#the partner and i are both players in the same games so usually we have each other here for some light post-game chatter

[varjopeura]

.

[violetrainbow412-blog]

Day 26: getting revenge

Masterlist flufftober 🎃

Reblog if you liked it!

If there was one thing Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid enjoyed, it was messing with each other. It all started the day Morgan shared his partner’s phone number on national television, and Reid’s phone was soon flooded with messages and calls from strangers. Spencer, in response, programmed his partner’s MP3 player to play his screams on repeat.

The pranks were loud and notorious, and each small victory fueled the silent war that both seemed to enjoy more than they cared to admit.

However, one day Morgan decided to involve you in the game, and very soon, everything turned into a dirty war. Spencer, being such a good friend to you, didn’t dare play pranks on you in the same way, so most of the time, the two of you sat down to carefully plan how you could strike your mutual friend. This morning was one of those occasions.

As you entered the office, you walked side by side, in a synchronization so natural it seemed rehearsed. Reid’s eyes sparkled with the thrill of mischief as he held a device in his hands, with the care of someone holding a priceless treasure. Or at least, you wanted Morgan to believe that.

“It’s very advanced technology!” Reid announced in a low voice, leaning toward you so that Morgan, who was watching from his desk, wouldn’t miss a second of the scene. “I’m not surprised that there are only a few prototypes. Hotch said they’re only being given to high-ranking agents…”

“What are you two nerds carrying?” Morgan didn’t take long to take the bait, getting up from his seat and approaching, intrigued.

“Oh, it’s a device they lent to Spencer,” you explained, trying to keep your tone completely casual. “He was explaining to me that it’s an extremely advanced device that the military has been developing to help agents record important information, make emergency calls, everything!”

Spencer nodded with a grave and professional expression. “It also has the advantage of letting you access top-secret files, and only you can see them because it has voice recognition. It’s part of a new pilot program at the FBI to improve information security.”

“Why do you two have it?” Morgan asked, frowning. He seemed torn between his usual skepticism and genuine curiosity.

“Hotch said Reid could be the first to try it. You know, for all the things he knows and the valuable information he could store or access,” you replied, struggling to keep a straight face.

“But all the valuable information is in that brain! He’s like a walking encyclopedia; he doesn’t need a device like this,” Morgan protested, clearly jealous. He didn’t hesitate to snatch the device from Reid to start examining it.

Spencer shot you a look full of complicity, and you both held back a smile. Fooling the agent was proving to be as easy as taking candy from a baby.

“I guess Aaron wouldn’t mind if Morgan was the first, right?” you asked your friend, feigning a bit of concern. “Would it bother you?”

“No, no,” Reid replied solemnly, putting on a reflective expression that surprised you with his acting skill. “I think he’s right; I… it would be selfish if I kept it, even though I know so much, wouldn’t it?”

“How do you use it?” Morgan murmured, turning the device over in his hands as if looking at it closely would reveal its mysteries.

“You have to use an activation phrase,” Reid said with an expert tone. “But it’s not just any phrase; it has to be something we wouldn’t normally say to avoid programming errors or information leaks.”

“Perfect, what do I say?” Morgan looked so excited that for a moment, you felt a bit guilty. But then you remembered every prank and taunt, and the remorse vanished.

“Uh, it says here…” Spencer tried not to laugh as he read a little note you had prepared in advance, pretending to concentrate so as not to give himself away.

“Ugh, give it here, Reid. I’ll read it myself.” Morgan snatched the note, and you both looked on with feigned anticipation as he read the phrase.

“You have to press the red button and say: ‘I am the best FBI agent, and no criminal surpasses me’.”

Morgan gave you a skeptical look for a moment, as if expecting you to tell him it was a joke. But you maintained your composure, nodding and smiling slightly. Convinced, he pressed the button and recited the phrase with a seriousness that almost made you laugh right there.

The device, of course, did nothing. Reid tried to retrieve the device and pretended to examine it, muttering that perhaps the tone of voice wasn’t quite right. Morgan, intrigued, decided to try again, this time with more energy. After a couple of tries, Morgan recited it so loudly and enthusiastically that he attracted everyone’s attention in the office.

Just when Reid and you were on the verge of laughter, a familiar, deep voice broke the moment.

“What’s going on, agents?”

Morgan jumped, still holding the device up. “Hotch, this isn’t working. It won’t recognize my voice. Don’t you want to give me another?”

Hotch looked at him, frowning with disbelief. “Another what?”

“Another device,” Morgan insisted, lowering his voice as if sharing a secret. “You know, one of the prototypes.”

“Morgan, the Bureau hasn’t developed anything like that… what are you talking about?”

Hotch’s expression of disbelief was the last straw, and both you and Spencer burst out laughing. Morgan, seeing the full joke, blushed, realizing he had completely fallen for the prank.

“Very funny, you pair of nerds,” Morgan grumbled as you and Reid shared a victorious fist bump. If looks could kill, you’d be six feet under right now.

Reid, holding back laughter, imitated Morgan with an exaggerated, “I am the best FBI agent, and no criminal surpasses me.” The office erupted in laughter while Morgan had no choice but to join in, incredulous at how easily he had fallen for the trap.

“You’re corrupting each other,” Morgan joked, shaking his head. “As if some evil side was activated when you two teamed up.”

“Admit it, Morgan,” you teased, shrugging. “A genius brain and an average one think better than one alone.”

“Do you want a truce?” Spencer asked, with a triumphant grin.

“Never,” he replied, turning theatrically like a movie villain as he walked to his desk, already planning his revenge.

[eastwindmlk]

For May' @jilychallenge I started two plunnies. One was Dillweed in a Fancy Metal Can and the other is this.

Partner: @charmsandtealeaves

Prompt: University Football/rugby/field hockey training is open to the public, on a very hot day star player A takes a shower from a water hose and B walks against a lamppost bc B might have been staring

Either read on AO3 or under the cut!

It was Wednesday evening in The Leaky Cauldron, which meant the lads had gathered in the back of the dingy establishment for their weekly team gathering. Well, James liked to call it their team gathering, it was mostly an excuse to grab a pint in the middle of the week for most of them. 

In front of them, on the large oval table in the back, they assumed was supposed to be their ‘event space’ that none of them could imagine would actually be used by anyone but them. After all, they’d celebrated most of their big moments around this table ever since uni. Lay the newest redition of their pub league bracket.

“I am sure we can manage,” Sirius commented, his finger gliding down the print-out with their pub league charter. Smirking as he tapped, their first match. “The Hog’s Head team always sucks. I’m pretty sure good ol’ Mundungus still pretends to be their striker.” 

Both the men rolled their eyes and a snicker went through the collection of young men gathered. Glasses clinked together. “Wait, Mundungus is their striker? The one that sells pot? Owns the pawnshop?” Frank asked curiously, squinting at the paper. 

“It almost feels bad to be playing against them. At least we don’t need to run too fast then,” Peter grinned, downing half of his pint in celebration. 

While James would not celebrate an easy win as readily as his friend, he could not help but feel a little bad for the middle-aged blokes having their first game against them. But he supposed that is why they had a point system instead of a knock-out. 

“We play Babberton Arms the week after, they’re usually decent, same goes for The White Wyvern.” It was then that a name caught his eye, there was a pub in the league that he wasn’t familiar with. They were new on the sheet, and what was more surprising was that their listed captain was one ‘Lily Evans’, a woman. 

Sirius noticed his hesitation, throwing his arm over his shoulder as he leaned in to look as well. “Anyone know The Three Broomsticks?” he asked, the team falling silent for a moment before Kingsley supplied:

“It’s a small gastropub down in the village. Nice place, little highbrow, though.” This caused a couple of people to pull out their phones to look it up. 

“They have a good menu.” 

“The lady who runs it is a total MILF.”

“I think I had a date there once. Nice place.” 

So far, it sounded pretty good. James reckoned he would probably recruit Sirius to go on a recon mission soon. Spend an evening there to scope out the competition. It would be fun. While he would never admit it aloud, he was not opposed to something a little finer than this. 

Peter, who started laughing, holding out his phone for everyone to get a glimpse of what was on the screen drew everyone’s attention. As far as James could tell, it was a team picture. All the players were posing in front of the metal goal that was part of their local park. 

He was not entirely sure what was too funny about it, but several people were chuckling and scoffing when the phone passed to them. “They’re all females?” Someone asked, clicking their tongue and earning a round of laughter. 

“We’ll be fine; I am sure a bunch of girls are not going to take our cup,” Remus commented, squeezing James’s shoulder. 

Sirius was quiet until someone made a remark about how they would at least have a good time looking at them run, pretending to jiggle a pair of tits, making the rest of the table burst into hysterics.

Easily and masterfully redirecting the jokes in an effort to cut short this sort of talk. By joking. “All I know is that we might want to put Pete in goal because he has never scored with a girl once in his life.” 

There was a short bout of silence around the table before the first person broke, Benjy snorting loudly and slapping Peter, who was not looking as amused as the others, on the back hard enough to hear it connect. 

“I just think we shouldn’t be too quick to judge them, it looks like they actually train,” James deducted, having found the profile himself and scrolling through the public posts. Finding out some interesting things about this other captain. 

Lily Evans and he had a few mutual friends, mostly people from the pub league and a bloke that went to the same gym as he did. 

They liked similar bands, she attended a Lord of the Rings marathon he’d been unable to get tickets to. 

By the looks of it, she and her friends dressed up. 

She volunteers for or supports multiple charities. Her work involves a white coat, which intrigued him.

Her red hair was natural, and her green eyes were breathtaking. 

He also found a post about wanting to start this women-only footy team. With dates and times when they were supposed to meet up.

James leaned in a little too close, to squint in the background of one of her throwback pictures where he could swear he knew the grease ball she was toting along when his finger slipped and he accidentally liked a picture of her on holiday. 

“Fuck, fuck, shit, fuck no,” he muttered to himself and frantically tapped the little thumbs up, only to be offered more options. By the time that he finally figured out how to unlike it, he’d left a heart, angry and laughing reaction, and there was no way in hell she did not know he was stalking her Facebook. 

Turns out, he did not need to be physically talking to someone to put his foot in his mouth. His ineptitude with the dinosaur that was Facebook did just fine at making him look like a right idiot. Though it must be some record, taking less than ten seconds.  

What made it worse was that, not a minute later, there was a buzz, the light on his phone blinking blue. A Facebook notification. Worse, a friend request from one Lily Evans.

After having ignored the notification for several hours James found himself staring at it, bending over his container of Szechuan noodles. Staring long and hard enough for Sirius to elbow him in the side. 

“If some spicy text got you this wrapped up, I need to see it,” he chuckled, trying to lean over to see what James was staring at. Not shrinking away from the glare he received, much to James’s disappointment, he was reminded that his best friend was not intimidated by him in the slightest. 

Turning the screen to show off the notification bar, rolling his eyes at Sirius snorted. “Isn’t that the captain from the Broomsticks team? What does she want from you?” 

“Maybe she wants to plead for mercy?” he suggested with a smirk, his thumb hovering over the decline button. Why would he accept it? It wasn’t like he knew her. His tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth for a moment before selecting ‘accept’. 

He might not know her personally, but he was not going to turn down the possibility of spying on their new rivals. As team captain, it was his responsibility to be prepared for anything. This certainly had nothing to do with the bikini picture he spotted earlier. 

---

By the time that his phone buzzed the following Saturday, while he was stretching before their first game, he had completely forgotten about this happening.

‘Good luck today! {insert football emoji and a smiley]

Squinting against the glare of the rising sun behind him, he could almost make out the picture of the redhead rival captain. There was a nervous roll of his stomach, eyes darting around the field. Wondering if maybe she was here to spy on them. But most of the crowd was distinctly more follically challenged and would not look nearly as good in a black one-piece as he had learned Lily did. 

He reacted to the message with his usual lion emoji before tossing the phone into his bag. Not wanting to get too distracted.

What did not help was checking it again at half-time, only to find a new message. 

‘You should pay more attention to that centre back.’ 

Making his eyes roam the stands in search of a hint of the spy, but if she was there, she was hiding in the crowd. 

‘We’ll be fine! He’s no Matt Clarke.’ 

The message was sent before he realized it, a reference to his favourite team that his friends would likely get. But would she? He supposed she could always google him if she wanted to know, he supposed. The ref blew his whistle and just before he tossed the phone back in the bag he saw the notification pop up. 

‘Think you’re good enough to go up against the Bald Eagle?’ 

She knew. And he considered that maybe he was already in love with this stranger. 

---

Just like that, his recognizance mission was compromised. Or rather, forgotten about. Until Peter asked casually while beating him mercilessly at a game of FIFA. “Did you hear the chick team won their first game seven nil? Maybe we should try and catch one of their trainings. See if this was just a stroke of luck.” 

He did not even have the decency to look at the screen when he tipped in another goal against him. 

James considered accusing him of cheating, but what was the point? The last time he did that, they were in college, and it had been embarrassing enough to still make him cringe today. “I did see a post about it on Lil’s timeline. I think they meet every Thursday.” 

The characters on screen celebrated the end of the game, and he immediately flicked to the main screen, not particularly feeling like seeing his pathetic stats.  

Peter grumbled something about the stats being there for the both of them before falling silent. Giving James a confused look. “Lil? You two are that friendly already?” 

He pulled up his shoulders and ran a hand through his hair. “I’d like to think so.” 

“Are you two secretly chatting or have you just become intimately familiar with her beach holiday pics?” Peter was still laughing between the coughs when his elbow landed in his stomach, throwing his hands up in defence. “Right, right! Got it! It’s both.” 

James shot him a playful glare and pulled up his shoulder, eyes returning to the screen to select another formation for his team. Certain he could out-strategize his friend’s undeniably superior skill. 

“I’ll go check them out this week.” 

---

The sun was starting to set when James and Sirius slunk into the park, rugged up in oversized cardigans they borrowed from Remus and stylish baseball caps that were generously donated by Kingsley. Who did insist they were not to adjust or bend them, as they were, collector's items. Or rather, they would be one day, and he was not going to risk it. Which did lead to a rather loose fit on Sirius and a promise of a very bad hair day for James. 

The pair of them carried a picnic blanket and book to look less suspicious. If they pretended to hold a book club. The biggest risk they ran was to look like nerds. 

Which they were. Not that James or Sirius would openly admit to this to anyone but each other. They are rather skilled at hiding their general nerdiness under a layer of muscle and smooth talking. Even if the smooth-talking occasionally included references to their nerd media of choice. 

James had overthought the time they should be arriving. Not too early, or they would notice something was off. Not too late, because then they would not get enough time to observe. After a lot of mulling over, James decided that twenty minutes after practice started should be perfect. 

He knew that their team took, at least, ten to fifteen minutes to waffle and joke around, and ten minutes was a quick warm-up. Which meant that they would probably wander in just as they started playing. 

Once he spotted the group of women, or rather, a collection of bouncing ponytails, James learned he was wrong, and he could not be happier about it. They were still warming up. Better yet, they were stretching and it was utterly enchanting. 

No matter how hard he tried, which was not very hard, he could not take his eyes off their captain. The feisty redhead he’d been texting off and on since Saturday wore a bright smile and a pair of criminally tight bike shorts as she dropped into a low lunge. 

A sight that he was clearly not prepared for. If it had not been for Sirius grabbing his arm, he might have walked straight into a rubbing bin. Frankly, he’d have deserved it for shamelessly staring. But what was a mortal man like him going to do? Avert his eyes when given the chance to glimpse at a goddess?

But as Sirius spread the blanket on the field across from the training, where he could resume his research in peace. The book he was pretending to read was open in his lap, his phone in his hand. He could not help himself. 

‘Good luck! [insert football and lady running emoji]’ 

Only after hitting sent, James realized that he might have just blown their cover. If Lily had done the same thing he had done when he got her message, it would not take a genius to figure out who they were. If there was something he’d learned about her over the past week or two was that she was, in fact, an actual genius. 

If the gods were merciful, she would see the humour in this. She’d not said anything about his little bikini picture snafu, which was arguably a lot creepier, and he had profusely apologized for it after a few pints to settle the nerves. 

That had been what had really set off their chatting. Messaging back and forth to the point that he had his eyes glued to his screen even while watching footy.  Remus had made remarks about it, which meant it had to be painfully obvious. 

Not that the screen was any sort of distraction now, for obvious reasons. However, there was also a less obvious and far more concerning reason for his mobile to lie discarded on the blanket. 

They're good. 

No, that was an understatement. They were terrifyingly competent. It was intimidating and did things to him, he would rather not admit to. 

“Prongs, I think we’re fucked,” commented Sirius after they watched a tall blonde flip throw the ball with such ease their jaws were on the floor. 

James swallowed, nodding slowly at his friend’s assessment. “So fucked.” A firm shove jolted him out of his trance to notice that, across the field, several of their rivals had turned to look at them. Most of them took this moment to catch their breaths, hands set into their sides. James could see their breaths form little clouds in the cooling evening air. 

He reeled in his jaw and raised a hand in an awkward greeting. As if he was not already done for, Lily raised her hand in what he thought would be an awkward wave back. Only for her to flip him off before winking and returning to her practice. Her jumper had ridden up and exposed a swath of tattooed skin on her side. 

Hand to his chest, James fell back into Sirius’s lap as if shot. Maybe he had been, because he was unwell. They’d never even spoken face-to-face, and he’d already decided on a May wedding at the Riverside, four kids and a Newfoundlander named Elvendork. 

Sirius peered at him with, what seemed like, genuine concern as James raked his hands over his face. “You right, mate?” he asked, the cap sliding forward as he tipped his head down to look at James. 

“Yeah. Yes. Though I could do with the incessant urge to make a fool of myself for her,” he groaned, an offended tsking rushing past his teeth when his friend pushed the cap down over his eyes. “Oi! Can you blame me? Just look at her!” 

Sirius looked up while he wrangled the cap back into place, taking a long moment and then some before sighing in defeat. “I vote Irish wolfhound and late spring. I look good in lavender.” 

“I was thinking Newfoundland,” he answered, a smirk playing around his lips.

“Only if I can be the godfather,” Sirius bargained, the raise of his eyebrows caused the cap to slide forward once more making James snicker. He let himself be pushed up and to his feet. “Go talk to her! Don’t do anything stupid,” his friend encouraged. 

James shot him a playful glare, tossing his own cap towards him and fixing his hair. Well, as much as it could be fixed. His feet already carrying him down the slight slope to the field. “It’s not like I am going to run into a lamp post,” he joked, tossing a grin over his shoulder seconds before connecting with just that. 

In his defence, the ladies were having a water break and Lily had taken off her jumper, standing there in just her sports bra, sweat glistening in the setting sun. Her hair was frizzy from the humidity and surrounded her like a halo. 

If that had not been enough, Lily had laughed, her head tilted back in delight and James was pretty sure he would move heaven and earth to be the one to make her laugh like that. Which was the thought that spun dizzily through his mind while he reeled from the impact. 

James staggered back a few steps, rubbing the side of his face that had made the actual impact. His glasses askew while he sat back down on the grass, blinking the spots from his vision. 

When his eyes focussed again, Lily was right there, her forehead creased with concern. Before he could think about it, his mouth moved. “Marry me?” Which was probably the first time that James Potter ever was truly mortified by something he had said. Mouth opening, this time intentionally, to apologize. 

But before he could, she laughed, and the sound was pure and surprisingly not like she wanted to run away. “How about you take me for a drink first?” 

The vigorous shake of his head made him reel all over again, but James didn’t care. ”It’s a date.” 

(A little reference vid, because I can.)

[wfagamerants]

Mario & Luigi as a series, loves its villains. I really can’t think of any other Mario series that gives its bad guys this level of attention and spotlight, as well as recurring appearances for several villains exclusive to the series.

While Fawful is an obvious example in regards to this, I’d actually say it’s none other than Bowser himself who really embodies all of this and manages to effectively be the third main character of the series, with a genuine arc to his name.

Bowser’s role in the series already starts out very uniquely. While he does start off wanting to kidnap Peach, as per usual, her now explosive voice makes her less than desirable to have around in his castle, so he promptly teams up with the Mario Bros, starting off Superstar Saga.

At this point in time, Bowser is a genuine ally, giving the Bros a ride to the Beanbean Kingdom and even giving them tutorial hints during their battle with Fawful, but things go downhill fast for the big guy.

From that point forward Bowser:

Ends up stuck in a cannon and held at ransom

Gets shot out of said cannon and suffers amnesia.

While amnesiac, becomes the rookie lackey of Popple, suffering two defeats at the hand of the Bros.

Takes another fall and lands back heavily injured in Stardust Fields, where Fawful and Cackletta find him, leading to the latter possessing his body. From this point, Bowser himself vanishes from the plot, aside from his body being rented out by Cackletta as a vessel.

Even once freed, he falls with the exploding Bowser Castle and when delivered back home, is just dropped off there.

Not much goes right for Bowser in SS, despite not taking an antagonistic role he ultimately ends up on the brunt of a ton of punishment and really is the one in need of saving from the big bad, once his body is taken over.

The Minion Quest side-mode in the 3DS remake does a little to expand on Bowser’s role in the game. We do get to see how he actually got his amnesia (Captain Goomba fell on him) and he gets a moment to fight back by knocking Fawful away, during an attempt to abduct him while unconscious.

That stuff is nice, but more than anything this game emphasizes an aspect of Bowser that will become important later on. The loyalty his minions have for him.

Putting the player into the viewpoint of a common Goomba does a lot to show how much Bowser’s minions think of him and how much they will band together to get their beloved ruler back. When Rookie Bowser fails to recognize Captain Goomba it really does make for a sad moment, that adds a sense of drama to Bowser’s role, which is otherwise largely played for laughs. Very fitting, given the change in viewpoint.

Partners in Time puts Bowser into a role that’s both unique and closer to what we expect from him, at the same time.

While his child self is a recurring nuisance that actively takes part in the plot at numerous points, adult Bowser is absolutely clueless about the greater plot going on. He shows up to kidnap Peach, who is actually Princess Shroob in disguise and lands in a time hole, never even realizing he’s time traveling.

Despite being locked out of the loop, Bowser does manage to make the most out of his role. He decides to turn the volcano in the past he fell into, into a new hide-out, teams up with his younger self, after some arguing and is able to emulate the team-work the Bros have with their younger selves, really well.

Following his boss fight, Bowser is kicked out of the past and by extension, the plot. He does reappear for a for a post-final boss encounter, but that one is not only over quickly, but also just pretty strange and doesn’t add anything to the story, though Bowser eating things he really shouldn’t, in this case, the mushroom-fied Elder Princess Shroob, will become important next game.

Bowser’s Inside Story just straight up is Bowser’s game. He may share the spotlight with the Bros, but on the whole, this is in very, very large amounts, his story. It also marks what I consider to be the big turning point in Bowser’s story in the series.

While Bowser falls victim to Fawful’s scheme, having his minions captured, his castle taken over and being given the Vacuum Mushroom to mindlessly inhale Peach and the Bros. That said, unlike Superstar Saga in particular, this time, Bowser fights back.

Bowser does need the help of the Bros, starting out without even his fire breath, but with that extra push, Bowser ends up recovering his lost abilities, gains new ones altogether and even learns to weaponize the new vacuum ability he got from Fawful’s mushroom.

We get to see Bowser be a brutish meathead, but he does manage to get himself out of problematic moments, if often with unknowing help from the Bros. Through this, Bowser reclaims his castle, fights through Fawful’s forces, survives what would otherwise be fatal moments and in the end, finishes off Dark Bowser with style.

I am not going too deeply into individual moments, because it is more the greater picture. Bowser went from an unlucky victim of the antics around him, to being out of the loop on what was going on, to one of the main stars, showing what he is capable of through his raw strength, ability to overcome whatever is thrown his way and the loyalty of his minions who upon rescue, assist him for his special moves.

The Jr’s Journey side-mode reinforces Bowser’s care for his minions we already got hints of, by showing that several Goombas of his kingdom suffer from the Blorbs and that him coming to the meeting at the beginning really was him wanting to take part in it. 

Outside of that, the story is very disconnected from what Bowser is doing, being way more about Jr’s story and development. That said, what role he does have, along with how Jr and his troops refer to him, truly show Bowser to be the big good of his kingdom, building on what Minion Quest established. 

We also do get the occasional check-in on when the stories take place relative to each other and those really do feel like getting a look at how Bowser’s antics look to minions and allies of his that aren’t directly involved in any given game.

Dream Team gives Bowser another entirely new role to play, this time teaming up with the new big bad of the day, Antasma.

I am going to say something maybe a bit contentious, but to me, Bowser in Dream Team is the best example of continuity anything in Mario has ever pulled off.

A lot of this is communicated really effectively through gameplay. In his first battle, Bowser’s moves include:

A sliding punch.

Him rolling up in a spikeball.

His usual fire breath.

And then much later in the game, we get a giant Bowser battle.

All of these are techniques that he learned through help of the Bros (Sliding Punch, Spikeball), recovered (Fire Breath) or was previously only able to pull off with their help (Giant Bowser) in BiS.

The Bros and by extension the player, has helped Bowser that whole time and powered him up. Now he’s a villain again and makes use of those new abilities to be YOUR problem to deal with. You helped create this monster.

And on top of gameplay examples, Bowser really shows how much he has learned on the story side of things too. He goes along with what Antasma does and gets a cool new castle out of it, which to me read like Antasma buttering Bowser up for an eventual betrayal.

Then one did indeed happen and it was Bowser betraying Antasma instead, having gotten everything he wanted out of him and thusly taking off with the Dream Stone to take charge all by himself.

I understand some didn’t vibe with this, because the RPGs are a rare time we get new villains. For me though, as someone who played all the RPGs, it was a really cool thing to see Bowser defy expectations and be the one overthrowing the new villain, without needing to be on the hero's side to do it. It’s a nice reminder he is the main villain of the franchise for a reason.

All this comes to a close with a boss battle against Dreamy Bowser. Bowser powered up to be able to summon whatever he wants and power up his usual abilities to a never before seen extreme.

The battle also gives some nice thematic pathos to both sides. Mario and Luigi for many of the attacks, are seen protecting each other or working together, while Bowser shows he thinks highly enough of his minions to summon dream versions of them to aid him. It genuinely really does feel like a true finale.

That sentiment also goes for another aspect of Bowser’s character in this series: Bowser’s dynamic with Luigi. Back in SS, Bowser barely even remembered him and even as the series went on, he’d always view him far more dismissively, never even calling him by name.

Dream Team gives Bowser and Luigi their most direct 1 on 1 confrontation (Yeah, Mario’s there, but he’s largely support) via their giant battle and through that and the final Dreamy Bowser battle, Bowser finally gains enough respect for Luigi as an enemy to recall his name.

Following all of this is Paper Jam. There are many things that can be discussed on how many aspects of it were handled, but strictly speaking Bowser, I think it’s a fitting conclusion to his arc in the Alphadream era.

After being kicked around, unaware of the plot around him, fighting the big bad and teaming up with the big bad, before backstabbing him, Bowser and his paper counterpart are just the villains outright, from start to finish.

While conceptually, much of what we see is fairly standard Bowser stuff, the context we see it in makes a big difference. Many call the new Neo Bowser Castle a lazy name and concept, but to me it again, stands as a good example of continuity. Unlike Dream Team, Bowser doesn’t need Antasma to get his sweet new castle, he just makes it himself through planning and ruthlessly capturing and enslaving Toads in mines to gather materials to fuel it.

Similarly, all it takes for Bowser to launch an attack on the kingdom following the Jr duo's defeat, is his own resources and the new final boss form of the day also doesn’t require a McGuffin of any sort. It just takes Paper Bowser going along with it.

Bowser pulls off all the stuff you’d expect from the Mario RPG villains with very little extra help. All he needs is the cooperation of another Bowser and together they stand tall as the main threat. I understand the circumstances around Paper Jam can muddle things, but to me, this is a really fitting and satisfying way to close out Bowser’s arc across all these games.

Time will tell what Brothership does with him. Given everything that happened I wouldn’t blame them if the game is seen as a bit of a relaunch and I have full confidence it will be a good role.

Mario games do whatever they want and I think Bowser’s progression has already concluded very well, so I am more than game to see them do more things with it.

This write-up is a companion piece to this video by my dear friend Mod Mamono, all about M&L villains, check it out here:

[idontplaytrack]

heyy can a request an aj fic where reader wants her attention and she’s a gamer and tries to do both at the same time if that makes sense !!

✧ Attention

AJ Campos x fem! reader

Warnings: fluff, some coarse language

How hard could it be to get a kiss from your partner, right?

It was Saturday, and you were at AJ’s. You just got to her house. Her Mom lets you in, letting you know that AJ was up in her room. “Thanks.” You gave her a polite smile and made your way upstairs.

You knocked, but heard no response so you just entered. You thought she was asleep, but nope. AJ was sat at her desk, gaming. Expected too, but still. She didn’t hear you. That happens sometimes and it kinda sucks. “Hey.” You sat down on her bed.

She definitely heard you this time but did not actually acknowledge you because of what was going on in the game and the girl was trying to win the round. “AJ.” You repeated.

You sighed dramatically, laying down on her bed next, bored out of your mind. Staring at the ceiling, your hands grabbed a cushion from above your head and cuddled with it while you waited for her to be done with that round.

Well, a few minutes later, she finally spun around in swivel chair. “Hey, you.”

You sulked, “Took you awhile.”

“I know you got here a few minutes ago.” She says.

“Yeah, and?”

She nearly snorted trying not to giggle, “Baby, I know you’re annoyed but you look adorable.”

“Oh, yeah?” You put the cushion back and sat up. “Are you done with your game? Am I just gonna be sitting here watching you play?”

She raised her brows, “No. But, you don’t have to just sit there.”

“Yeah then, where do you want me to sit?” You asked exasperatedly.

“My lap.” She shrugs.

“Your lap?” You looked at her, eyes nearly falling out from their sockets.

“What? You do that all the time.”

“I’m not that short.” You pouted.

“I didn’t say that.” She chuckles, sitting down beside you, hand on your thigh caressing it. You stared at it, “Yeah, with what you’re doing right now I doubt you’ll win your games again today.”

She lets out a harsh exhale in amusement, “I can do both, you know? Yeah, you do.”

“AJ.” You huffed.

“Hm?”

You rolled your eyes, laying back down.

“What?” AJ asks, hand resting on your abdomen.

“You’re sure I can just sit in your lap?”

“Yes, honey. I promise. Though if you want more, I’m happy to help.” She winks.

“Damn.” You chewed your lower lip.

“I’m serious.” She pulls you up by the hand, “It’s not like I usually leave my mic on anyway.”

“Eh, not today.” You decided.

“Then, okay.” She agrees earnestly, “C’mon.”

She guides you over to her desk and she sits down, then you settled down in her lap comfortably. AJ smooches you on the cheek, “You comfy?”

“Yep.” You grinned, contented that you got to have your attention pretty easily. She definitely didn’t mind it because she suggested this pretty often, though it usually leads to more afterwards. But whenever you said you weren’t in the mood, she always takes no for an answer. Always.

“Did you have any to eat for lunch yet?” She asks.

“I had cereal before I came over. Cheerios.”

“Yum.” AJ continued, starting new round of her game.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Can we bake some cookies later?”

She suggests, “And watch a movie?”

“Ooh, yes please.” You nodded eagerly.

“Few more rounds, then we’ll go downstairs?”

“Sure.” You agreed, leaning against her while you watched.

—————

“Yeah this was not the right movie.” You sniffed, “I’m crying, AJ. What the hell made me pick Marley & Me?”

“I dunno. Maybe because you wanted to see Jen Aniston?” She teases, rubbing your back.

You rolled over, facing away from the screen, “Turn it off.” Still crying.

“Okay.” She quickly got the remote and exited the video player, taking you both out to the homepage. Abandoning the remote, AJ looks at you. “It’s okay, baby. You wanna to pick a comedy movie? No?”

You were laying across two seats on the couch with your head in her lap, snuggled closely against her torso as you mumbled a ‘no’ in response to her question. “Do you just want to cuddle then?”

“Yeah. Please?”

“Of course.” She smiled softly, leaning down to press a kiss to the side of your head as she stroked your hair.

“You can finish the movie if you want.” You said, voice muffled a little bit.

“No, I’m good, honey.” She continues rubbing soothing circles on your back as you slowly just got soothed to sleep by that motion.

“…kay.”

“You wanna go upstairs? And lie down? The couch is starting to feel a little cramped, baby.”

You sat up, “Yeah, that sounds nice.”

With that being said, she took you by the hand to go back upstairs and you instantly crawled under the covers. Quickly, she was snuggled up against you, her arm wrapped around your waist.

“Let’s go for a drive up to the beach tonight?”

“That’d be great.” You hummed.

“Alrighty, it’s a date.” She presses a kiss to your shoulder, “Okay, okay. Close your eyes. Let’s get some rest.”

🏷️Tag list:

@ashecampos @auliisflower @cheesysoup-arlo @frogs00 @ludoesartnstuffs @pda128

💭A/N:

Alright, last request I’ve got in my inbox. Here ya go. G’night.

(not a gamer so it was vague🫠)

[seethesunny]

Who is your favourite POV to write from?

Hi, it's nice to see you around Arien! Hope you’ve been doing well ❤️

Okay, so when I first got this ask, I was extra sleepy, and my first thought was to reply, "Usually, third person POV, of course!" But now that my brain is okay, I've come to realize I was in the wrong haha so things have settled down now, and I can reply 🫡

Tess! Hands down, Tess. I'm extremely biased, as you may have noticed previously with all the Tess love here 🫣

When I started, it used to be Ellie because she was 'easier' to write, in the sense that she’s way too similar to me and it came naturally and I still think so, but eventually that's why I drifted to other characters' POV. I wanted to explore other perspectives and expand on others.

So, my favorite is Tess not only because we've gotten so little of her in the whole tlou franchise which is extremely criminal and makes no sense and I needed to get more even if it were using imagination (shout-out to the other 10 Tess fans out there), it's also because there are already so many established ways in that she is a complex character even if we had her for a short time.

You see, Tess is a character whose first impression you get is that she's meant to fit in a survival world, right? Whether it's the game or the show. When she shows up us as the players/audience, witness that she's unfazed by her circumstances (she kills two dudes sent to kill her on her way home like it's nothing, escapes her torture and somehow gets out of jail after being mistaken for a firefly) and pulls Joel to follow suit and set everything in order, which is established as their routine, their day-to-day.

Okay, so in both, we understand that Tess is strong, smart, and resourceful, that she's made connections and isn't afraid to make herself be seen and heard, and of course she's the one calling the shots despite Joel being her partner. Because she is more severe than him, and that has gained her respect.

But we also get the idea that there's much more than what she lets on, or at least that she doesn't show up to the public, and that's what's fun to dig into! She's been officially described by ND as: "She leads her life as a hardened survivor with a dog-eat-dog mentality, but still she is a loyal, courageous, and selfless companion to Joel and Ellie", and that's something important to take into account. That duality that she possesses.

Who's the heart of tlou? At its core, Tess's selflessness in her last moments and her death wish is what sets the story in motion. You could argue that Joel could've done the same without her, but it was an explicit reaction to what Tess wanted, and her impact is something that needs to be highlighted more.

She has hardened as much as Joel. She's tough and rough, yet you also see that she also got jokes, and she could've wanted more (discussing laying low in the game), and ultimately, it is her desire of striving for hope and her view being shaken by a feasible cure (not because of the fireflies, but because there seems to be a need of redemption as the wheels turn inside her head) that makes her clash with Joel in their little trip to hand her to the fireflies.

We will never know if she would've done the same as Joel (though I would like to speculate that if it wouldn't have changed, probably would've just said the truth), but exploring her past and other outcomes in aus is what keeps us going even after years.

I've always found kinda sweet how the memory of Tess lives on in us and the other people who will want to know more about her.

Haha sorry for the ramble! She's one of my favorite characters ever.

[avinwrites]

CAN YOU DO GANJI X GN!READER MODERN HIGHSCHOOL HEAD CANNONS?? YOU CAN ADD MORE CHARACTERS TOO IF YOU WANT!!

Ganji x reader || Highschool AU Headcannons

-Ganji is both introverted and extroverted. When he’s in class, he’ll stay relatively quiet, answering or asking questions on the off occasion, but mostly just paying silent attention. He has to force himself to focus more than most people, he has trouble sitting still. However, when he’s on the field, he’s like a whole different person. His true self shines through when he plays cricket. Even though he has a serious, almost grim, look on his face when he’s playing, he genuinely enjoys himself. It's easy to catch him smiling each time he runs between the wickets. 

-He never really considered a relationship before, having to focus too much on practice or on school work. You would most likely start talking to him after being paired up for a group project. He’d be… eager to get it done as soon as possible. It’s not that he doesn’t like you, he’s just an introvert and also doesn’t like projects. If you’re even a little patient with him and take both conversation slow and show interest in him/his interests, he’d open up to you pretty quickly.

-Ganji is the type to go from strangers to friends to close friends to lovers, instead of just strangers to dating to lovers. Once you get to know him, and he gets to know you, he’ll be quick to become friends. It isn’t difficult to tell what he likes and dislikes early on, he’s big on open communication, and he doesn’t exactly hide his emotions. His sentiment towards you grows each time you notice that he feels a particular way and talk to him about it.

-Melts when you do something as simple as ask him if he is ok when he looks particularly grumpy, or inquire as to what has him so excited if he seems to be livelier than usual. He does do the same, part of how you two got so close is just by talking to each other so much that you practically know what each slump of the shoulders or every slight sigh means. People think you’re dating way before you actually make it official just from how well you know each other.

-Speaking of the public, it’s difficult not to be a bit of the center of attention, at least, when it comes to the other Cricket players. They worry that because their star batsmen is thinking about someone constantly, that he’ll become distracted, but you actually have the opposite effect. If he sees you out in the stands, cheering him on, even just in practice, his energy increases tenfold. He’ll make sure he does his best just for you. The others start referring to you as the team’s ‘good luck charm,’ since, if Ganji is doing good, it benefits the whole team, and if you make his performance improve, then they’ll want you at every game. So expect to be friends with his teammates too, but not as close as you are to Ganji.

-If you do make it a habit to attend his games, he’ll expect affections in return for his performance. “We won the game, shouldn’t I get a congratulatory kiss?” He’ll tease, hugging you close in excitement. On the other hand, if he happens to lose (not likely, by his words) then console him with little displays of affection and sweet words, it will absolutely make him feel better. He makes it a habit as well to take you out for ice cream, or your favorite treat, after a game, just because he feels like it.

-Then, once you have to split ways and go home, he’ll leave you with a lingering hug, one that makes you all the more ready to see him again. Though, you’ll call often outside of school. He prefers to talk to you face to face, but if you’re both busy, sometimes just having you there with him virtually, even when not talking, is nice to him. 

-When at school, it's clear that you are friends with him, but PDA isn’t something he particularly enjoys, he’s rather save the more close and intimate moments for complete privacy. You’ll definitely start sitting together at lunch, and if there’s ever any more partnered projects in whatever classes you may have with him, he’ll partner with you every time. But, most of your time together is spent outside of school. Usually at one of your houses, or at a park, just, enjoying each other's presence.

-You may have to help him study. He will ask you, and be sad but accepting if you say no, but he feels like you help him understand things better, plus, you’re patient with him. Study dates in a library happen often. It’s mostly just before finals, where you both will help each other prepare for tests. He’ll bring two large drinks for the both of you, and just sit down and get it done. He finds your encouragement to be more motivating than anything else. If he seems to be getting overwhelmed, just… carefully lift his face so that he isn’t staring at whatever paper he’s trying to get information from and press a simple peck to the tip of his nose and say: “let's take a break for a minute.” 

-After a short break, maybe you show him something funny on your phone, or you just let him rest his eyes for five minutes on your shoulder, he’ll feel rejuvenated just being around you, going back to his attempt on the practice test he’s taking. He’ll encourage you to stop procrastinating as well. 

-All in all, it's a very chill and sweet relationship. While you’re both young and experiencing life, he’s a great partner to experience life with.

TYSM for this request! I love highschool/college aus!! I hope that this is to your liking!! (*^▽^*)

[restinslices]

Hi, I wanted to say I loved your Heather x Kate one-shot!!!!! You did such a good job!!!!

So I decided to request another one, always in the AU where they both live.

This time, the two of them cuddling on their bed one morning, telling how much they love each other and other sweet stuff.

Basically, just pure fluff, because they both deserve it.

Ya’ll, I legit don’t know how to write these two as a couple lmao. Also I lowkey deviated from the prompt

What are you supposed to do after surviving being chased down by undead possessed killers?

No, genuinely, I'm asking. What the hell are you supposed to do? Kate and Heather surely didn't know.

"Go to therapy!". As if! They'd be labeled as crazy and sent away.

"Live life to the fullest now!". Corny!

"Write in a diary!". Ugh, that sounds boring.

So what were they to do?

"Ow, you dick! You scratched me!”

“I did not. You’re just mad you lost again”.

You bother your girlfriend obviously.

Kate blew on the rather small cut, her eyes occasionally shooting daggers at the girl sitting across from her. She didn’t always lose! She was just on a rather impressive losing streak…

“I thought this game was called Spoons, with an s. Not just Spoon”.

“There’s only two of us, so there’s only one spoon. An extra player wouldn’t help you win”. Kate slapped Heather’s arm, before she huffed and let her back hit the soft mattress below her. “You quit already?”.

“We’ve been playing all morning” Kate crossed her arms over her chest, “I’m bored”.

“I have some tapes we could watch”.

Kate scoffed, “shitty ones. Who genuinely likes Friday The 13th?”.

“Tons of people!��, Heather argued back. The same retort to the same debate they kept having. While Heather loved the series, so much so that her walls were lined with posters of Jason Voorhees, Kate thought the whole series was a waste of time. “It’s a fantastic series with a great villain-“

Kate pushed herself up on her elbows, “they’re the same thing over and over. And when they actually try something new, it goes terrible. Roy Burns- or whatever his name was. Him going to hell?”. She made a point to scoff as dramatically as she could, almost laughing when Heather frowned. “Shit. All of ‘em”.

The game of Spoons had been forgotten now. Why play a game when you could have the same debate you and your girlfriend have had over a million times? “You like the Halloween franchise, Kate. You wanna talk about shit-“.

“Correction! I like the first two and I pretend the others don’t exist. You know what’s another shitty movie?”

“Do not say Prom Night!”

“It’s terrible!”.

“Oh but Black Christmas is good?”

“Black Christmas is an amazing movie and has Olivia Hussey in it!”.

When you can’t talk to a therapist about undead possessed killers almost ending your life, this is what you do on a Saturday morning. You argue with your equally traumatized girlfriend about horror movies, knowing you can’t change their mind.

Heather liked the Friday The 13th films, Prom Night, Sleepaway Camp, Pet Semetary, Hellrasier, shit like that. She didn’t stick to one sub genre. She bounced around and liked whatever she liked.

Kate liked Halloween 1 and 2, Black Christmas, A Nightmare On Elm Street films, Slumber Party Massacre, Carrie, Suspiria, shit like that. Her favorite sub genre was “pretty women”, which was the first of many signs.

The debate ended like it usually did; the two of them cuddling together and talking about horror movies they both enjoyed. Movies like Child’s Play, The Evil Dead and The Lost Boys.

Heather ignored her arm becoming numb under the weight of Kate laying her head on it, “You think we could make a horror movie out of what happened to us?”.

Kate was only half listening by now. She laid with her back pressed against Heather’s chest, her head on Heather’s arm and her eyes closed. The warmth of her partner’s skin felt like the embodiment of a soft lullaby, and she was definitely on her way out. “Sure” she mumbled, “just take out me selling drugs”.

“Why?”

“Because, Heather, selling drugs are illegal”

“We could say it’s to add something to the movie”

“Yeah, sure”

“I don’t know who I want to play me. Or maybe it could be a book. Or a book that’s turned into a movie-”. Kate grabbed the pillow in front of her, and with a little bit of hope and prayer, she hit Heather directly in the face.

“We’re taking a nap now”

“This early?”

“This early”.

Well… there wasn’t much else to do. Plus, she was far too comfortable to get up and force herself be productive. “Alright, alright” her free hand rubbed where the pillow smacked her - either that pillow was made of bricks, or Kate had a hard ass swing - “I love you, I guess”.

The silence she got in return made her lift her head up, “Kate?”. More silence. Kate’s eyes were closed and her breathing was slow. What, did committing assault take all the energy out of her?

Heather let her head fall back down. “You’re an asshole, you know that?”. More silence. “Whatever. I’ll just tell you again when you wake up”.

[dropout-if]

“ things would be so much easier if we were honest with each other. “ + J/Kai triad? 👁️👁️

From this ask game!

“So—” after nearly fifteen minutes typing away at their laptop and ignoring Kai, who was acting weird—weirder than usual, by J’s standards—J finally decides to break the silence “Why are you here?”

“Are you kicking me out?” Kai scoffs softly—though they arch an eyebrow with the same confidence of someone who knows the answer.

J deadpans, “No. I’m just asking why you begged me to come to my studio when you know I’m working,” they finally turn toward Kai—looking guilty, though J isn’t sure if it’s genuine or not, “Where’s [Name]?”

“Now I know why you’re not kicking me out— player three,” Kai adds the nickname like an afterthought “Just let me hang out here. I’ll be on my best behavior.”

Fondly, J rolls their eyes, “No— You won’t.”

Kai shoots them a wicked smile, but there’s no answer from them as you arrive at J’s studio—using the keys J gave you.

“Hey there,” you greet your partners, a knowing grin tugging at your lips, “Are you fighting or flirting? What did I miss?”

J closes their laptop with a hint of relief, their gaze shifting to Kai, who seems to be growing increasingly sheepish.

Kai clears their throat, a nervous smile playing at the corner of their lips as they finally address you, “Actually, I wanted to talk to both of you.”

J raises an eyebrow, a mixture of curiosity and amusement in their eyes, “Oh? This sounds intriguing— How mysterious.”

Kai shifts in their seat, their fingers tapping against the edge of the table.

“Well, the thing is...” they cringe a bit as they fumble with their words, “There’s a work party coming up next week that I have to attend to. It sucks— It’s boring. It’s also kind of a big deal, and— I was thinking— Maybe you could come with me. Both of you.”

Your interest is piqued, and you exchange a glance with J, who seems to be waiting for your reaction. The hesitancy in Kai��s voice is evident, and you can’t help but feel a mixture of curiosity and warmth toward them.

J’s voice breaks through the moment, “Are you sure?”

“I don’t… want to hide you? It’s dumb, I know,” Kai sighs.

“It’s not,” you tell them “Seriously, things would be so much easier if we were honest with each other. And, well— Everyone else.”

“Right— Fuck, I hate this, can I take it all back?”

J frowns, taking their attempt at lightening up the mood as reality, “No.”

You lean against the table, a soft smile playing on your lips as you address Kai, “Of course we’ll be there. Where else would we be?”

They smile brightly at you. And then they turn toward J—grinning just as brightly.

[rootingfordorks]

The team had been on a week-long roadie and a losing streak. Morale had gotten so low that the players had only sung along to one song while watching Moana at movie night that evening. One!

(And it was "Where You Are," the first song in the movie!)

"I think we're really losing some kinda steam, you know? I dunno if it's the yips again, or somethin' else, but we can't keep playing like this," Ted lamented as he changed for bed. "Heck! At this point I'd dance buck nekkid in front of Buckingham Palace if it would get us a tie! It's like we're cursed or something, like that time back in Wichita with Tommy Grazie. Poor kid stopped being able to catch a ball, had to get some witch in to remove the curse--"

"Possession, Coach," Beard corrected him through the open bathroom door, toothbrush still in hand. His voice was thick around the toothpaste foam, which speckled the hairs of his beard. Ted gave him a tired, fond smile.

"Right, possession," he agreed, nodding. "You think we should get a priest out to the clubhouse when we get back?" He paused, thinking of other options. "Have some sorta event? We haven't had a karaoke night in months, Coach."

Beard finished in the bathroom, drying his face on a towel as he shook his head at Ted. Ted, who'd had first dibs at the bathroom, was propped up against the headboard but already under the covers. Beard flicked the bathroom lightswitch and came around to his side of the bed.

"It's a tougher level of play," he reminded Ted as he crawled under the covers. To tired to sit anymore, he lay on his side and looked up at Ted. "We knew it would be a hard adjustment, especially without Sam and with five new players. It's demanding work, Coach."

Ted stared into his eyes silently. He appreciated his partner's candor, as always, but it wasn't helping with the general greyness that had settled over him. Beard wordlessly patted the bed in front of him, and Ted lay down beside him. They wrapped arms over waists and tangled their legs together. Ted leaned forward for a kiss, soft and warm and familiar.

"I guess I'm not just blue about the game," Ted admitted softly. "I miss Trent." Beard leaned back just far enough to make eye contact more comfortable.

"I know, Coach. I miss him too."

Ted sighed. Beard traced his eyebrows with a fingertip, then his mustache. He cupped the side of Ted's head gently, thumb resting alongside his cheek.

"Do you miss me when I'm with him?" Ted asked, breaking eye contact as his voice wobbled. Beard inhaled sharply.

"Sweetheart," he said, voice gentle and sad. It was an endearment he used sparingly, but a favorite of Ted's. "Coach. Teddy baby. I don't miss him when I'm with you for a night or two! This is - it's been a week since we've even seen him. It's not the same as when one of us spends a few nights over at his place." Beard's voice was firm. He searched Ted's face to see how he was reacting and saw the worry slowly drain from his expression. He continued, "I missed you like whoa when you were in Kansas over the summer. We both did."

"Right." Ted nodded. He chuckled at himself a bit. "Yeah, of course. I'm just really emotional right now. I don't usually think... you know." He trailed off, hoping Beard would understand him as well as usual.

"You don't think I love him more?" Beard's voice was neutral, inviting Ted to share whatever he was feeling. His words confirmed that he had love enough to share with both his partners.

"Of course not, Coach," Ted said. The word had been a term of endearment between them for decades now, but since they'd started dating it had acquired new layers. Especially behind closed doors, it was wrapped in love.

Beard stared for another moment, nodded, and snuggled in close to Ted again. Noses touching, he stretched his lips forward for a silly kiss. Ted met him halfway, like always.

"When we're back," Beard began, "when you're less generally sad, think about whether you still feel like this."

Ted nodded.

"You have to tell me if you do," Beard said. Ted pulled him closer, running one hand up and down his back.

"I will," Ted promised. "That is, I'll tell you if I'm feeling insecure or unsure or anything. But I reckon I won't be feeling any of that. I trust you. Both of you."

Beard kissed him, a press of lips that Ted knew he'd never tire of. They were too tired for anything energetic, but took pleasure in kissing.

A electronic tune rang, interrupting them. Beard turned over, reaching for his phone, and smiled when he saw the name on the screen. He showed Ted, who laughed.

"I can't believe you've got Trent in your phone as 'Good old-fashioned lover boy'," Ted was saying as Beard answered the video call. They snuggled together so they'd both be in frame. Trent was also in bed, hair tousled and sleep shirt baggy. His smile was warm, even though his eyes were tired.

"Ask him what you're saved as," Trent said. He drank in the sight of his boys. Ted's hair was dramatically messy, like he'd been pulling it out of shape, and Beard's short hair and beard were grown out a bit, kind of scraggly. Both men looked wrung-out--eyes puffy, wrinkles deepened, lips bitten and chapped. They were still incredibly handsome, and (more importantly) looked like home.

"What am I saved as in your phone, Coach?" Ted asked lightly. Beard noticed the uptick in his mood, of course, and kissed him briefly. This earned him fond smiles from both his boyfriends. Ted's eyes flicked to Trent on the phonescreen, sharing a look of affection.

"Currently?" Beard paused dramatically. "Hunka hunka burning love."

Trent snorted. Ted laughed and covered his eyes briefly with one hand.

"I'm glad you called, love," Beard told Trent. Ted nodded, still smiling.

"We miss you a ton, baby" Ted said.

"I miss you both, so much, my darlings," Trent said. "I. I just wanted to see your faces tonight."

"How's the week been going with Miz Skywalker?" Ted asked. The nickname was a running gag -- like her father, the youngest Crimm loved a bit.

"Pretty good," Trent said unconvincingly. He winced at his own tone. "I mean, it's been good, we've had fun. She misses both of you, too, especially when we go to the park and there's only one of me to boss around." He ran a hand through his hair, brushing it to one side. "It's... I haven't had to single parent more than a few days in a row in months. It's a lot of work. You two have spoiled me."

Ted beamed.

"Nothing less than you deserve," Beard said with a smile. Trent looked sheepish but accepted the compliment.

"Plus," added Ted, "you know we both adore Leah. Henry does, too. Far as I'm concerned, the more time we spend all up in each others' lives, the better." Beard pointed at him in wordless agreement.

"But her week with her mom still starts tomorrow, right?" Beard asked. Trent nodded.

"And Henry and Dottie aren't coming back to London early?" Trent asked eagerly. Ted and Beard both shook their heads.

"We'll have the house to ourselves for a coupla days," Ted said. He wagged his eyebrows comically, earning a chuckle from Trent and a smile/eyeroll combo from Beard.

"I'll be there when you get in. Love you both." They said their goodnights and hung up. Ted snuggled up to Beard, spirits lifted, and they fell into a restful sleep with the promise of a happy reunion tomorrow.

[who-is-page]

I'm ✨~ pranking my partner ~ ✨ and YOU can help!

Disclaimer / TL;DR: This is, fundamentally, an extremely silly prank where I want to buy my partner a MtG deck he'll love, swap out his normal deck for his dream deck, challenge him to a match, and then watch his face light up in delight when he realizes.

(And then I want to watch his face fall into despair as I kick his ass in card games, revealing that I've also swapped out my normal deck for my dream deck! Surprise, motherfucker! Multi-part PRANK! ...but this Ko-Fi is specifically for raising money for his deck, not mine.)

My spouse's current hyperfixation is Magic the Gathering and, naturally, he's in the process of roping our whole polycule into all kinds of delighted card game mishaps and mayhem. His enthusiasm for the game is downright infectious, and I'm not saying that just because most of us are in love with him, either.

My partner and I lost our first Magic decks back when we were crossing the Florida peninsula to get away from Irma in 2017. He lost his Liliana deck; I lost my werewolf deck. We didn't end up buying any new physical cards for around five years, because... well, as corny as it sounds, it's really, really upsetting to lose a deck of cards you've bonded to and have had some really great times with! Hell, it still kind of makes my heart ache to think about, wondering where those cards could be. It's like the emotional equivalency of getting all your data on a game erased after hundreds of hours of playtime. Like, sure, you could replay it (or in this case, purchase new versions of the decks), but it really wouldn't be the same and might just feel like salt in the wound. We were also broke college kids at the time, so we couldn't afford to spend that much money frivolously-- the decks had skyrocketed in price, since it had been just long enough for them to be out of print, so the only people selling them had them at a huge mark-up. (And even now, I think his old Liliana deck is selling for like...$250+. Ouch. I think we splurged and spent like $20 on it when we first got it, for comparisons.)

We'd finally gotten some new decks in the last year, and we started playing on the Magic the Gathering Arena app. The new physical decks are honestly lovely, don't get me wrong, but none of them jive quite the same as our old decks did. My partner, recognizing this, drafted us both up our 🌟ideal decks 🌟 on the app, so we could have fun playing the physical game with the cards we've got AND could still have decks handmade for us that we've bonded to through trial and tribulation. It was super sweet and thoughtful of him to do, especially since none of the decks we physically own are any of my color combinations, and I sometimes get really frustrated playing them.

(For those of you familiar with Magic's color combos, I'm a red/green player who usually prefers werewolves, dinosaurs, and dragons. We have a blue/black fairy deck that I usually wind up with, and a white/blue spirit deck that I'll sometimes use. They're not bad decks by any means, but holy shit is it not my preferred play style.)

BUT THEN I HAD AN EPIPHANY.

I am no longer a homeless college student, having to manage every penny with sniper-like precision and having to make sure that I'm always able to carry my home on my back! I'm a settled adult, in a house with my polycule, with reliable income! If I really want to, I can purchase all the individual cards in our decks!

But here's the thing. My spouse is the king of pranks. We were best friends all throughout high school and when we first started dating and then living together, the jokes and shenanigans only intensified. (Living together with your partner is great because it's like an infinite sleep-over. I am so serious.) So I thought, wouldn't it be funny as hell if I buy his dream deck, swap it out with his normal deck without him noticing, challenge him to a card game, and then watch his face TOTALLY LIGHT UP when he realizes what I've done?

And wouldn't it be fucking hilarious if I also get my own dream deck--which normally kicks his ass in the app when we play together--sneak it into that match, and the totally demolish him??? CAN YOU IMAGINE HIS FACE????

(For background information, I lose a good 80% or more of our physical matches, because I am not a good blue player and he is an excellent vampire player. So this is also some minor catharsis for me.)

So, yeah: the Ko-Fi goal is what I'm hoping to raise to financially soften the blow of purchasing my partner's deck! I have no idea what the cost is going to look like for his, since I still need to sneak my way onto his app and download his decklist, but I'm hoping that $200 will be enough to cover his 100-card deck, since it looks like that's how much I'll need to squirrel away for my own.

[rinwellisathing]

Get To Know People Better Tag Game

I was tagged by @graysparrowao3! thank you!

Three Ships:

So I assume this is like favorites? Okay, I'll try to do separate fandoms as well to keep it interesting and I'll try and make it less common ships, not exactly rare ships per se because like... I am very shy and anxiety prone so truthfully iunno what's rare and not because I don't engage a lot.

Thunderweave (Gale/Rolan) : I really like this one, even more since my fiancee and I RPed it with the idea of transmasc Rolan. It's really kind of interesting and also Rolan deserves a better fellow wizard than Lorroakan and I think Gale is a great fellow wizard being both talented, secure in his abilities, but also willing to see the potential and power in another person. Also I super identify with Rolan and my fiancee does a really good really convincing Gale for RP and cosplay. Kabru/Mithrun: I initially preferred Kabru/Laios, which I still really like honestly, but I read a longer post about Mithrun's disabilities and his trauma and how Kabru treats him like a person when most people don't and like as a heavily traumatized person who became suddenly and severely disabled as a result, I really really relate and hope that my partners will show me that same level of care when they are able (distance has been the main reason why not, my mom has mainly been the one taking care of me since I became disabled so I don't really know what my partners will do in person because one lives far away and one has been called away on family issues since before this became a major issue) Thraina (Thrall/Jaina) : This is the only hetero ship I consistently come back to. I usually prefer Sylvanas/Jaina, but realistically I don't want to put that one here for only one reason. Sylvanas/Jaina has a lot of basis in what it could be (No one at Blizzard who has been there consistently through their entire development is talented enough to have made it work so it's all theoretical and based on what much better unpaid fanfiction writers decide). Thraina, meanwhile was unintentionally somehow written as one of the most equitable, healtyh, equal, and level relationships in all of WoW and it wasn't even canon...mainly because Metzen is a weird creepy misogynist (one of the main reasons I actually mainly write Aggra/Jaina as a ship actually, because both deserve better and are, in theory, better than that bag of derivative Marvel obsessed dicks allows them to be) but anyway, it's just fascinating to me how the healthiest ship in WoW was axed, shut down, and denied despite how genuinely good it was. I could write essays on this, I *HAVE* written essays on this, but I'll spare you. First ship: Domon Kasshu/Chibodee Crockett (G Gundam) but also Meg Giry and Christine Daae (Phantom of the Opera) these were simultaneous, so honestly I had to put both.

Last Song: Where You Are (Moana Soundtrack)

Last Movie: it was this obscure random horror movie I found on Peacock called 'Wait Till Helen Comes' about a child ghost. I tend to since I've been unable to work stay up late making costume pieces and writing and pick random horror movies for background. It wasn't bad, honestly.

Currently reading: Humblewood campaign setting book for an actual play I want to do Faerun 3.5 Player's Guide for flavor bits for my BG3 fanfics and location lore for my BG 3 sequel campaign Cinderwich by Cherie Priest

Currently watching:

Interview With a Vampire Crispy's Tavern Currently Eating: Opera Cake Currently craving: The nastiest, filthiest Durgetash ERP, preferably with my fiancee as Gortash. Favorite color: Purple

Current Obsession: BG 3 Prehistoric ocean animals Junji Ito Sharks in general Costuming Fatal Frame Last thing I googled: Sophia Loren Favorite Season: WInter

Skill I'd like to learn: Shoe making Metalurgy Best advice: You're never done learning until you're dead...even then, let's assume we get reincarnated and then rinse, repeat, start learning again. I'm tagging @iron-bullogna @vialae @vestigialpersonality @dm-dragonpuff

[fearowkenya]

Digimon Survive Week: Day 4 - Supporting Characters

Winds of Change - Chapter 8: Winds of Change - Part Two

“Yes, you screwed up in the waterway. Yes, shit’s dire right now.” Dracmon tells Shuuji. “Yes, it’s true that everything I’ve learned from the past is screaming that we’re fucked, that Lopmon’s memories are as good as gone. But the past doesn’t dictate the future, and it certainly doesn’t take into account what you’re doing right now, or that every single thing you’ve done since the second this egg landed in your arms has been for Lopmon’s sake. The strength of that resolve could very well change his fate—just look how much it’s already changed you!”

The answers to Shuuji's questions are disheartening at best, and he feels worse than ever about what happened in the waterway. Thankfully, Dracmon is around to remind him that although he cannot change the past, he's more than capable of changing the future.

As usual, ao3 link in source, extended author's notes below!

ok yeah maybe it's a stretch to spin the @surviveweek prompt "supporting characters" into "characters that are supportive (: " rather than "secondary characters", but i had been planning on doing this before The Dracmon Chapter was split into what is now chapters 7 and 8. I couldn't pick a (canon) secondary character i was interested in enough to dedicate art or fic to, and what i'd originally been planning for this prompt could also work for one of the others. i probably could have also used this chapter for the "future" prompt later this week, but i have other ideas for that one. so here we are!

i love the scenes scattered around the game where takuma is desperately trying to play charades with kunemon. he has no idea what that little guy is saying at all, and even if the player picks an answer that takuma seems confident in, we'll never really know! i think that's great. kew!

editing this chapter was pretty quick since i'd already gotten through most of it before i decided to split the dracmon section into to parts. that said, i did spend so much time rereading it that i ended up worrying that this chapter wasn't exciting enough. you know how it is. speaking of editing, i really cannot estimate when chapter 9 will be out. it's the last one, and when i gave it a once-over earlier i spotted a lot of things that i want to fine-tune. so we'll see! thank you for your patience - i hope getting two chapters in one week makes up for it a little.

"mattie can you elaborate on dracmon's fresh and spicy mysterious backstory??" no (:

i can elaborate on why i picked dracmon for this conversation though! in part5, it really stuck out to me that dracmon was the one to pull takuma aside to be like "hey you gotta keep an eye on shuuji , somethings fucked". im pretty sure he did it TWICE! there's also a point where kaito is watching shuuji freaking out in the waterway and asks dracmon smth to the effect of "isn't there something we can do?" and dracmon being like "not really no ): ", so it seems like the entire situation was weighing on both kaito and dracmon more than they made it seem. i thought it would be nice to give dracmon the chance to talk to shuuji after it was all said and done and see for himself that he's okay now. as for kaito…? well, we'll see. as for the lore, i'd already started using dracmon to explore the effects of repeated death and regeneration on the memory of digimon in ocean wave, so it was convenient to keep using the same character. also he's my favorite.

so full disclosure i did play a character (a terriermon named nova) in a digimon ttrpg that has a bad evolution and then loses his memories. nova's memory loss was probably a touch more intentional than lopmon's potential memory loss, and his bad evo wasn't a result of something his partner did , but a choice he made for himself. it's been a lot of fun exploring how it happens for lopmon, because it's the same flavor of angst as what happened with nova, but both the context and fallout are pretty different.

lastly, i really do think that if the waterway hadn't happened, kaito's trust issues, minoru's paranoia, and saki's fear would have eventually come up anyway. it manifested as mistrust toward their partners because of what happened with lopmon, but maybe in an alternate truthful part6 where wendimon doesn't happen, we get the library back and the Horrors are unleashed upon them there instead. would've LOVED to know what kaito's were, but i dont think it's ever touched upon other than kaito showing up to the kenzoku fight like "hey what the fuck was that." i know minoru definitely had a library scene but i dont remember what it was, but he was hiding under a desk for a bit??? and then i think saki mmmmight have one in harmony and in moral but i cannot for the life of me remember what they were. i digress.

i hope you enjoyed the end of The Dracmon Interlude! thanks for reading (:

[hecksguard]

i wish I could just drop this but it's just yet another example of a serious problem I have with the game lately.

since becoming a healer main I've really become aware of when people are playing like complete jackasses. it's not all players, most players are nice, but definitely like one in four duty roulettes i do has a dps/healer who pulls mobs or a tank that isn't paying attention to the healer.

my partner (who plays Dark Knight) plays with a controller due to her disability and can't do things as fast as people on keyboard/mouse and there was this one DPS in the Expert roulette who kept yelling at her and wouldn't shut up until we told them she's disabled. they did end up apologising which we both really appreciated but I'm still kinda pissed off about it. why did she have to reveal that about herself to get you to give her basic dignity? it's not fair.

it's far from the only incident I've witnessed in the past year too. I once saw someone, a Dragoon if I recall, just completely lose their shit at a totally new player on Holminster Switch who playing tank and wasn't prepared for the jump in difficulty and getting frustrated. Me and the other player were supportive but this one jerk was being so mean and eventually he started refusing to move and we had to votekick him.

my girlfriend had another run of that same dungeon where the tank accidentally went in as Marauder and one of the DPS was just like "nah fuck this" and left. I joined the duty in progress and told jokes to lighten the mood but y'know what? We did fine and it went completely smoothly.

Like I dunno, is it really so bad if things don't always go how you expect? If maybe you go a little slower than usual? I know FFXIV can be tedious but being a jerk for no reason only makes it worse for everyone. At least wait one second for clarification before you start being unfair or unreasonable.

[pinkeoni]

And now, for no reason in particular, in no way related to anything on my blog at all, here is a long ramble about sexuality in Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout: 4

So in Fallout: New Vegas there is the option to control your characters sexuality, something that was fairly revolutionary at the time the game came out in 2011. The perks Black Widow and Lady Killer allow +10% damage along with unique dialogue options for the opposite sex, and Cherchez la Femme and Confirmed Bachelor offer the same bonus but for the same sex. The player has to option to chose one or both of these perks, and they both become available fairly early in gameplay. I usually pick both perks for the added damage bonus, although since Fallout is for an intents and purposes a roleplaying game, I like to imagine that my player character is a lesbian and is only flirting with men in order to get ahead.

Along with the fact that you can make your character gay, bisexual, or what have you, there are also a few gay characters within the game. The companions Arcade Ganon and Veronica are a gay man and lesbian respectively. There are a few other NPCs that have dialogue acknowledging their queerness.

The one thing that I wish that NV did have was the ability to romance companions. Imagine me, with my ancient HP laptop burning my lap, exhausting every one of Veronica's dialogue options trying to see if I can date her but to no avail. You can actually flirt with Ganon if you are a male character with the Confirmed Bachelor perk, although the interaction does not go farther than that. You can have sex with same sex prostitutes, but there's no cutscene. If I pay 300 caps for some hanky panky, then I wanna see it!

So when I found out that you could romance companions in Fallout: 4, I was beyond excited.

In F:4 you can romance most companions regardless of gender, effectively making any of the romancable companion bisexual by default. You can also romance any number of companions at the same time, meaning you could have one big bisexual polyamorous relationship if you wanted to (the companions cannot date each other and are all connected to you, but the choice to have multiple partners is still there.

Bisexual polyamory sounds very progressive, and I don't think that that shouldn't be acknowledged, but even without the romance options, NV feels like the gayer game.

The thing about the romance options in 4 is that it doesn't seem to address identity. All of these characters are bisexual by default, but (as far I have seen from reviews and from my own experience playing) the characters don't ever acknowledge queerness as an identity. If I'm a female player character romancing a female companion, there isn't any dialogue acknowledging the fact that we are both women (in fact from what I've read, the dialogue is the same regardless if you are a man or woman, with only the pronouns being changed). Furthermore, the perks that you can choose that controls the characters sexuality are not there. Black Widow and Lady Killer are still there, although their same-sex counterpart perks are not available.

What I like about the perks in NV is the fact that player identity is not only something that has to be imagined behind the screen, but it becomes a facet within the game that influences the game and is acknowledged. Not only with sexuality, but gender is a factor in the role play as well. There are a few characters who acknowledge through dialogue that my character is a woman.

In 4 you are given a backstory as a spouse in an opposite-sex marriage with a new baby, superimposed into a heterosexual relationship right off the bat. This is opposed to NV where you play as a glorified mail carrier with amnesia that you can project a backstory onto. In 4 the game starts off with your spouse essentially being literally "fridged" (no literally, they die inside of a cryochamber) and your baby is kidnapped which triggers the main plot of the game. I guess this could be subversive if the player character is a woman, but that's only the player chooses to be a woman. Context clues points to the game assuming that the player is a man, what with the male player character voicing the opening narration of the game, along with being the defaulted gender option in the character creation screen. I think that choosing to play as a woman creates a much more compelling narrative, although the game never acknowledges this so it's mostly up to the player to infer this narrative themselves. (Again, gender is only brought up through pronouns) I would say that maybe the game is trying to offer commentary on the nuclear family household, although the problem doesn't rely on the family itself but the war and outsiders are the ones who destroyed it while the family itself was perfectly healthy.

You would think that being a newly widowed spouse would have some impact on the romance aspect of the game, especially if you are engaging with a same sex partner after previously being with a partner of the opposite-sex. Which isn’t to say that people in heterosexual relationships can’t also be interested in the same-sex or that people in marriages can’t be engaged in a healthy open relationship, and I do like that the game includes this option at all, although (and again, this is to my knowledge) this doesn't seem to get a mention when dealing with the romance. The dead spouse only really makes an impact on the main storyline of the game, and similarly, the romance aspect doesn't seem to effect this aspect at all.

F:4 tries to have an established backstory while also trying to give the player the same freedom of role play that its had in previous games, but these two player identities just end up running parallel to each other rather than working together. You can make choices in the game that seems to contradict your backstory without it ever being addressed. This could maybe make for an interesting story, but (and once again, as much as I have played and seen) there doesn't seem to be any internal conflict between the player character's past and what they decide to do for the run of the game.

While all of the romancable companions are effectively bisexual by the nature of the gameplay, bisexuality or queerness in any capacity isn't recognized as an identity and operates more on just a cosmetic level. Not that a character would have to explicitly state that their label in order for it to be valid, but it doesn't add anything to their character in the same way that it does for Ganon and Veronica from NV. These two never say "I am a gay man" or "I am a lesbian" in that exact way but their identities have an impact on their character and how they interact with the player. Veronica in particular had a girlfriend in her past that wasn't approved of by the strictly conservative Brotherhood of Steel that she belongs to.

"So you want homophobia in your video games? This is a post-apocalyptic society, who cares about who dates who!" and to be fair sexuality in Fallout society does seem to be far more lenient in both NV and 4, which makes sense considering the context. There aren't any marriage laws, and there's even a line suggesting that the male soldiers from the fascist Caesar regime are regularly mounting each other.

But still, Veronica experiencing that bit of homophobia from her past helps queer identity feel more realized rather than just an empty gesture from game devs for a few political correctness points, and can even be found as relatable to some of it's queer players. Veronica's story is about her desperately trying to save her conservative community, but comes to realize that the only way for her to live is to leave them behind. She's heartbroken to leave her family, but recognizes that she has to prioritize herself even if they aren't going to. The Brotherhood of Steel isn't a real organization, but that's definitely a real experience. If the Fallout games aim to offer commentary on real-world politics (which it definitely aims to do) then it isn't going to succeed if it's characters don't reflect real-world experiences.

Sorry if this comes off as me railing on F:4, I actually greatly enjoy the game and have probably sunk more hours into it than NV (which is partially due to my PS4 actually being functional and the laptop I have that plays NV has been on its last legs for years now) and I do greatly enjoy the characterization of the companions, even if I wish that their queer identities made more of an impact. NV, on the other hand, is one of my favorite games of all time.

So that's my whole spiel. Doesn't have anything at all to do with anything else on my blog whatsoever. Completely unrelated.

[justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms]

Hello, im here for the match up exchange dump we talked about, and the fandoms I would like to request are Avatar the last airbender, Legand of Korra, Demon slayer, Haikyuu, My hero academia, Obey me, Sk8 and Ninjago(Movie or series is fine)

Im panromantic(male lean) who uses any pronouns but mainly She/her/theirs.

Im an Aquarius with an ISTP MBTI(I recently was made to take another one for school and i came up as INTJ so...?)

I have honey(ish) blonde shoulder length hair with hazelly green eyes with dark circles and ivory skin, im '5'5" with a stronger stature and I wear grunge/cottagecore clothing.

Im a decently calm person but can and will have surges of energy that arent entirely like im bouncing off the wall but I would like to be able to stim, I have trust issues and are very quick to judge people and put them in a box when I first meet them untill they change their status, I love being around people i care for but I do like to have my space alone when posible to give me the ability to cool my nerves and regain energy to keep up with people.

I like reading, writing, drawing, music that sits in the genera of grunge, punk, heavy metal, skaw, and recently stuff like will wood. I like vintage and antique stores, I enjoy nature, I also enjoy playing games like resident evil, legend of zelda, pokemon, hogwarts legacy and obey me(tehe) and I love scary movies. I love being around people that I can comfortably be myself around and that (If I and they are comfortable enough) can have deep conversations.

I dislike loud crowds and people, red meats, clingy people, country music, any one thats just in confrontational for no damn reason and being ignored.

I would love to be matched up with someone who can get me out of that shell I make for myself and I can run like a crazy lunatic with and not be judged at all cause the are doing somewhat of the same thing. or even someoen I can also help break out of a shell.

have a good day/night!!!

Hi! Thank you for your request! It's been great doing another matchup exchange with you! I hope you like your matchups!

In Avatar: The Last Airbender, I match you with...

Aang would be both your best friend and your ideal partner! He can match your mood perfectly; when you’re calm, he’s calm, when you’ve got a surge of energy, he’s got a surge of energy.

Appreciates that you enjoy alone time. He personally enjoys being around people but there are certainly times when he also needs some space to recharge.

Doesn’t mind loud noises or crowds, but he’ll help you avoid them as much as possible. But, if you want him to get you out of your shell a bit more, he’s more than happy to help!

Aang would love to take you to a festival when it’s just opening or about to close so there are less people around, but you can still experience the energy.

Modern au Aang would love video games! He’s particularly fond of multi-players but he’d also be happy to play a different game; as long as you’re together.

Has some interesting perspectives that make deep conversations all the more interesting. He loves talking with you and will always listen to what you have to say.

In Legend of Korra, I match you with...

Similarly to Aang, Bolin can match your energy. He doesn’t have quite the same chaotic energy as Aang but he can certainly have surges of energy.

Loves going to antique stores with you! He really likes the aesthetic and loves that things can usually be found there for a cheaper price than buying them first-hand.

Bolin would love taking walks through nature with you. He finds it relaxing and claims it “helps him connect more with his bending element”. While that’s certainly true, he also just enjoys having your undivided company for a few hours.

Can be a bit clingy sometimes but Bolin’s aware that that’s not your thing. He’ll do his best to reign in his tendencies but expect him to ask for at least one hug per day.

Very easy to trust and does his best to keep that trust. Bolin knows that it’s like to feel betrayed by people and he never wants you to feel that way about him.

He’s very open about his feelings and he hopes you can do the same. That way, if there are any problems in your relationship, you can both work towards fixing them.

In Demon Slayer, I match you with...

Rengoku is the extrovert who will drag you out of your shell! You don't have much choice but to go along with his wild adventures.

Not a super clingy person and he can go for a while without physical touch so he doesn't mind that you're not a fan of clingy people.

Horror movie aficionado. His personal favourites are the terrible b-rate ones that never fail to make him laugh.

While Rengoku's not the best at being calm, he can certainly match you surges of energy! He's probably more hyperactive than you are during these times, as he feeds off your energy as well as his own.

I see Rengoku as someone who enjoys country music. He won't listen to it when you're around but he will occasionally give you song recommendations just to tease you.

Doesn't mind that you're not a fan of red meat. He'll eat pretty much anything as long as it tastes good so anything you likes, he's more than happy to try at least once.

In Haikyuu, I match you with...

Kuroo is honestly one of the best people to have deep conversations with (only beaten by someone further down this list).

Can match your surges of energy but loves spending time with you just relaxing together. He’s always so busy with volleyball, he really values anytime he can spend with you doing nothing.

Kuroo would love to take walks in nature with you. He’ll probably talk a lot about the science behind what’s happening around you.

Even though he talks a lot, Kuroo’s also a good listener. He’ll never make you feel like you’re being ignored.

Enjoys playing video games with you. He plays a lot with Kenma so he’s decently good at playing but more often than not, he’d also enjoy just sitting next to you and watching you play.

Kuroo's also very good at getting introverts out of their shell (he's had plenty of experience with Kenma). He's got comforting extrovert vibes.

In My Hero Academia, I match you with...

Kirishima is one of the best people to help you get out of your shell. Like Kuroo, he has comforting extrovert vibes, but he also has more chaotic energy.

Loves your taste in music! He thinks it’s really cool and would love to make a playlist with you that he can listen to while working out.

A video game mega fan! He’s probably played a lot of games so if you ever get truly stuck trying to get past a level or a boss, he’s more than happy to have a go.

Kirishima enjoys watching horror movies with you but will need to sleep with the lights on that night. He’s not great at handling horror but he tries for you.

Kirishima’s another one who’s really easy to trust and does his best to keep your trust.

Does his best to be quieter when he’s around you and will try to keep his friends quieter as well. But he’s only one person and 1A is notoriously loud.

In Obey Me, I match you with...

Asmo is the best person to have deep conversations with on this list. While he may not seem like it at first, leaning more towards gossip, he’s really good at knowing anything that’s bothering you or that you want to talk about.

Loves vintage shopping! He thinks the clothes and furniture have a really cool style. Even though he’s not usually one to wear things that aren’t in style, he’s certainly a trendsetter.

It might take a while before you can trust him completely, but he also has trust issues so as soon as you both realize you trust the other person and they trust you, your relationship is made even more stable.

Definitely one of the more clingy people on the list, but also a king of consent and awareness of emotions. If he knows you're not in the mood for too many hugs, he'll dial back his affection.

Hates confrontational people! Asmo has made it his life mission to only be confrontational when someone insults him or you.

Asmo would love to read some of your writing. I see him as being pretty good at writing love letters and poems so expect to see a few turn up in your room every few days.

In Sk8 the Infinity, I match you with...

Reki would love drawing with you! He’s never really had people interested in his drawings before so when you share that hobby with him, it means more than you can imagine.

Will absolutely make a board for you and decorate the bottom with drawings based on your interests. Whether you ever ride it or not, he’d love it if you keep it somewhere you can see it.

While it takes him a while to get used to being open, Reki’s really good at having deep and meaningful conversations with you. It helps him get a lot of feelings off his chest.

Reki will always make sure you feel heard and valued. He knows the feeling of being ignored or left behind all too well and never wants you to feel that way, especially if he’s the cause.

Enjoys playing video games with you. I see him as an avid fan of Pokemon, especially Pokemon Go (skating around town gets his steps up really fast).

A fan of socializing and having alone time so he’s always able to keep a good balance of interaction with you. He’s very attentive and notices when you’re starting to get tired so you’ll very rarely have to ask for personal space.

In Ninjago, I match you with...

Another one who loves your taste in music. Cole is definitely a fan of grunge, punk, and metal (especially movie Cole). He also likes rock music (mostly for the puns he can make).

He’s also a fan of video games. He plays them a lot with Jay and Kai so he’s used to very competitive games. Playing more relaxing games with you is a nice change of pace.

Horror movie date nights! Cole’s seen a good number of horror movies and has enjoyed most of them. He does get a bit quiet when there are ghosts in them but whether that’s because he’s having bad memories or he’s criticizing their inaccuracies, you’re not sure.

I think Cole would love to spend quiet afternoons laying on the couch with you reading to him. He likes your voice and isn’t picky about what you read, as long as he can just let his mind wander.

While he’s not a particularly chaotic person energy wise, he’s pretty used to the people around him bouncing off the walls on occasion.

He can match your energy if needed, but more often than not, he’d like to just watch you to make sure you don’t accidentally hurt yourself.