doing his hair in front of everyone else, pretending that everything was perfectly fine between the both of you. 

A tray of coffee in hand, you knocked on the door to the meeting room where Jay and some of the guys were chilling, taking a deep breath before you entered the room. 

“Hey,” You started, glancing briefly at Jay – to which he looked right back at you – before smiling at Kiseok and Wegun. 

“How are you?” Wegun greeted you, a warm smile on his face as usual. “What brings you here?” 

“Jay has a magazine shoot in a bit, thought I’d just drop by with some coffee since it’s been a while since I last spoke to you guys,” You replied. 

“Well you could’ve spoken to them after the show that day if Dukhwa didn’t have to drag you out of the club,” Jay spoke, his expressionless gaze on you unwavering. 

You sighed, “Do you mind if we talk outside for a second?” 

Sensing the tension in the air, Kiseok whispered at him to cut it out but to no avail as Jay ignored your request and continued, “Did you really have to get yourself in that mess while I was performing? What were you thinking?” 

You bit your lip, lowering your head in embarrassment as Jay literally lectured you in front of his colleagues. Yet, the fact that he had decided to have this conversation in front of them angered you for a bit. Sure, you screwed up, but did you really deserve to be humiliated in front of them yet again after what they had witnessed at the club two days ago? What was he even trying to prove? 

“…we’ll leave you guys to talk,” Wegun spoke, signalling at Kiseok and getting up from his seat. 

“It’s fine, there’s no point if he’s just going to be like that,” You interrupted, then stalked out of the room. 

You were just trying to be professional about it, hoping to resolve the feud before you guys had to face each other at work because like it or not, despite the perks that came with dating and working together, it was times like these that truly made you wish you didn’t have to see him at work. 

It ticked you off even more realizing that the entire situation had only snowballed purely because he was being such a kid about calling you out in front of his colleagues for it. They were, after all, your coworkers too and his petty tantrums were completely uncalled for. 

Needless to say, you were fuming throughout the shoot. You tried your best to keep your composure as you did his makeup, though the rest of the staff had noticed that you were quieter than usual and that you had refused any eye contact with Jay throughout the whole time you were getting him ready for the shoot. With the little saga earlier at the office being your first time on the receiving end of Jay’s hostility, you wanted nothing more than to be done with the shoot without any more drama. 

This being the longest you guys have gone without speaking to each other despite being in the same space had Jay feeling a little conscious of you by now, sneaking glances at you from time to time. He’d watch the way you’d squint at the monitor as you observed the pictures carefully, then step in to put strands of his hair back in place every now and then. Your jaw was clenched the entire time, face void of any expression compared to your usual chipper self that he was used to seeing and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t beginning to regret what he started earlier. 

“You okay?” He whispered as you dabbed the beauty blender under his eyes. 

You ignored him, exhaling deeply as you finished off with some loose powder. 

“Ji Eun.” 

“I don’t wanna talk. Not now. Not after I tried to resolve this earlier this morning and especially not after the shit you pulled on me.” You fired back at him in a hushed whisper, then turned your back against him as you walked back behind the camera. 

He sighed, then briefly stretched his neck and went right back to work – not without glancing at you once more. Jay being a natural in front of the camera as always thankfully allowed the shoot to wrap up in a few short hours and you couldn’t be more relieved to retreat back into the dressing room, away from Jay’s piercing gazes but the respite was short lived as Jay cracked the door open slowly, the both of you making the first brief second of eye contact in the several hours of the shoot before you looked away and started packing up. 

“Let me help you with that,” He said, walking towards you. 

You didn’t reply, putting away the brushes and palettes. 

“Babe-” 

“What?” 

He pressed his lips together, slightly taken aback by your little outburst before gesturing for you to hand him the bags in your hands. 

“Don’t lecture me in front of your colleagues then pull a sweet boyfriend shit after. Make up your fucking mind,” You said. 

“I don’t know what got into my mind this morning…” He trailed, his gaze on you softening as he watched how tears were beginning to well up in your eyes. 

You didn’t even know why you were crying. You were mad, so mad, but you hated how weak you were for him every damn time. 

You looked away, tilting your head back in an attempt to stop the tears. The last thing you wanted was to cry in front him. As much as you were upset, your screw up had started this whole mess and you knew very well that he’d feel that much worse if he was the reason for your tears. 

“I’m sorry,” He apologized, grabbing your hand to get you to look at him. 

“I tried resolving this nicely, texted you, and turned up earlier at work to apologize but you decided to be a dick about it. Yes, I fucked up. But no, I don’t deserve this,” You told him, shrugging his hand off as you busied yourself packing, tears blurring your vision by now as they rolled down your cheeks. 

“Hey c’mon,” He said, hands on your shoulders as he spun you around to face him then cupped your face, wiping away at your tears with his thumb. “Don’t cry...”

“I just wanted to talk. I don’t want to fight,” You told him, your voice coming out as a soft whisper. 

“Me neither.” 

He watched as you simply looked up at him, resignation evident in your bloodshot eyes and he leaned in to bring his lips to yours, desperate to draw a reaction – anything – from you to be reassured that everything was going to be okay. There he was, thinking he could diffuse the situation with a few sweet kisses after being an absolute asshole and you hated that it was working. 

You hated that you knew this was exactly how he was going to salvage the situation, as with all your other fights, yet here you were, kissing him like he didn’t piss the hell out of you just hours ago, as if he had not ignored your fifty calls and text messages over the past forty-eight hours. 

This wasn’t just an argument of who should be doing the dishes, nor about the time you turned up half an hour late to a date that he had painstakingly squeezed amidst his busy schedule all because you couldn’t find that one dress you were looking for and refused to wear anything else and you hated that despite the gravity of the situation, it didn’t take much for you to succumb to his sweet gestures. 

You pulled away as soon as he you felt his tongue pressing against your lips and he looked at you, a mix of worry and disappointment in his eyes. 

“I have to go,” You told him, gathering your belongings. 

“Don’t-” 

“I have another schedule to attend to, Wonjae’s shoot starts in two hours,” You explained. 

“I’ll pick you up from work.” 

“You don’t have to.” 

“I want to,” He said immediately, and the way you silently looked at him with an unreadable expression frustrated him to no end. 

He held your gaze with his own and for a while the both of you just stayed like that, his deep brown eyes pleading with yours for any form of reassurance and in all honesty, that was enough for you to want to put this all behind so that you guys could finally go back to having pizza on the couch and cuddling to sleep. 

You pressed your lips into tight line, giving him a small smile before you picked up your bags and walked right past him. 

“I’ll see you later,” He whispered, reaching his hand out to hold yours. 

And the little squeeze you gave in response before walking out of the room was just what he needed to hold up until he could see you again that night.

[rainbowwing251]

Oh, curious for the headcanons for the Mario Bros!

I haven’t played too many of the games in the Super Mario Franchise, but I think I can do this!

But first, I would like to make this statement: I am very sorry for all of the Mario fans out there. Fire Emblem fans may have lost a localized Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, but Mario fans lost Super Mario 3D All-Stars (I have a digital copy of that game, by the way. I want to get back to playing it at some point), Super Mario Bros. 35 (which was a very fun game, in my opinion), the Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch, and the ability to upload your courses in Super Mario Maker on the Wii U (though I guess that was going to happen at some point).

Needless to say, you guys have lost a lot. I hope that these headcanons will make you feel a bit better!

Starting off with Mario, I think he would be a ler-leaning switch who is incredibly ticklish. He isn’t as sensitive as his brother is, but he’ll still break down in laughter if someone were to put their hands on one of his worst spots.

Before I begin the lee!Mario headcanons, I would like to make an announcement: Mario is canonically ticklish! This is shown in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. There might be more, but for now, these are the games that Mario can get tickled in!

If you want to know how Mario can be tickled in these games, feel free to ask! I got this information from the Mario Wiki, and I would be more than happy to provide the links to the pages that I found all of this information on!

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I’m going to list off Mario’s worst spots. Those spots are his sides, his knees, and his neck.

His often gets targeted by Luigi, Princess Peach, and Princess Daisy. All three of them love to sneak up on him and launch a surprise tickle attack. He’ll react as if he had just jumped into a pool of lava, and it’s one of the funniest things that you’ll ever see in your entire life.

He doesn’t squirm around or fight back all that much while he’s being tickled. He may prefer to be the ler, but he won’t get mad at his ler for making him laugh, especially if it’s Luigi. Mario seems like the kind of guy who would enjoy a good laugh every now and then, and tickling would definitely help out with that.

If his ler is Luigi, and if he gets in the mood to fight back against him, he will do so, but not out of anger. He’s not going to discourage his brother from tickling him. If anything, he’ll try to initiate a tickle fight so he can encourage his brother to fight back and turn the tables.

He is weak to teasing, but only if the teasing is coming from someone he knows. Don’t try to tease him if you are a stranger to him, he will hate it. A lot. Don’t tease him if you are anything like Bowser or Bowser Jr., either. He’ll hate it even more.

If he knows who you are, then you are more than welcome to tease him while you tickle him. He is especially weak to Peach and Luigi’s teasing. Something about Peach’s tone and the way that Luigi teases him just kills him on the spot.

Teasing is one of the few things that can make him blush. His blush will be a light pink color when you start tickling him, and it will gradually darken as you keep going. Teasing will speed up the darkening of his blush.

Mario’s lers are Luigi, Peach, and Daisy, as I mentioned earlier. The Toads will occasionally join in on the fun if they think he needs a good laugh. In Smash, the first three people in the previous list will continue to target him, but now, they are joined by Link, Ness, the Villagers, and the Inklings.

Let’s move on to ler!Mario headcanons. To me, Mario seems like the kind of ler that will tickle those who want or need to be cheered up. He will not tickle someone into hysterics (unless he is explicitly told to do so), and he will not overstep any boundaries.

His favorite way to tickle someone who’s has a particularly bad day is to lightly tickle their sides and the bottom of their ribcage to get quiet giggles out of them. He’ll keep it up until one of the following occurs:

His lee tells him to stop. He will always comply with this the request, even if he hasn’t been tickling that person for long.

His lee tells him to increase the intensity of the tickling. He’ll do his best to comply with this request without making it harder for his lee to breathe (unless he is explicitly told to tickle them until they are nearly breathless. He’ll hesitate to go through with this request, but he will eventually fulfill it).

His lee has been cheered up successfully. He’ll retract his hands as soon as his lee tells him that they are in a better mood, but if they tell him to keep going, he will comply.

Unless he is tickling Luigi, Mario will not initiate a tickle fight with anyone. He doesn’t know why, but the idea of getting into a tickle fight with anyone that isn’t his brother sounds unappealing to him (though he will occasionally make an exception).

The idea of teasing anyone who isn’t Luigi also sounds unappealing to him (but once again, he can make an exception), so unless you ask him, he won’t incorporate teasing into his tickling. If Luigi is the lee, then he will let loose a flurry of teases that are meant to make him laugh a little bit more than he already is.

Obviously, Luigi is his main lee, though he will go after Peach and Daisy from time to time. In Smash, Luigi is still his main lee, but he will also target the younger fighters. Out of all of them, Ness and the Inklings are the ones that will be targeted the most.

It’s Luigi time, now! He is definitely a lee in my mind.

I recently made a post about the most ticklish fighter for each Smash game, and how they would get into a tickle fight with one another. In that post, I said that couldn’t come up with an idea as to who the most ticklish fighter of Smash 64 would be. After thinking about it, I decided to give that title to Luigi. I hope the upcoming headcanons will make my reasoning clear.

Luigi is FAR more ticklish than his brother is. He’ll jump at the slightest of touches, regardless of whether or not the touch was intentional. He will squeak if you catch him off guard. He might fall over if you tickle his worst spots. And he secretly loves it all.

He doesn’t like to admit to it, but he enjoys being the lee due to the fact that he is getting attention. It’s not like anyone is intentionally ignoring him, but he definitely lives in his brother’s shadow for the most part. To him, tickling gives him the attention that he secretly craves, and it also gives him the satisfaction of making someone else smile, even if he’s the lee.

His worst spots are his underarms, his stomach, and his ears, but you could tickle him anywhere and he would laugh.

He is VERY squirmy! Seriously, he’s worse than both Pit and Shulk, and those two are even more ticklish than he is! If you pin his arms down to his sides, be careful while you are tickle him, because he could knock you down on accident due to his squirming.

Despite all of this, he won’t try to fight back, unless he’s in a tickle fight. If that’s the case, then he will try to get payback on his ler, even if it ends with him getting tickled to death.

Luigi can easily become overwhelmed by tickling, and he might become scared of you if you go too far with it, even if you didn’t mean to do so. This is another thing that you should take into consideration if you want to tickle him.

I probably should have said this earlier, but I can totally see Mario sending the Polterpup after Luigi if he sees him in a bad mood. I can also see him destroying his brother with tickles as payback for laughing at him at the end of Luigi’s Mansion.

Before I list off the names of his lers, I want to make one final lee!Luigi headcanon. Be warned, this headcanon will contain a spoiler for the plot of Luigi’s Mansion (and a possible spoiler for the plot of Luigi’s Mansion 3).

After the events of Luigi’s Mansion (and possibly Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and Luigi’s Mansion 3), Luigi would therefore suffer from frequent panic attacks due to trauma. He became afraid of people sneaking up on him, and he fears that something will jump out at him at any given moment. He’s especially afraid of paintings after seeing Mario in one during the first Luigi’s Mansion and Luigi’s Mansion 3.

To help him recover from his trauma, Simon and Richter will tickle him after he makes a full recovery from a panic attack. Overtime, his anxiety will decrease as he begins to replace the terrifying thought of someone coming to harm him with a more positive image of being tickled by Simon and Richter. He hasn’t made a complete recovery just yet, but he is on the right path.

In his homeworld, Luigi’s main lers are Mario, Peach, and Daisy. In Smash, Simon and Richter will join those three, and they will all work together to help Luigi recover from his trauma.

As a ler, he is rather nervous. His nervousness can be compared to Pyra’s nervousness when she was getting used to the idea of tickling other people.

He’s always afraid of something going wrong while he tickles someone. He’s worried about his lee passing out, worried about digging his fingers a little too deeply into someone’s skin, and worried about his lee getting angry at him. Needless to say, he has a hard time with tickling other people, and he might leave his lee lying and waiting on the ground.

If this happens to you, you have two choices. You can either wait it out, or try to help him with calming down. You can even encourage him to tickle you. That way, he’ll know that you are comfortable with him, and he will regain the courage to tickle you.

He doesn’t like to tease his lees (even if his lee is Mario), but unlike his brother, it’s not caused by a lack of interest in teasing people who are not related to him. Instead, it’s due to the fact that he will make himself blush if he tries to tease his lee. He knows that people will take advantage of this weakness, so he won’t tease his lees.

Just like his brother, he won’t engage in tickle fights, unless they involve his brother. However, unlike Mario, he’ll stay away from tickle fights because he knows for a fact that he will likely lose the fight.

In his world, Mario and Daisy are his main lees. This is carried over into Smash, where Simon and Richter will join them (though Luigi tends to tickle them far less often).

And that’s that, I suppose. I’m a little nervous about posting this, but I’ll be brave and post it anyway.

P.S Is Luigi canonically ticklish? I have a feeling that he is, but I’m not entirely sure about that.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #472

Top Ten Suggestions for Future Star Wars Games

Concluding an accidental trilogy of Top Ten lists that feature the word “Star”, here we journey back to a galaxy far, far away. This is also one of those lists that’s been bubbling under for quite a while, since the announcement (feels like ages ago now) that Disney have shopped the Star Wars licence around to a number of developers, and we’ll get future games from companies other than EA. But really it goes back even further, because for me Star Wars and gaming are inexorably linked. I associate my teenage PC gaming phase very closely with Star Wars, because it occurred in the mid-nineties, when Star Wars games were truly ascendent. In a run that I would argue stretched from the release of X-Wing in 1993, right through to Knights of the Old Republic in 2003, it felt like just about every genre was getting a nod from the House of Skywalker, and generally speaking the games were excellent. This time also saw the resurgence of Star Wars as a multimedia powerhouse, with the films getting reissued on video (and in Widescreen!) before the 1997 release of the Special Editions, the subsequent DVD releases, and then in 1999, the beginnings of the Prequel Trilogy with The Phantom Menace. You could argue that that’s when the wheels fell off, because even with the “Han Shot First” controversy and mixed reaction to some of the new effects shots, the late-nineties releases had been warmly received, Star Wars felt cool and exciting all the time, and anticipation was building to fever pitch at the thought of new movies. Amidst the Jar Jar hatred there was, I think, a bit more antipathy towards stories set in the Clone Wars, and although there were still some very good games being released (the first LEGO Star Wars came out in 2005!), the spark of the Golden Age was mostly absent.

Could we be entering a new Golden Age, or at least a Silver Age? Maybe; hopefully! I really, really enjoyed Jedi: Fallen Order and Squadrons, even though neither are perfect and both have plenty of rough edges. Now that the Skywalker Saga is out of the way and the franchise as a whole is spreading out into new areas (check out the number of Disney+ shows on the way), perhaps we’ll see all different facets of the galaxy explored in games too. And that’s what this list is: ten possible games, set in the Star Wars universe, that I think would be cool.

For the most part I’m not trying to invent a whole game; rather, it’s “Star Wars in this genre” or “Star Wars with this hook”. There’s probably an exception or two here and there, but you’ll get the drift. Some of these have been in my mental wishlist for years, from right back to when I first played X-Wing on my mate’s Mac, or when I installed a friend’s copy of Dark Forces from floppy disk (we, er, did that in those days). One of the best things about Star Wars is that it contains multitudes; George Lucas really did create a whole galaxy full of weird side characters, intriguing backstory, and funky-looking locations (aided and abetted, of course, by a bevy of talented collaborators). What corner of the universe couldn’t support a game of some kind?

So here’s to the future, to the newly-rechristened Lucasfilm Games, and to ten titles that could all benefit from beginning with those classic blue words on a black background.

Jedi Padawan RPG: I’ve wanted a game like this for about twenty years: a third-person action-RPG where you play a Padawan. You create your character and build your lightsaber, and then follow your master on missions around the Republic, learning the ways of the Force and developing your character. In a way, Fallen Order has adopted some of these ideas; the fact you only use a lightsaber and Force powers, for instance. But in my mind this is more similar to something like the first Fable, or maybe Mass Effect, where you’d have a hub to return to (the Jedi Temple) and then go off on missions that you could choose. All the while there’d be a plot bubbling up, and an arc to follow, and all sorts of quasi-open-world Jedi shenanigans. It’d be cool if they could make lightsabers feel like the really dangerous one-hit-kill weapons they are in the films, or if you could use them to, y’know, open doors and stuff. Maybe this could be set in the “High Republic” era we’re starting to explore.

Deus Ex-style first-person RPG: I suppose this one could be reductively called “Cyberpunk on Coruscant”, but the idea is you’d play someone – not a Jedi, in my mind – going on quests or solving some kind of mystery, shooting people in first person whilst also upgrading your body and abilities in typical RPG style. I wouldn’t want it to be too dark; I don’t like it when people try to make Star Wars “edgy”. But that Mandalorian or Rogue One tone of seriousness interspersed with Star Wars’ typical melodrama and weirdness would be good. I see your character as a small-time crook or maybe a minor mercenary who by circumstance is forced to take missions for either the Rebels or the Empire (or maybe First Order and Resistance); perhaps mirroring Poe Dameron’s journey from spice smuggler to X-Wing superstar. It’d be cool if there was Fallout-style hit-modelling on characters, and if your arm or whatever got damaged, you could have it replaced with a robot one.

Star Wars meets Elite: I even have a title for this one: “Scoundrel”. Basically, like I say, it’s Elite but in the Star Wars universe; you have a ship, you fly from planet to planet, you trade goods or offer passage, you spend your money on upgrading your ship or buying a new one. You’re Han Solo, basically; hence “Scoundrel”. In my mind it’s set at the dawn of the Rebellion, so you can choose where your allegiances – and your ethics – lie. Take on official Imperial assignments? Help their war effort? Stay neutral but legal? Stay out of the politics, but, y’know, smuggle a little bit? Run a bit of spice? Or do you go all-in and work for the Rebellion – even take part in military action? Maybe it could even run all the way up to Return of the Jedi and give you the chance to fight in the Battle of Endor! C’mon, this one has “hit” written all over it.

Clone Troopers turn-based “Tactics” game: by “Tactics” I mean like X-COM or, well, Gears Tactics; turn-based team combat games. I think of all the groups of military characters most suited to this style, it would be the Clone Troopers; they’re a well-organised military force that functions as part of a team. We know there are loads of types of Troopers, with different uniforms for different jobs, so there’s lots of room for customising your team, as well as experimenting with different classes. Plus if they die there’s more to come, they’re just in vats! Get Temuera Morrison to voice them all for added authenticity.

A point-and-click adventure: this was the first ever idea I had for a Star Wars game, because at the time I was really, really into adventures. This could be anything; I’m not too fussed on the plot. Some kind of mystery obviously lends itself to the format. Whether you play as the same character all the way through or switch protagonists (a common genre trope), I don’t mind. But I want it to be a fairly straightforward, old-fashioned point-and-click game, with no action or QTEs. Make it look like Thimbleweed Park, make it look like Clone Wars or Rebels, make it look as real as possible, it’s all fine; just give me a slow-burn narrative adventure story in the Star Wars universe please.

Lemmings, but with porgs: yeah, there’s nothing more to add to this. Maybe you play one of the Space Nuns, or even Chewbacca, and you have to help out all these crazy porgs? They’re just wandering around, getting into mischief, chewing on the Falcon or playing with a lightsaber, and they’ll kill themselves if you don’t help. That’s it. That’s the game. Lemmings, but with porgs.

Rebel base construction/management game: my template here would be stuff like Evil Genius or Two Point Hospital: real-time games where you build different rooms or services in a given play space. So, the Rebels are constantly darting all over the galaxy, setting up shop temporarily and then evacuating when the Empire comes a-calling; here, you have to kit out the different bases, often to service different aims (a recon base, an aerial support base, a training centre, etc), and in different planetary conditions (think Hoth, Yavin, or Crait). Obviously there are essentials: communication, power, accommodation. Then you can build starship docks, weapons arrays, bacta tanks, astromech services, even Jedi training rooms. Instead of attracting “customers” the idea is to be recruiting new Rebels, so the bigger and better your base, the more troops you have. Maybe there can even be some kind of meta-game where the progress of the war is smoother if your bases are better? But there’d be virtually no combat, apart from maybe shooting probe droids or scaring away wampas. Anyway, I think it sounds cool.

Rebel Commandos cover-shooter: I guess this could also be a Clone Trooper game, but we’ve already had a Clone FPS, and I just invented Clone Tactics up the page a bit, so let’s spread the love. It’s basically Gears of War but with the Rebel Alliance. Think about the Battle of Endor or the Battle of Scarif; teams of well-trained and battle-hardened troopers up against superior odds but still kickin’ ass. Unlike the rent-a-clone nature of the Tactics game, this would be more story-driven, with a small team (four, maybe, as it’s a good number for co-op) who have to infiltrate and/or assault heavily-fortified enemy positions. I think this could be good with a nice narrative behind it, fleshing out the Star Wars universe, and maybe offering a bit of those Rogue One-style shades of grey.

Fallout Shelter-style Jawa Sandcrawler management game: utini! Jawas are great aren’t they? Whether it’s electrocuting Artoo, cheering at podracers, or just eating the shit out of a great big egg, everyone loves a good Jawa. How can you make a game about Jawas? Well, what about if you’re this tribe or group or whatever of Jawas, and you’ve got your own knackered sandcrawler. And as part of the game you have to develop it, tart it up a bit, recruit new bands of Jawas, and then, y’know, rob droids and flog ‘em. Like Fallout Shelter, you have to build and maintain different rooms in the sandcrawler to grow your people and earn more cash from droids, but you’re constrained a little by size. The sandcrawler can’t be expanded too much, and although you could upgrade to bigger ones, you have to make strategic decisions about where to allocate precious space. I see this as being quite low-fi and stylised (bring back Yoda Stories!), and working as a kind of chilled-out time-wasting game on Switch or something.

Homeworld, but in the Clone Wars: and we’re back to the Clone Wars again! But here, we kind of have to, as it’s the only war in the Star Wars wars that features two huge and evenly-matched armadas (Rebels vs Empire and Resistance vs First Order are both very much “scrappy underdogs up against vast organised militaries”). Playing as the Republic or the Separatists, you have to maintain huge fleets of capital ships, support craft, fighters and bombers, and go on missions to attack, defend, or escort. It’s probably the best way to recreate the feeling of that absolutely vast battles we see in the opening minutes of Revenge of the Sith. Maybe an add-on could even give us ground battles too, recreating scenes such as the Battle of Geonosis. Anyway, sounds cool don’t you think?

Incidentally – and speaking of the Star Wars of it all – this is the first week that we’re not watching a War for our family movie night. We’ve done ‘em all! All the episodes of the Skywalker Saga, the two live-action spin-off movies, and even (well, me an’ the eldest) the animated Clone Wars movie. I might do another Top Ten ranking them, based on the kids’ opinions; that’d be interesting. Although – of course – we’ve only got a couple of weeks to wait until the two Ewok movies hit Disney+. What a time to be alive!

Now, the Ewoks – there’s a good idea for a game there…

[espeon9891]

if you're feeling up for it (seriously! no pressure!), do you have any super mario bros headcanons? 0:

!!!oh boy oh booyyyy yell heah i do!i’ve had a good chunk of these for a few years so here we gooooo!

Mario:-He still has that tattoo on his left shoulder from the old Gameboy SP advert-Still has Firebrand from Superstar Saga-He wears socks with green stripes to go along with Luigi’s red striped socks-If Luigi stays home, he calls him during his adventures to check up on him.-Most likely has every Nintendo console and is always the first to play his own games. He invites friends, including certain antags and the Smash characters, to play games with him and his bro!

Luigi:-Is an amazing cook and earned the Master Chef title-Has Generalized Anxiety Disorder(GAD) at the very least. He hums to himself and whistles as a way of calming himself down.-Still has Thunderhand from Superstar Saga-He still uses the Dual Scream! It’s basically his version of a phone since he doesn’t want E. Gadd’s inventions going to waste-Polterpup still lives with him!!-Though Mario knows about it, Luigi still goes into his not-so-secret basement in their room to write in his diary.

Extra:-Their house is a mix of the one from Paper Mario and the one from Superstar Saga. They have a bathroom and a kitchen, but they have a separate room on the ground floor for their bedroom. They don’t exactly have an upstairs, but at most they’d have an attic.-They have a bunk bed like in the Paper Mario series! Mario sleeps on the top bunk and Luigi sleeps on the bottom bunk.-They tend to talk in their Italian chitter chatter from time to time, mostly when it’s something important and they don’t want others hearing. Only a few understand them, such as Toadworth and Peach, but everyone else doesn’t understand what they’re saying.

There they are! there’s probably some more that i forgot but i think this is a good amount!

[bean-n-shroob]

Personal Top 6 Best M&L Game List

A list no one asked for and few will agree with (very few)

I don’t know why I’m doing this...

I guess so people know where my opinion stands regarding the Mario & Luigi games

Also Note: Nostalgic Biased Opinion, you are not forced to look. Also don’t take it too seriously even if it accurately portrays my opinions but its displayed in a jokey way so....

Just gonna jump in:

#1 Superstar Saga

Shocking! Its a part of my childhood and it has changed how I look at Super Mario games from then on out (For better or worse...).

#1.5 Superstar Saga Remake

Almost as good as the original, why the fuck did you decide to remove scenes, make Fungi Toads basic and change Mecha-Chomp you heathens!! And the amount of unnecessary detail added to the environments!

Also the god damn Minion Mode, no you know what?

#2 Superstar Saga Remake

You don’t deserve that .5! You’re lucky the core experience is mostly unchanged!

#3 Partners in Time

Yeah, the top 2 games are the first 2 games on the series (technically 3 but #2 is a remake so it doesn’t count), I know, I sound like a Nostalgic dick!

But I love Partners in Time! Its so grossly underrated, I wish people had given it a better chance. It honestly didn’t deserve any of the crap that’s been flung at it and it definitely didn’t deserve having its entire arc end in an uneventful Secret Boss Fight... God I hate that!

Anyways, this game deserved better!

#4 Dream Team

Despite the story, the awful awful story, the god awful excuse of a story they tried to push as something that can be considered equal to the other’s (in all fairness, shallow) engaging(*) stories of the series!

Its quite fun to play and I consider an improvement to the previous entry in the series! People have problems with tutorial and while I wanna say it never bothered me, I did immediately notice when it didn’t fling a tutorial at me during the beach section but that’s only cause I did the little dream portals out of order.

And I LOVED the Giant Battles. So much better than BiS.

I have like an unlimited amount of good and awful, AWFUL things to say about this game so it clearly belongs in the center of this list.

(*)shallow stories can be engaging, just saying

#5 Bowser’s Inside Story

Now this game is-Whoa hold on! I forgot something

#5 Bowser’s Inside Story Remake

Much Better! Now this remake is a clear improvement over the original, removing anything that made the original annoying or unfair or frustrating or lackluster or boring etc. etc. etc.

And instead replaced with immensely easily and pretty alternatives! The only reason its only #4 is cause the experience seems to be mostly unchanged and I will not play it. So unfortunately, this game will unfairly be placed below Dream Team but thankfully above Paper Jam~

#6 Paper Jam

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!

If it weren’t for the charming character writing that Alpha Dream put into these already established characters, Paper Jam would’ve been completely unbearable to play!

And King Bomb-Omb saved it from the awful fate of a #7. But the injustice they’ve done to Paper Luigi kept it at #6

#7

Now finally we’re at my least favorite game of the series, this piece of... wait a minute, where is it?

#8

Huh? Not here either! What the heck?

#9 Bowser’s Minion Mode

What are you doing down here?

#10 Bowser’s Inside Story

Aha! There you are!

This game!

Fuck this game!

You already know all my issues about BiS so... why repeat what I’ve been saying for the past month?

-tosses my hands in the air- I don’t feel like ranting about this game anymore. The only good thing its got going is the Final Boss, Controlling Bowser and Midbus n Fawful (arguably, my mind is slowly changing about Fawful’s inclusion here)

Hope this list brought you tons of happiness and didn’t make you want to send me anons telling me why I’m wrong on certain points and how meanly nostalgic and unfair I was!

Am I really that hated? Nah

[econ23econlive]

Econ Live in My Life (Daniel Wahib Wehbe, #48979440)

This year, the covid pandemic, along with an internet craze for chicken sandwiches, has affected my life. I will use some personal events to highlight some of the ways that demand affects cost, and what becomes popular.

To start with, I want to tell you all about my fiancee. She’s a lovely lady from Italy and we will be getting married in June. I first met her on December 20th, 2019. I was in Rome visiting a friend of mine who is from Rome but works in LA as a video director. We happened to be sitting together on the same flight to LA (she was visiting her uncle who lives in Torrance), and we clicked instantly. We decided to go on a date on New Year’s day, and the rest is history. She returned to Italy that night, and we had made plans to see each other again in March. Since she is a flight attendant for Alitalia, I was able to buy a discounted ticket for her for only $377. The flight was bought for her to return to see me on March 18th. However, due to the uprising of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government decided (wisely so) to shut down the borders on March 11th. It was the right decision for the country, but the wrong decision for my relationship. These type of border closures became widespread rapidly, and there was virtually no way to see each other. By the time a few countries finally decided to open their borders, the demand for international flights was virtually non-existent. We identified that the country Serbia, which is relatively close to Italy, had no border restrictions and saw it as an opportunity to finally reunite in a foreign land to both of us. When I went to buy the tickets, I was shocked that a round trip flight from LAX to Belgrade airport was only $461! It’s incredible, because Serbia is virtually on the other side of the world. A flight that long is usually around $1000. This is a clear cut example how a lack of demand reduces the market price, and thanks to this economic phenomenon, it was more financially doable to fly to Europe 3 times during the pandemic to see my fiancee.

Here’s another Covid story. My brother and I are born and raised San Diegans, and we are huge Padres fans. We usually go to 15 to 20 games a year. In 2019, a superstar rookie named Fernando Tatis came up to the major leagues and instantly proved himself to be one of the games best and most exciting players. We fell in love with him, and he was the main reason why we decided to buy a season ticket package for the 2020 season. We locked in a package for 20 games. The package cost $800 dollars per person ($1600 in total) and we payed the price monthly instead of paying up front. We got seats right down the 3rd base line, which is one of the nicest places to sit in a ballpark, especially since our 2 best players play on that side of the infield. Considering the total price and the number of games, we were paying $40 per ticket for those seats. Well, obviously the 2020 season was cancelled, and so we could not make good on the tickets. But the Padres refunded us our money and offered us the same deal for those seats going into 2021 at a fixed price. This year, the park will be open, but only 20% of capacity is allowed in to watch the game. This means that the supply of baseball tickets has been reduced by 80%! And, as you could expect from our learning of supply’s effect on price, this limited supply lead to a drastic increase in price. Now, those seats that we own at $40 dollars a seat are worth $147 on the open market. Every game that we cannot go and decide to sell, we will be making a 367.5% profit! Our season membership gave us special access not available to the public to those seats at a cheap power, and that in turn gave us market power. To me and my brother though, those tickets are worth gold and we wouldn’t sell them unless we have to! Go Padres!

Verify the price of 3rd base tickets at petco park here: https://www.vividseats.com/mlb-baseball/pittsburgh-pirates-tickets/pirates-4-12-3581940.html

Finally, we learned about the different factors that can effect demand. One of those factors that can effect the demand for a product is public perception of the product. Now I, like many Americans, love myself a tasty chicken sandwich. Little did I know that many new options would be available to me soon to eat one of my favorite meals. Chik-Fil-A was always thought of as having the best chicken sandwich for the price it was sold, and I would tend to agree. Everything changed when Popeyes introduced their new chicken sandwich on August 12th, 2019. It’s a truly delicious sandwich, and it only costs $4! Others and I loved it, and while demand was reasonable to start, interactions on twitter sparked the demand to unforeseeable levels. It started with a subtweet by Chik-Fil-A’s company account, downplaying the Popeyes’ sandwich. People rushed to take sides in the new “chicken wars”, and so customers started to flood Popeyes. The sandwiches started selling out in minutes, and many altercations (including even one man’s tragic death) occurred over the fight to acquire one of these sandwiches. The craze hit a fever pitch when popular rapper Quavo jokingly listed his Popeyes’ sandwiches for $1,000 dollars. He has a huge social media following, and people took his joke seriously! The popeyes’ sandwich became a commodity like gold and people were selling them on online retail stores for 100s of dollars! Other fast food restaurants noticed how popular the Popeyes’ sandwich became, which was designed in the same ilk as the Chik-Fil-A sandwich. They began to model the sandwich and release their own version of the southern classic, consisting of butter, mayo, pickles, and crispy fried chicken in a brioche bun. Wendy’s created their own sandwich, Jack-In-The-Box changed their chicken to mirror the thick cut fried chicken found in these sandwiches, and most recently, McDonald’s even concocted their own version of the hot sandwich. One thing to notice here is that the market for these southern chicken sandwiches is extremely competitive. Consumers now have many different locations where they can go to enjoy this product. For this reason, despite the increase in demand, the price for each of these establishments has continued to hover around $4! 

Even though I have many options, the Popeye’s sandwich is my favorite. Read the story about the chicken sandwich saga here: https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/popeyes-fried-chicken-sandwich-brief-timeline#:~:text=Popeyes%20relaunched%20their%20chicken%20sandwich%20on%20November%202%E2%80%94this,and%20brilliant.%20November%203%2C%202019%3A%20Miraculous%20healing%20powers

[xeno-odyssey]

Get to Know Me Tag

1. What is your name and does it mean anything? You can call me by my nickname Jae. At the time when I was born, my mother gave me my full name thinking it was unique. Nowadays, it’s a common name among many boys and girls.

2. How long have you known your best friend? I’ve known two of my best friends since elementary school before I moved to Calgary. One is loud and she loved Flipnote Hatena, and the other loves Pokemon and is the best bro ever.

3. What position do you normally sleep in? I sleep how I want. I’m constantly tossing and turning.

4. Were you part of a “clique” in high school? Yes, actually! I joined a group of friends as part of the Gaming Club. Every Friday we borrow a classroom during lunch hours and play various fighting games.

5. Who was your favorite high school teacher and why? It was my homeroom teacher who is also my gym teacher. She’s the nicest person I’ve ever met. I see her more than just a teacher, but as a friend.

6. Do you travel a lot? Not much these days. I’ve been to Vancouver a bunch of times, America as well.

7. Did you participate in any sports in high school? Yup.

8. Hand writing example:

9. Have you ever given blood? Yes, I’ve donated several times. But now it’s been ages since I’ve done it.

10. Did you like the way you grew up? Yes. I’m glad to have parents that are not like their parents.

11. Do you like your siblings? Why or why not? Unfortunately I don’t have any siblings. If I had some today, I’d have an older brother and sister. Though I see my younger cousins as siblings, so yes I do like them.

12. How did you meet your best friend and why did you become friends? I met him in elementary school, and our interests align. I wonder how he’s doing now...

13. Name one movie that made you cry. Coco. ;w;

14. Do you prefer to read poetry, write poetry, or neither? Neither.

15. Things about someone that you find attractive? I think it has to be their features and personality. It doesn’t matter what they are, I’ll find them handsome or sexy.

16. What song are you currently listening to? Boombayah - Blackpink

17. Have you ever broken a bone? If so, how? When I was just a baby, I broke both my arms. At 2 years old, I broke my right arm falling off my bed, a year later I broke my left arm the same way.

18. A random memory from your childhood: When I was 13-14 years old, I went camping for 3 days on some islands as part of my final elementary school field trip. All the counsellors were so nice, we explored forests, and played so many games. Talking about this sort of reminds me of Kingdom Hearts’ Destiny Islands.

19. Where did you grow up? Winnipeg, Manitoba

20. What was the last thing you watched on TV? Voltron: Legendary Defender - Season 5 (JUNE 15, SEASON 6 IS SO CLOSE, UGH.)

21. Do you think you’d make a good parent? Maybe! I’ve babysat my cousins several times, and I and them see myself as an older brother.

22. Would you like to meet any of your Tumblr friends in person? Possibly! I wanna meet most of my mutuals, and if fate has its way, I wanna meet them at some convention like Comic Con or Otafest.

23. What was the last dream you remember having? I actually don’t remember.

24. When is your birthday? January 28

25. How many pillows do you sleep with? Only 2.

26. Do you wear glasses? No, but I do have a pair of reading glasses and sun shades.

27. What color is your hair? Black.

28. Name 5 facts about your appearance: - I’m 5′8″ - I have brown eyes. - I have a natural tan skin since I’m Filipino. During summer when I’m out in the sun, my skin gets darker. - My skin is sensitive, specifically my hands. It’s always rough like I was working for hours, I have cuts on my cuticles, and I have eczema on the tops of both hands. - Apparently I have natural good looks, according to friends and family.

29. What is your favorite soda? Japanese strawberry ramune.

30. What is a strange talent you have? Besides my natural skill of playing video games when I was 4 years old (thaaaat was oddly specific, even for me), I used to imitate voices. Nowadays I’m unable to thanks to puberty. But hey, I’m self-training myself to possibly be a voice actor one day!

31. How’s the weather right now? (As of 2018, March 2nd...) CONSTANT. SNOWFALL. I want to move to Vancouver dammit. I hate snow and winter. Barely any snow there, and it’s only cold rain.

32. Why did one of your friendships end? We used to be friends. He was the bully that always picked on me and always agitated me and constantly got on my nerves. He always picked a fight with me, yet I never fought back because I was weak. I hated him. Since I was the victim, the teachers and staff were on my side. He hated me even more for that. It was not long until he got transferred to a different school. I’m glad I never saw him again. If he kept bullying me for the rest of my life, I’ll probably be not the same person I am today.

33. Who do you miss right now? My aunt, every single day. She passed away a few years ago. She was so young. Coming up soon is a special marathon run my family and I participate in every year for victims of Lupus.

34. Why did your last relationship end? We never were in one. I try to forget him everyday, but the memory of him haunts me every now and then. That bully is forever burned in my memory. I guess this is what a trigger feels like, should his name be mentioned around me.

35. Are you still figuring yourself out? (As of 2018, March 2nd...) Yes, everyday. I’m currently looking for jobs, but no luck for anyone accepting me. I have no plans for college nor do I want to go to college. My 3 years of high school was nearly wasted, and I don’t want to experience near-failure again. I don’t have a particular interest as of now, so I don’t know what I want my career to be like.

36. Have you ever been admitted to a hospital? Why? Several times. The broken arms incident, and there was one time I had to go when I got an allergic reaction.

37. What is your favorite restaurant? I don’t have a particular favorite, but if I had to choose it’d be the dining section in The Rec Room.

38. What is a word you always seem to spell wrong? Definitely. Just now my computer auto-corrected me.

39. Would you ever adopt kids? One day, if I ever get married. I don’t have any plans to have actual kids.

40. What is your favorite kind of pizza? Two kinds: Margherita, and a Philly Cheese Steak.

41. What was your first thought when you woke up this morning? (As of 2018, March 2nd...) Shovel the snow.

42. When was the last time you got really really happy and why? When I finally got the Nintendo Switch. Seriously! Those things are hard to get!

43. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten? I don’t remember. Though I’m not entirely picky with what I eat.

44. How do you start a conversation? I usually don’t, too shy. If it’s in their interest, I try to talk about video games.

45. Do you come from a family “of money?” No.

47. What is your favorite series of books? During middle to high school, they’re graphic novels called Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Bone.

46. Do you have a bucket list? My plan is to travel to Japan by 2020 for the Summer Olympics. If not, I can still go.

48. When was the last time you laughed so hard your stomach hurt? Watching Deadpool.

49. Where do you go when you’re sad? Usually the Internet, and sometimes I listen to my music to calm myself.

50. 5 facts about yourself: I - I formerly owned French Garfield comics when I used to understand French. II - I taught myself to read at a very young age. III - I own a fair collection of books, a lot of video games, some amiibo, and tons of Lego. IV - I have over 200+ hours on Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. V - I’m able to finish Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions in a single day (not counting breaks, speed running, or 100% completing the game).

I did not create this tag.

I was tagged by @all-shall-love-me-and-despair

I’ll tag @curvishsundown @peachyflan @d-manaceattorney @paintedrocket @taulun @kiibos-ahoge anyone else that reads this can do it too! EDIT: I had to re-tag the people I tagged since it didn’t tag them properly.

[woodys]

1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 19, 25

1.  Song of the year?

Because i’m a nerd and I actually have been picking one “song of the year” that’s had a big influence/impact on me since 2010, my song for 2017 is Noctis’s Theme. All jokes aside, that song never fails to make me smile and make me feel safe. I listened to it a lot when everything during the hurricane felt unbearable. I can even recall a few times i’ve started crying hearing it because I just get overwhelmed with sincerely good and warm memories associated with it. :’) ♥

3. Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year?

I got introduced to a lot of new music this year, but I didn’t really actively start listening to anyone. That said though, again, Hyper Potions had the busiest year in music releases than they have in years past and they’re the only music-esque artist/group I can say I really stan hard.

4. Movie of the year?

I’m seriously disappointed I didn’t get out and go to the movies as much as I would’ve liked to this year. I can’t think of one that stood out the most to me but some notable ones I recall enjoying this year was The Lego Batman Movie, My Little Pony: The Movie, Beauty and The Beast, and the very surprising franchise save of the year Cars 3.

8. Game of the year?  👀 💦 💦

The Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga remake I had been waiting for since it had been announced in like…March maybe? I remember Googling the release date over and over until October 6 finally came. I’m sad I didn’t buy a physical copy but that game truly delivered. It made me so happy and the Bowser’s Minions addition still owns my SOUL. The best part about playing a game like that is realizing how much a game has touched you that you still can recall all the tricks and puzzles even after 239385938 years later. :’)

9. Best month for you this year?

After July and May, then I want to say April. I finally caved and got Snapchat, some muses were just blossoming. It were a good blissful time.

19. What’re you excited about for next year?

Me and my art are finally gonna take a long overdue journey to improvement land and i’m excited to stay focused with it, not give up, and see what my art is going to be like a year from now.

25. Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one

I adopted these girls earlier this year and theycome in a one for two deal. ;u; The one on the left is Solaire and the one on the right is Serena. TDLR one’s a bun that controls light and the other controls shadow but I hope to develop them more! I really like the “rivals but I don’t wanna see you fail” relationship I have in mind for them.

[luchador-ring]

Continuing on with that conversation with @kxngofswxng

Dated does not mean that a game is bad, how we play an expect games to work have changed from time to time. Back when DK 64 was a thing, games were still really tough and unforgiving and a lot of developers tended to pad out their games in order to make the games longer so kids would play them more

NOT AT ALL LIKE THE CURRENT GENERATION OF VIDEO GAMES “THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING AT EA HERE HAVE YOUR HALF A GAME, IT’LL BECOME A WHOLE GAME WHEN YOU BUY ENOUGH DLC!”

And a lot of these ways of padding a game wouldn’t fly in this generation. The idea of “Oh you need Diddy to collect these bananas, go to the tag barrel and swap DK for Diddy” and then soon “Oh now you need DK again to collect these bananas, back to the tag barrel you go” would of been really fun and amazing for gamers of that era, however when in this generation, where a lot more people are recognizing games as not only a medium to have fun but a medium to tell stories in ways the other mediums cannot, this wouldn’t fly so well, a lot of people would call it annoying and tedious and basically [insert IGN reference here].

But thats why I want games like Donkey Kong 64 to be remade. They can fix all these tedious parts, like I said remove the Tag Barrels and just make it a button on the controller to make you swap Kongs, that would make the game so much more enjoyable for so many people.

Like a lot of Nintendo remakes have been amazing in updating their famous games to make it a whole lot more enjoyable for new and old audiences. Games that instantly come to mind for me are Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, oh my god I loved this game, it’s by far my favorite Fire Emblem game purely because of the amazing new features they added, it was so good, Mila’s Turnwheel should now be a constantly returning thing in future Fire Emblem games, rewinding turns made the game so much more enjoyable for me, not to mention Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga DX + Bowers’ Minions was released this weekend and while I haven’t been able to see Bowers’ Minions’s Gameplay, I have seen the pre release things about the game and they improved the gameplay so much, the map on the bottom screen and how you can change your overworld bros abilities on the touchscreen and how now Mario will always be set on A and Luigi will always be set on B, that is such a timesaving thing to do! And removing of advance commands and the better views for timing and the practice mode! I can already tell this will be the definitive version for Superstar Saga, if you haven’t played the game before I highly recommend you get this version.

And yeah things like this is why I want to see a remake of Donkey Kong 64 because the game is a gem and I do think it could get some gameplay upgrades along with a fresh coat of paint and it could very well become my favorite plaformer game of all time, seriously, imagine playing Donkey Kong 64 in glorious 1080p DK’s fur would look beautiful!

But hey that’s my silly personal opinion.

[tsunderin]

Squeenix Round-Up

Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Listen, I don’t really care for FF7, but if they manage to maintain what they’ve shown upon release this game’s gonna be sweet as hell. The combat system is built around real-time combat filling up two bars which then allow you to use items and spells in bullet-time. The dynamic angles on the boss battles are also incredible to watch. I’m... no longer doubting why it’s taking so long to put out. Also Tifa looks amazing THANK YOU FOR GIVING HER A SPORTS BRA AND BEING REALISTIC ABOUT THE TIDDIES.

Life Is Strange 2: It looks sad and compelling, like the first one. But with less gay probably since it’s about brothers? And psychic powers. Most importantly, there’s a puppy! (lol)

Crystal Chronicles Remasters: Fuck. Yes. I’M GOING TOPLAY THE SHIT OUT OF THIS. I can’t believe they voice acted it-- they made the top hat guy sound too hot, I’m suing. 

Octopath Traveler: A... steam port? I don’t know why this was here.

The Last Remnant Remastered: Looks cool!

Dragon Quest Builders 2: I don’t know if cooking was in the first game, but it’s sure making me want to buy this one. I love my demon partner who is definitely the demon lord and not just schmuck who lost his memory. 

Dragon Quest 11 S: Switch port. Options to play with the 3D graphics or pixeled.

Indies @ Square:

Circuit Superstars: A top-down racing game. It looks cute, but nothing wild.

Batallion 1944: It’s Counterstrike. 

Squeenix put their music on a bunch of streaming services, which is nice.

Kingdom Hearts 3: Re-Mind DLC, which I’m assuming has to do with... people getting their memories back, or exploring some past stuff.

FF14 Shadowbringers: It looks cool, but I don’t think they brought up anything mechanically new. I really think it’s charming how everyone loves Yoshi-P. It kind of makes me want to play, lol. 

Dying Light 2: Still Dying Light. Before they revealed the name I thought it was some weird interpretation of Phantom of the Opera. I remain disappointed.

Romancing Saga 3 & SaGa Scarlet Grace Ambitions: Remakes that are being localized for the first time. I’m glad--that’s really cool.

Final Fantasy War of the Visions: Based on the lore from Brave Exvius. The beginning I seriously thought it was FF: Three Houses lol. But regardless, I like the different countries. And I want to make that obviously evil priest kneel before me, ahaHAHAHA. Seeing as it’s a mobile game pulled from BE, I have serious worries about the gatcha system they’re going to implement. The rates in BE are fucking atrocious, and I can’t imagine WotV won’t be pay to win. If it’s like Tales of the Rays, I’ll accept it. But I doubt Squeenix would be that nice.

Outriders: A “dark modern shooter”. So... like... every shooter. I don’t see what sets this apart from the millions of other shooters yet. But they implied you could make your own character so I’m not writing it off yet. 

Oninaki: Destroy the lingering angered/sad spirits of those who are trying to move on. Your character apparently “prizes life above all else” despite murdering lots of things, so I feel the basic JRPG conceit of “the people in power are evil” coming up. I want to smooch a ghost though. Let me have this.

Final Fantasy 8 Remastered: Good for her~

Avengers: I... don’t like this? I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m not a comics/Marvel/superhero person. But it feels kind of shoddy. Also maybe a hot take, but while I love all the VAs they showed off, I feel like they chose them just for name recognition and not because they fit the character. They don’t really fit the characters--they also look like an off-brand Avengers. Which I mean sure, it’s another timeline or whatever. They don’t have to look the same. But it seems like a weird choice right after this movie came out, and the models are juuust close enough to bear a resemblance. This is also the one part of the show where I felt like Squeenix put plants in the audience too. The excitement sounded... unnatural. But, free DLC and no lootboxes is a good thing. 

Final Verdict: 

[junker-town]

Why the timing of the Anthony Davis trade affects everything else in the NBA

The Pelicans’ superstar will be dealt, but the question of when will have major ripple effects.

It’s only a matter of time before the Pelicans trade Anthony Davis. But that matter of time is everything.

Davis recently met with new Pelicans front office chief David Griffin, and all reports suggest that Davis still has no intention of signing a long-term extension to remain in New Orleans beyond the 2019-20 season. As such, Griffin will need to trade Davis at some point between now and the February 2020 trade deadline to ensure he doesn’t lose a generational talent for nothing.

With Zion Williamson coming to the Pelicans via the No. 1 pick that New Orleans were fortunate enough to nab, resolving this situation before the next new generational star arrives seems wise for team culture and morale reasons. Zion looks like a wise young man and Davis is a professional, but there’s no sense in opening the new guy up to potential contamination from the disgruntled outgoing star.

So that means the Pelicans will almost assuredly trade Davis this summer. But when?

Trade season unofficially starts once the NBA Finals end and runs through the point at which all the major pieces in play have come to rest, either in mid-July or deep into August. There’s a ramp-up just before the NBA Draft and again on June 29 and 30, right before and into free agency. Trade season then unofficially reopens in mid-December when players signed as free agents in the summer are eligible to be traded.

As you are aware, there are a bunch of high-end free agents up for grabs this summer, including Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, and Kemba Walker. There are also several glamour teams with oodles of cap space and mandates to make a splash, including the Lakers and Knicks. Those two teams and a host of other high-profile franchises are in the mix for Davis. Let’s play out two timing scenarios to see how they affect all these teams.

If the Pelicans trade Davis early

If New Orleans makes quick progress sifting through the offers in the run-up to the NBA Draft, that really affects the landscape for those top free agents. For instance, if the Lakers trade their cache of young players and picks for Davis on draft night, they’ll be pressing for the right wing fit in free agency (and probably a point guard, since Lonzo Ball would be involved in the deal).

If, say, the Knicks lose out on a Davis trade, you wonder how that would affect their famous chase of Durant and Irving. If a dark horse like the Nets or Clippers manage to convince the Pelicans to trade Davis to them, that could set off a panic among the other suitors, and an additional avalanche of pre-July trades could be set in motion.

If the Celtics lose out on Davis, will they just give up on keeping Irving and refocus attention on their young core (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown)? Or, will they make an over-the-top winning offer for Davis in June, knowing that’s the best way to keep Irving and compete for a title in 2020?

Then you have all of the draft pick related impacts of a Davis trade. One imagines Griffin will be seeking short- and long-term draft considerations in a Davis deal. Depending on where those picks land in 2019 — the Knicks and Lakers both have top-5 picks — that could set off a domino effect of impacts for all the other teams picking in the top 10. The uncertainty could sweep up teams targeting a player they are concerned the Pels will grab, and could lead to rash trade-ups.

Things get very messy very quickly if the Pelicans indicate they are planning to trade Davis by the end of the draft, and messier still if they actually do it.

If the Pelicans wait until July

One could see a bit of paralysis set in if Griffin and the Pelicans instead hold off until the start of free agency to take Davis trade offers seriously.

There is real advantage to the Pelicans waiting. There are only so many top-tier free agents, and with so many teams chasing them, someone is going to miss out. That team is probably going to be desperate (especially if it’s the Lakers). New Orleans could end up getting their best offers by desperate teams in the second week of July.

But what if some number of the top free agents, all of whom are hunting championships, wait for the Davis shoe to drop before making decisions? It doesn’t seem like Durant or Leonard will wait for anyone — KD is a superstar force who appears to want to write his own story in any case, and the idea that Kawhi actually pays attention to off-court machinations is surreal to consider. But you could definitely imagine Kyrie or DeMarcus Cousins or even Butler holding off on making a commitment until the Davis matter is resolved. You can imagine the Lakers, Celtics, and Knicks being caught in a state of fugue while negotiating. Really, Griffin could lead these teams closer to panic as the long hot hours of July tick by. Any panic for those teams should mean better offers for New Orleans.

The big disadvantage of waiting into July for the Pelicans is that they wouldn’t be able to pick who they want if 2019 draft picks are involved. This is why we’re more likely to see superstar trades on draft night than in July. There may also be some financial considerations that advantage making a deal before the current NBA season officially ends June 30.

Also, uncertainty is stressful, and trading a generational superstar is stressful and for most people ending the saga sooner rather than later would be preferred. We’re not sure if Griffin is one of those types of people or whether being the center of it all outweighs the anxiety.

A prediction

In the end, the benefits to the Pelicans of trading Davis on early side seem to outweigh the potential upside of waiting until July. As long as suitors come correct with good offers, taking a deal in the run-up to or during the NBA draft will allow Griffin to pick the prospect he wants to pair with Zion and move on to the next era of Pelicans basketball. Further, given the mass uncertainty already baked into this free agency session, the teams seriously in play for Davis should be willing to make strong offers from the top given the positive free agency related knock-on effects landing Davis would have.

Davis should be on his new team by the end of June 20.