#they're in two teams of 3 mons

[dragonspiral-tower]

last ask got me thinkin more abt their dynamic if claire came back from hisui after being away for so long (lines n feelings go both ways; red lines are partners)

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

I sincerely hope I’m sending this request correctly. I wanna ask for a pokemon request where reader has a full Unown team with the Paldea crew reaction(Arven, nemona, penny) and maybe the blueberry academy crew reaction. I love unowns they’re my funky little letter guys. Basically the reader is an Unown enthusiast who only ever has unowns and only ever used Unowns. They have all the forms but the six they use are just the ones they took with them to Paldea. They went through Paldea and became champion with a full Unown team. Same with the bb league. I just think it’d be funny to see everyone’s reactions to that. Their partner mon would be Unown O and the other five you could pick cuz Unown O is my favorite letter. And also if u could write the unowns being affectionate with the reader and vice versa. I just like seeing trainers bonding with their pokemon. Thank you and I enjoy your writing!

(Side note: Honestly if ScarVio was able to have unowns in it you’d bet your ass I’d do a full Unown run. I’ve done it for other games. Was disappointed and sad I couldn’t have any unowns in them, sword/shield too.)

I LOVE the Unowns omg. I got a plushie of V and I'm still trying to get shinies and alphas in PLA

My favorite is F because it looks like a little stick figure but I adore all of them very much <3

.......

General

Ever since discovering the Unown in Johto (Ruins of Alpha) and the two additional forms in Kanto (Tanoby Chambers), you found your calling as a trainer.

An Unown trainer, to be precise.

Unown O was the first one you caught, and has been your battle partner ever since!

You've become something of an enthusiast, asking researchers what they've discovered and documenting the Symbol Pokemon as you collected them.

You've caught so many that you actually encountered a shiny or two--each capture being a success.

Their existence, connection to Arceus, home dimension, and "secret power" when more than one are gathered were all fascinating to you and made you wanna learn more.

You even incorporated some of their designs into your outfit: like gloves and socks that had symbols printed on them, keychains and charms on your jewelry and/or backpack..etc.

All 28 Unown grew to love you, and the ones in your party are super affectionate when you bring them out.

Their favorite game is hide n' seek (taking after their "ancestors" from PLA) around your home, and you like to play along.

Ofc people are wary around Unown given their mysterious nature, but you vow to break that stigma by feeding them treats and letting them nuzzle up to you, showing others that they're just like any other Pokémon: companions who deserved as much love and affection as a Pikachu.

After parting ways with your friends in Kanto and Johto, you don't leave without gifting them an Unown that was the first letter in their name (for Blue you left him a Shiny Unown B...which he still brags about to this day).

You decided to move to Paldea to take your Pokémon training more seriously, attending school and showing off your Unown since they're not native to the region.

Your team consisted of O, as well as N, E, F, R, and M--referring to what all 28 are collectively called (One Form).

Despite knowing they can only use Hidden Power and nothing else (plus the drawbacks from having a psychic-only team), you defied all the odds when you took on not one but TWO championships and won.

And of course, the friends you've made during your journey all got to know the Unown personally.

Paldea

Arven

At first, he thought your Unown team had more to it...until he realized that was ALL you brought to the battlefield.

Just funky letters that only knew one move.

"Oh come on, you're never gonna win with a team like that-"

And then you go and beat him with a team like that, and it shuts him up.

But Arven just rolls his eyes to the sky, making the excuse that he's not used to battling, and moves on.

As you get closer to him, though, and help him take down the Titan Pokémon around Paldea, he warms up to your team and admits they're kinda cool.

He'll only shoo them away if he's making a sandwich, not wanting to be crowded (but tbh he can tolerate Unown O's presence more than your 'raidon's).

You presented him with picks inspired by the designs of some Unown (I, K, T, Y, and !) to hold the ingredients together, and he's thoroughly impressed by your dedication to the craft.

You joked about selling them if you ever went into the art of culinary--yet Arven tells you to seriously consider it.

After the fight with the AI Professor in Area Zero, he sees your entire team pop out of their pokeballs, clearly stressed from being locked inside due to the Paradise Protection Protocol.

You never did a battle without them and were afraid they couldn't protect you, but you reassured them you were okay, letting them stay out during the journey home.

Only then does he realize that sure, they're weird little guys that don't seem all-that powerful, but you treasure them all the same.

Nemona

While she was confused about you not using the Paldea starter the Director offered you..she's HYPED when your real team comes out to play during your first match together: One made entirely of Unown, a Pokémon not even native to Paldea.

She may have read about them in some textbook unrelated to battling and glossed over them.

But to see them in battle left her extremely impressed and asking you dozens of questions afterwards.

They could just change their type when attacking??? She read about Arceus supposedly having that power, but it's awesome that these little letters/symbols can, too!

Despite thinking you'll bore her by having no strategy except "use hidden power", Nemona NEVER wants you to feel discouraged!

She wants to battle your team every time.

As you fight your way through the Pokémon League and all the way up to the Elite Four, she's rooting for you 100%, praising your Unown for overcoming even the toughest terastalized foes.

Knowing your party members, they LOVE praise and are very friendly towards her and her own Pokémon.

If any of them have timid/lonely natures..her words give them a big confidence boost.

And it reflects in their reaction times and how often they'll heal their own status conditions or tank OH-KO hits.

She says you're helping them get stronger every day, but you give her lots of credit, too, for helping you get this far.

Penny

While dealing with Team Star, Giacomo's dark team put your Unown through a world of hurt...

Penny had been watching the battle, worried that he was going to be the reason you failed to squander the organization.

Yet by some miracle, your team came out on top!

Only then does she realize you were more than capable of taking down all the bases.

Unown P comes out to greet her while you've doing an LP exchange, and it scared her pretty badly.

Especially as it just...stares. Occasionally blinking once or twice as she tries talking to you.

Conversations are hard enough for her already, and staring doesn't help matters, so she gets ready to leave-

But then its tune changes when you pat it on the head(?) and it trills happily, snuggling up to you.

Penny had to do a double-take, wondering how it managed to look so cute..but she dismisses your concerns when you asked why she made that face.

Later, after revealing she's the leader and becoming your friend thereafter...she still gets anxious around the Unown from time-to-time, but eventually warms up to their presence.

You don't treat them any differently despite their mysterious nature.

If anything, you care for them just like anyone would a cute Eevee: by spoiling them with love, treats, and sweet words of encouragement.

Penny felt like a hypocrite for being scared of them, considering people used to be scared of Team Star--yet they aren't as evil as everyone made them out to be.

They used to be lonely and misunderstood, just like the Unown were before you found them.

BB Academy

Kieran

When you showed off your team for the first time, Kieran was stunned.. remembering the things he read about them but didn't know they could actually be caught.

All he says when you show him Unown K is "wowzers".

And the journal entries you've logged turned his eyes into stars.

You show him all the photographs of ruins and Unown blending in during your trips to the signboards, rambling about what you've seen and discovered.

He loves listening to your tales..and wishes he could see those places with you.

But what he didn't like, however, was whenever you two had a battle in which your Unown only needed one command to win. You didn't have to try at all.

Even with his team's most supereffective attacks..speed and dumb luck were on your side, crushing his confidence and making him jealous.

It doesn't help when you still decided to keep Ogerpon despite you saying you only ever used Unown.

It wasn't fair.

And ofc by Indigo Disk, Kieran wants nothing more than to destroy your team, insulting them under his breath when he thinks you can't hear him.

You just scowl and cover their nonexistent-ears while they nuzzle up to you--although deep down, you knew he didn't mean those words.

He's just pissed off that he lost sleep and his appetite over training his team, giving them the best moves and items to utilize on the battlefield..only for you to sweep the BB League with a simple command.

He managed to OH-KO one Unown with Incineroar's Darkest Lariat..and that sinister grin you saw on his face was most unnerving.

But you still claimed victory over him and he takes the loss hard.

Down in Area Zero, he's convinced that the "Hidden Treasure" Terapagos can take down your "Hidden Power" team..

But after seeing them form a shield (similar to the crystal one in the Spell of Unown movie) that protects him when the legendary goes rogue..it changed his perspective.

Only then he understood why they were so powerful.

As the Unovian Pokedex said: Alone, nothing happens..but together, Unown are strong and invoke a great power.

When the dust settles, O floats into Kieran's hands, healing the pain in his wrist caused by Terapagos breaking the masterball.

He felt so so guilty for the name-calling and his desires to hurt them. Yet they've all forgiven him.

In a way, Unown remind you of him: small and unassuming, at first glance..but full of great power that's waiting to shine.

During Mochi Mayhem, K stays by his side while he holds off the possessed townspeople and you capture Pecharunt, growing quite attached to him.

And after coming back to the academy, you decide to trade him that Unown, hoping he incorporates it into one of his teams. Be it casual or competitive.

Carmine

Back in Kitakami, she laughed at your "puny"-looking letter Pokémon, thinking them to be weak as she sics Poochyena and Polteageist on them.

While their dark/ghost moves hit the Unown hard, it's Unown O who takes them down with critical hits..and Carmine got LIVID.

She impressed you're sticking with a team that appeared in ancient texts, although that doesn't dissuade her from teasing you about them for a while.

Ngl you nerding out over Unown facts and studies you've recorded reminds her of Kieran infodumping about Ogerpon.

Your Unown just glare at her, and you gotta call them back to your side before they try attacking her outside a battle.

However as time goes on and she warms up to you, meets Ogerpon, etc..she grows to like them more, too.

Eventually she's cheering them on as they take down the Loyal Three and tank their poison attacks.

By Indigo Disk's events, she comes around to genuinely smile at their presence.

Although she had concerns Kieran's new team would be too overwhelming for them...

Yet your team of hieroglyphics won anyways.

And down in Area Zero's underdepths, they invoked a great power to shield the siblings from Terapagos' attacks, protecting the two people who once hated and mocked them with all they had.

As they both break down in tears, some Unown come out of their pokeballs to comfort them, and O stays on your shoulder as you exit the cavern together.

A few photobomb the selfie you take with the twins back at the academy (as well as Kitakami's festival), but it's alright.

Carmine will allow it because you treasured them and they DID save her and her brother's skin.

Drayton

While you did struggle during his trial (due to his "Terarium Pokemon-only" rule), the actual battle caught him by surprise when your Unown swept the floor, taking down his dragons.

How Unown F was able to withstand an Electro Shot was beyond him, but it was sturdy enough to finish the fight with a Fairy-based Hidden Power.

After winning, you both take a selfie in commemoration, with you passing F to Drayton like "can we get an F in the chat" and him humbly accepting it.

It was all in good fun, and looking back on it in your scrapbook made you laugh.

But what you didn't feel good about was him rubbing your victory in Kieran's face after you win the championship, further shattering the kid who nearly keeled over trying to make the perfect team to beat you..only for some "letters" to kick him down into the dirt.

"Wow, that's tough..now are you gonna take the F or L, ex-champ?"

He forgot this kid doesn't understand much internet lingo, but Unown F and Unown L didn't appreciate his jokes, and neither did you.

But after the events in Area Zero, you let it go, eventually deciding to trade him Unown D as your way of thanking him for helping you get close enough to knock sense back into Kieran.

Crispin

Let's face it, he's gonna be staring at your Unown like a Magikarp out of water and ask how they eat..

Or if they eat at all for that matter.

Their eyes just blink and poof, their share of the meal is already gone.

He knows they're psychic Pokémon, but still...

His favorite ones are definitely C (bc of his name) and S (for Spicy), though he's eager to see how your team fairs in battle when you clear his trial.

You warn him it might be "boring" but he acts like you insulted his cooking and begs you not to say that again.

"Every Pokémon battle gets me fired up!!!!! Don't downplay yourself!!!"

Even when your Unown easily douse his Pokémon's flames with Water-based Hidden Power (and Fire for his Exeggcutor), he still had a blast battling you, realizing those little letters are full of vigor and surprises!

He's eager to see what supereffective type they're gonna use next.

When you eventually decide to trade, you contemplate giving him an extra Unown F you had..or a C.

But you settle for the latter, and Crispin promises to feed the little guy well!

Lacey

Unown are small, simple, and make trilling noises...all checking off her criteria of "cute" Pokémon!

Although knowing they're connected to Arceus--the literal god of all 'mons--is an unnerving fact, she agrees that they're adorable and deserve to be treated as such.

She gets to learn your team's different natures, and likes how you're trying to convince people that they're not as scary as the old legends present them.

They love nuzzling up to you, resting on your shoulder and/or head, twirling around, and playing with the local Minior.

That being said..Lacey gets shocked at the punch they pack during battle, with them using Poison or Steel-based Hidden Power to take down her fairies.

It's always the most unsuspecting Pokémon who are the most powerful.

Even if you worry about the battle being boring since all you can give out is one command, she's gonna turn your pessimistic thinking around!

Unown F is her favorite since it's looks like a stick figure, but Unown L is also pretty neat..yet she wonders why Unown ? and Unown ! look tired all the time...

When you trade her a letter/symbol, she's thrilled to welcome yet another cute Pokémon onto her team!

Amarys

Considering their affiliations with ruins and Arceus, the existence of Unown have always piqued her interest.

And you so-happened to be a walking encyclopedia of anything related to the Symbol Pokémon, given the journals you've written on their mannerisms.

Amarys likes reading them over, and thinks a quiz involving the Unown Alphabet would be good to have at BB Academy.

On the other hand, after your battle to climb the League rankings, she wonders if you've ever used other Pokémon..only to find out that you never did.

All you know are Unowns.

She won't force you to change your team members, seeing as they were able to beat ALL of the league members--including Kieran.

But she suggests you had one Unown use Hidden Power on its battle partner, who could hold onto a Weakness Policy.

Yet you're adamant, saying "why would I want one Unown to hurt the other just for a temporary attack boost? :((("

Your team members are besties, your cuddle buddies..how could you do that to them???

Amarys is genuinely touched by how much you care for your Unowns, and vice versa.

Speaking of which, Unown A started hanging around her more often..and she cautiously tries to pet it, surprised by its happy trills, but otherwise acts nonchalant.

When you both decide to trade, you give her that Unown and she promises to look after it.

[starsluver]

The Slytherin Boys fav artists

Notes: realistic but kinda delusional (not tiktok kinda delusion tho🎀) ALSO NONE OF THESE GIFS ARE MINE!!

Before we start, we all know FOR A FACT. They all listen to UK drill rap cause they're all British. Kinda Except Theo,Mattheo and Blaise AND DEFINITELY TOM. Theo's Italian and he'd probably listen to Italian hip-hop which is a thing 😭. Mattheo's LATINO which a lot of people forget, Benjamin Wadsworth is Mexican but ngl I feel like Mattheo would either be Colombian, Puerto Rican, Guatemalan or Mexican or like a mix of either two. I feel like Blaise would like 90's and early 2000's hip hop like 2pac,Eazy-E, etc. Tom wouldn't listen to music at all because he thinks it's a waste of time🎀

Mattheo Riddle

He def listens to the smiths, We know thissss. But he'd definitely listen to Arctic monkeys but he'd be the type of person that's like "well you don't like the song LIKE I LIKE THE SONG" (our sassy king) and would gatekeep every unreleased song. He'd probably also listen to Peso Pluma but either people wouldn't believe him or he wouldn't tell anyone. I already know he listens to Kali Uchis and Melanie Martinez, they're literally his celeb crushes like he'd have literally all of their merch NO MATTER THE PRICE and when someone says they like Melanie or Kali he'd be like "oh well do you have the crybaby coloring book/ red moon Venus tote bag? I didn't think so 🙄" low-key feel like he's a theater kid but wouldn't tell ANYONE (Tom would threaten to tell people tho) He'd definitely listen to Ivan Cornejo and Dannylux and Junior H (blud is MAD depressed) I also feel like he'd listen to Chicano oldies or modern Chicano oldies like parachute, la vida es fria, nobody's clown, etc. ( I NEED CHICANO!MATTHEO RIDDLE!!!) he also listens to Mon Laferte and Selena Quintanilla<3

Theodore Nott

We already know he'd listen to Deftones but he'd DEFINITELY listen to Pierce The Veil. I feel like he'd listen to Lana Del Rey because People kept telling him to, he listens to Lana with Mattheo but Theo's not like the "I need this song injected into my veins" fan. He'd listen to Cigarettes after Sex to be mysterious. HE'D LISTEN TO MANESKIN!!!! I can't even lie he'd listen to Daniel Caesar and Frank Ocean because Blaise made him (Frank PLEASEEEEEE DROP ANOTHER ALBUM) secretly listens to beach Bunny and Laufey but wouldn't tell anyone. I feel like him and Mattheo would listen to Mac Miller and/or Mac DeMarco but that's probably out of delusion

Lorenzo Berkshire

To be fr, Enzo would listen to Brent Faiyaz and the neighborhood. But out of delusion he'd listen to Laufey, Sabrina Carpenter, and Olivia Rodrigo. He'd definitely listen to the weekend, Arctic monkeys, Chase Atlantic, and Montell Fish. BUT OUT OF DELUSION AGAIN he'd listen to Ariana Grande. Honestly all the Slytherin boys would listen to Frank Ocean and the weekend.

Draco Malfoy

My fav ferret. I already know this MF listens to Chappell Roan, he won't admit it but it's not like everyone can tell (he listens to Good luck, babe! Thinking about Harry) he'd definitely listen to Chase Atlantic and the neighborhood, it's like common sense. But this MF listens to Sabrina Carpenter, Megan Thee stallion, Lady Gaga, and Ariana Grande when everyone thinks he's listening to The weekend/ Brent Faiyaz. Ngl I feel like he's team Drake and would try to convince himself that Drake won as Blaise and Mattheo play not like us for the 7th time.

Blaise Zabini

My underrated king. My man has TASTE. he listens to Bob Marley, 2pac, Eazy-E, 50 cent, Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blidge, Destiny's Child, TLC, Megan Thee stallion, Sade, Flo Milli, Kendrick Lamar, Micheal Jackson, The Weekend, Tyler the Creator, Bruno Mars, Frank Ocean, H.E.R. and Childish Gambino. Superior music taste but HE DOES NOT PLAY ABOUT HIS MUSIC, if you change one of his favorite songs while he's listening to it. You're done, you're cooked.

Tom Riddle

Funny than you think he'd listen to music but anyways he only has Spotify to listen to true crime podcasts. He'd secretly listen to Arctic monkeys and Queen and possibly the smiths if you're really delusional. And I mean REALLY REALLY DELUSIONAL. Mattheo would tell everyone that Tom listens to Karma by JoJo siwa and no one would believe him (he actually does)

[kelparty]

My take on Homura's Pokémon team

(In depth explanation below the cut!)

Hello Tumblr, today I decided to make fan Pokémon teams for some characters I like, starting off with Homura because I'm in a spooky mood and she just *screams* dark type trainer. This is 100% self indulgent and I'm not sorry for it at all :] So here's my thought process on the making of this team!

1. Absol: The quintessential Homura Pokémon. A guardian angel who warns others about impending disasters? Who is frequently misjudged as dangerous by the very same people it's trying to help? They're literally the same. So for Homura's ace, Absol it is!

2. Gourgeist: This is based off of the cake song from Rebellion. More specifically, Homura's part. Each girl chooses a food item to call herself, relating to her actual character traits. There's a deep analysis to be made about all of them, but I'll focus on Homura for now. Homura is a pumpkin, because she's round, as in, "goes round in circles" - like Mami points out - in relation to her time travels, where she's quite literally going around in circles in a time loop. So I gave her the pumpkin mon, Gourgeist, as a nod to that.

3. Sableye: This one's a bit of a reach, but Sableye are characterized as being obsessed with gemstones. Our girl also has an obsession (with Madoka) so I think they'd get along well. Also, the mega uses a big gemstone as a shield on its arm, in a way that's visually similar to Homura's shield. And it's purple :D

4. Umbreon: I mean this one was mostly an aesthetic choice, but there's also something to be said about how a cute, friendly Eevee evolves into a frightening Umbreon, kinda like Homura undergoes a big transformation after starting the time loop. And since Madoka is frequently paired with Sylveon, they compliment each other nicely so it's a two for one deal.

5. Spiritomb: something about how Spiritomb's spirits are stuck in a (literal) cicle because of unresolved business when they were alive, just like Homura is stuck in a loop of her own making. And also, according to its dex entry, Spiritomb are made of 109 spirits, and Homura has canonically lived through 100 timelines at the start of the anime. Funny coincidence!

6. Malamar: This is a reference to Rebellion and how she was controlling everyone inside her labyrinth. Malamar's dex entry states that "anyone who falls under Malamar’s control loses their memories surrounding the event", which I just thought was very fitting.

So this my take on what Pokémon would fit Homura thematically. I had lots of fun making this analysis, and I hope I didn't miss many good choices. Feel free to tell me what changes you'd make :))

[pr1ncessasuke]

The brain worms got me today and I ended up building a Pokémon team for Killua :>

Shiny Umbreon

Luxray

Lucario (steel fighting kitty--his yoyos!!)

Alolan Vulpix (his soft kitty side, also they have the same color palette <3)

Mimikyu (reminds me of the scenes with Illumi in his head and Nanika/Mimikyu's nature reminds me of transmutation)

Zeraora (I wanted one legendary/mythical on the team--was debating between this and Raikou cuz they're both lightning kitties)

The first two are kinda self explanatory, they are swaggy af

Pokemon and HxH fans, I'm curious to know which mons you'd put on Killua's team and if you had any thoughts on mine!

[askunington-andcompany]

WELCOME TO UNINGTON!

❝ You don't have to believe every single thought that tumbles through your head, just 'cause it sounds like you talking! Sometimes all you can do is say goodnight and tuck your demons into bed, 'cause they're not worth fighting! ❞ - TURN OUT THE LIGHTS, THE CRANE WIVES, 2016

Hi there! Or, as we say in Unington, howdy-doodle! Welcome to the corner of the net where you can find anything and everything to do with the town of Unington! This blog is run by 6 5 people, and we have 2 admins! So, without further ado, let's introduce our lovely little blog's showrunners, along with our admins!

KEL CLOVER ! - 17 | SHE/HER

Hi there! Name's Kel, but my friends call me Kelsey! If you want, you can too! But not Kelly. Never Kelly. I like cats, producing music, and my favorite food is a nice cup of coffee paired with a nice hot bun from The Suave Cafe (or Peggy's, as us locals call it :> )!

my text will look like this!

YASHIRO NENE ! - 17 | SHE/HER

AAA HI EVERYONE !!! I'm Yashiro Nene, but you can call me Yash!! :D Some things abt me!! I like my friends (love you nerds >:] <3), strawberry rice cake, fishies, boys (ignore that, that was cringy :P ), romance novels, disney movies, the occult (somewhat, i'n not toooo into it, but it's fun!) annnnd thats it! I'm suuuper happy to be here! :]

my text will look like this!

MITSUBA SOSUKE ! - 16 | HE/HIM

Hey, losers everyone. I'm Mitsuba, and no, you cannot call me Mitsu like my friends. It's Mitsuba. You hear me? Mit-su-ba. I'm the designated pink guy of the blog (NOT YOU YASH STOP TRYING TO STEAL MY COLOR ISTG IM ABOUT TO WWE GRAND SLAM YOU), and the 'group asshole'. I take that title with pride. Things I like...uh, my friends, begrudgingly, the buns + anything sweet from Peggy's, photography, oversized shit, and...yeah, thats it.

my text will look like this.

KOU MINAMOTO ! - 16 | HE/HIM

Hi! I'm Kou!! My name's too short so I don't get a nickname rip 😞🙏‼️ (Technically they all call me ed sheeran because I'm GINGER but thats MEAN so don't call me that) I'm an exorcist (please do not ask me to prove this I suck ASS at it), and some things about me: I like baking, exorcising ghosts (WHEN I CAN DO IT IM SO BAD AT IT GUYS ITS HONESTLY UNFUNNY), taking care of the house and my friends and family (even if they call me a housewife, i still love you stinkers), and my friends! :]

my text will look like this!

AMANE "HANAKO" YUGI ! - 17 | HE/HIM

Wsp! Hanako here, do NOT call me Amane, I will shove my foot. up your ass. You can call me Hana tho! That is allowed!! Nywho, things about me. I like donuts (ESP FROM THE SUAVE CAFE PEGGY IF UR READING THIS PLEASE STOP REJECTING MY APPLICATION I SWEAR I WONT STEAL ALL THE DONUTS AGAIN I SWEAR I SWEAR), the ladieeeees ;] (and men i swing both ways hmu ;]) [MOD EDIT: Nobody hit Hana up. Please. You'll give him an ego. ~ MOD M], ghosts n spooky shit like that, helping ppl out (yeah ik im "☝️🤓"), animals, my friends, and having fun! I'm a cool dude. I think. [MOD EDIT: Due to the other 4's request, I would like to state that no, Hana. You are not as cool as you think you are. ~ MOD M]

my text will look like this!

MOD TEAM!

here, we would like to highlight our two amazing mods who're helping with the blog!

BENDY ! - "NOT TELLING!" | HE/HIM

Howdy! Name's Bendy! You probably know my face from your childhood, haha! Anyways, I'm a father of one, unhappily married, I like the arts, the burgers from Peggy's, and moneyyyyyy >:] That's all, folks!

my text will look like this! my mod edits will be signed off with '~ MOD B'!

MONIKA SALVATO ! - 37 | SHE/HER

Hi! I'm Monika, but you can call me 'Mon', if it's easier! I run a club with me and my four best friends (Sayori, Yuri, Natsuki, and MC! Love y'all :] ) called the literature club! It's fun. Anywho, I like coding, baking, piano, valentines day, and the color emerald green! (P.S. Thanks, Kel, for letting me use it :] ) I'm a mother, and a wife, sadly. I'm so happy to meet you all!

my text will look like this! my mod edits will be signed off with '~ MOD M'!

Whoo-wee! That was a lot of people! Welp, at least you got to meet us all! Well, we're all so excited to be here, and thank you for stopping by! See you all soon!

~ The Unington Crew

KAI DREW - IN LOVING MEMORY

Kai Drew was Unington's shining star, a singer, a daughter, a sister, and a friend to all. She was 17 years old, and a firecracker to boot. Nothing could keep her down.

Also, she's not dead.

She just left to go on tour in this town called Hatchetfield and we really miss her.

Girl

Come back girl we miss you :[

TAGGING SYSTEM:

#kelsey speaks - Kel's tag for posts! #yash's yaps - Yash's tag for posts! #mitsu contributes - Mitsu's tag for posts! #hana says shit - Hana's tag for posts! #kouposting - Kou's tag for posts! #mod b: back from the dead - Bendy's tag for posts! #mod m's quotes - Monika's tag for posts! #ask and ye shall receive - Tag for posts where asks get answered! the proper tags for which character is speaking will be added!

[butterflyintochains]

On Midnights Like This

I've noticed as I re-read through my Tangerkarlsson fics that the night and night time seems to be such a theme that comes up across my work. I always seem to have a scene of them talking in bed, up at night stargazing, or big chunks of the fic are set at night or with night time being a huge focal point. So, I want to explore something. In my little fic universe for them, they've been together for nearly 14 years. So, here are 14 sleepless nights during their relationship. Seven from each perspective.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2011 - Kris.

Is it meant to feel like this? Is he supposed to feel this breathless everyday since that game against Ottawa? Is this how it felt for Sid and Geno back in 2008? Is Kris Letang supposed to be awake with his racing thoughts at 3 AM, not even three months into... whatever this is with Erik? Is this normal? Kris doesn't know anymore, his whole life has been basically upended in two months, and he has no idea what's going on anymore. Dan must be worried sick about him, and he's sure the boys have noticed something shift. Just yesterday, he completely zoned out for ten minutes during a team meeting, and he has no fucking clue why. He's never felt more excited to answer phone calls or texts, or more disappointed when it's not Erik. Those calls or texts like a little shot of ambrosia. He'd ask Flower, but then he'd get the 'I told you so.' lecture. Duper would get all weird and mushy. Kuny is just a no-go instantly, he'd never hear the end of it. Max would just laugh at him. Then, there's the Two Headed Monster, he could ask them if all this is normal, but how the fuck does he tell them this? ''Hey, I hooked up with Erik Karlsson in Raleigh, and now I feel like the world has been turned on its head, is this normal?'' And, no, he doesn't hate this feeling either. He never wants it to stop, actually. He's never been happier. ''Luc, what's happening to me, mon frere?'' He whispers into the still air of his bedroom.

Of course, there's no answer, not that he needs one. He knows what's happening, and how quickly it's happening. Just a few months ago, he was sure this would never happen to him, and now it is, and it's equal parts terrifying and exciting. Here he is, falling head over heels, and enjoying every minute of it. He's seen this from outside, closer than he'd have wanted to, but it took Sid and Geno forever to get off their asses about the elephant in the room. But, love at first sight doesn't exist, does it? Taking a swig of water, and a few deep breaths, he lets this sensation wash through him, and shoots Erik a text.

Kris: I miss you, Erik.

Putting his head down once more, Kris decides to let this happen as it will, something this good hasn't happened to him ever, and he wants to make this work. Whatever they decide to call it, that'll be a discussion for another time, but at least they'll be having it. Too exhausted to be awake anymore, Kris allows himself to sleep, resting in the embers of a flame they lit together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2012 - Erik.

Sure, Erik is almost twenty two years old, his birthday at the end of May, hopefully during the playoffs if his Senators can manage it. Yes, he's a grown man, thank you very much for asking. But, did he get to bed as early as possible like a kid on Christmas Eve? Also yes, thank you for asking. Would Danny and Jason laugh at him for going to bed at ten? Oh, hell yeah, but they're not here. So, this is none of their business. What nobody on his team know is the person who lands from Pittsburgh tomorrow. The week they're about to have together, right under the team's noses. A year ago this weekend, Erik found the best thing that's ever happened to him. Kris is probably fast asleep by now, down south in Pittsburgh. Is he as excited for this weekend as Erik is? The only thing that's going to be annoying is having to shake off Evgeni Malkin to get any alone time, of the quartet, Malkin seems to be the most nosy. Erik rolls over again, trying to find a good position to sleep in, ever aware he'll have Kris to share a bed with this week. 1 AM, and every atom in Erik's body is aching for Kris' arrival, aching for those beautiful hands, his kiss, everything. He's never felt this before, this rush to the head just thinking about someone else. Raleigh turned his life upside-down in all the best ways, and nobody has ever seen him the way Kris has. Giving up on sleep for now, Erik goes for a cold shower, being worked up isn't going to help him sleep. Kris is going to want him rested too.

Once back in bed, Erik checks the clock again; 2 AM. He has a missed text from Kris. Seems like he's not been the only one struggling to get to sleep tonight.

Kris: Can't wait to see you, been way too long.

Erik replies, a massive smile on his finally tired face.

Erik: Still got that key to my apartment that I gave you?

Kris replies quickly.

Kris: Yeah, haven't let the thing out of my sight.

Erik finally gets to sleep, it'll not be long until they're back together for their second All Star Game. A distinct feeling of this being a point of no return for them lingering in his chest, but, Erik sleeps on it, whatever happens, happens.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2013 - Kris.

These last nights together before they split off to their teams are never normally this difficult. But, after everything that's happened in the past six months; Erik's ankle, the fallout with Cooke, and the first time they both visited Luc. Those flights have never looked less appealing. This is the last time they'll be together until whenever their first game is. Kris looks at his clock, 2:30 AM. His neck and shoulders are still tingling, those hickeys are going to be a bitch to explain, not that he cares. Erik's arm is draped across him, he's fast asleep. Kris rolls onto his side, and admires his love's perfect face. Erik stirs, and flutters his eyes open. ''Can't sleep, can you?'' Erik asks him.

Kris sighs, pressing a kiss to Erik's cheek. ''Not even a little bit. Sorry for waking you up, amour.''

Erik chuckles, eyes misty from sleep, but clearly he wasn't very deep asleep himself. ''What's going on, hjartat?'' Erik asks, tracing his work on Kris' neck, sending shivers down his back. ''I don't know, I just... don't want to leave you this fall. I guess this season just put everything into perspective for me.'' He confesses to the one person who he can be this vulnerable with.

Erik yawns, and tucks some hair back behind Kris' ear, his hand lingering for a moment. ''I don't wanna leave you either, after everything that's happened. Recovering without you was torture. But, we'll just need to suck it up.'' That's the shit thing about this whole situation, they've had three of these final nights now, and it never gets any easier. And, Kris will need to go back to third wheeling Sid and Geno for eight months. When do they stop needing to suck it up? ''I love you, Erik.'' Kris says, hoping he never forgets it.

Erik says, taking a deep breath. ''I love you, Kris.'' They close the distance between them with a kiss, Kris rolls Erik onto his back, worshiping his lover's neck. Erik gives a contended sigh, digging his fingers into Kris' back. If this is their last chance to do this for ages, they might as well take it with both hands. Savour the last bits of this paradise while they can. They take it gentler, slower, than those feverish and ravenous nights during the playoff series. Over two years, and this passion never dies down, and no one will ever take it from them. Fuck hockey, they were fashioned for each other, Kris thinks. After, they lie in the afterglow, coddled in each other's love. ''Y'know something? I have no idea how I ever lived without this.'' Kris says, finally feeling tired.

Erik laughs, and presses a fatigued kiss to his shoulder. ''Me neither, and somehow we did.'' What a sad life that was, Kris thinks as his eyes flutter closed. Living without this love they found.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2014 - Erik.

Erik's bed in the team's hotel hasn't been slept in yet tonight, not even the duvet has been shifted since the bed was made this morning. No, Erik is just fine stationed on the sofa with a bag ready to go, and his phone on the small coffee table. He's ready to go, just in case. He has to be prepared for the call or text from Flower. If he sleeps, he could miss it. If he sleeps, will Kris still be here when he wakes up? That stroke was only a couple of short weeks ago, they caught it early, and discovered a hole in Kris' heart. Erik's head has been spinning ever since, his world in a state of unraveling and putting itself back together all at once. Kris is alive, he's recovering, and he will be okay. But... a stroke... at twenty-six. The thought of it makes Erik sick. The team must think he's gone mad, checking his phone constantly, having a bag ready at all times for a flight to somewhere he'll never tell them about. Does he care? Not even a little bit. He wasn't there, he hasn't seen Kris at all since the stroke, the love of his life could've died, and Erik wasn't there. So, yeah, he's been riled up, and probably difficult to be around lately. Flower said he's doing well, on house rest orders, bored out of his mind, but he's doing well. And yet, Erik rests on the sofa, his bag at grabbing distance on the floor, staring at his phone. Waiting for something he logically knows isn't coming. Needing to hear Kris' voice again, he calls him. ''Sorry to wake you up, hjartat, I just miss your voice.'' He says.

Kris' voice sounds harsh from lack of use, he must've been sleeping, Erik is such an idiot sometimes. ''I miss you too, amour. What's going on? Why aren't you asleep?''

Erik sniffles, how does he admit this to Kris? All this fear he's been feeling lately? ''I'm just worried about you, that's all.'' Kris takes a deep breath, and says, his voice gentle. ''Erik, I'm just fine, my doctors said I'll be back in April. I'm okay.''

Erik says, looking out the window of his hotel room. ''You had a stroke, Kris.''

Kris says, trying to calm Erik down from afar. ''I know, and trust me, I'm just as scared as you are right now. But, I'm getting better everyday, I'm not going anywhere.''

Erik admits, because he's known this for the best part of two years now. ''I just... you mean the world to me, and... you could've died.'' Kris gently says, a vague smile in his tone. ''I'm still here, and not going anywhere that easy. You are everything to me, Erik, and always will be, so, I'd love it if you got some sleep for me.''

Erik asks, the knots of dread slowly untangling themselves. ''Promise me you'll be okay?''

Kris assures him, voice taking that gentle tone it only takes when they're together, Erik has never heard him use it with anyone else. ''I swear on the love I have for you.''

Erik nods, and rises from the sofa to get into bed properly. ''I love you, sorry for waking you up.''

Kris says. ''Don't apologize, not to me, and not for that. I love you too.'' They hang up, and Erik finally gets to sleep, Kris is alive, and recovering, and isn't going anywhere. This was a one-off, a terrifying thing, but won't happen again. At least Erik knows he's not been alone in this fear, even if he hasn't been in Pittsburgh. He'd have hated to be in the Penguins' shoes lately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2015 - Kris.

The first few nights home in Pittsburgh are never exactly easy after summers with Erik in Europe. But, tonight was not one of those nights. Maybe it's the jet lag, or the blood thinners, or whatever, but Kris was out like a light as soon as he got to bed. Fast asleep without a worry in the world, except for training tomorrow. Training on jet lag is never fun, but he'll be okay. The house has fallen silent, and the night eases along outside. Greece seems like so recently and so long ago all at once. He's glad he was given medical clearance to fly at any rate, they'd been planning that trip for months. Somewhere deep in the static of Kris' mind, he hears his phone ringing. Forcing his eyes open, he sees that it's Erik, and answers it. ''Amour?'' He asks, checking the time: 1:45 AM. Erik says, in anxious sounding French. ''Je suis désolé, mon coeur.''

Kris sits up, it must be big if Erik is using French. ''Non, c'est bien, mon amour. Quelle est le problème?''

Erik switches to English, bypassing his own language altogether, this must be massive. ''Okay, so... you know how Jason's leaving, right? He's going to Dallas. And, Ottawa don't have a captain anymore?''

Kris nods, that was a surprise phone call this summer, one of their secret keepers is leaving for a different team. ''Yeah, I remember, what's happened?''

Erik says, sounding like he's going to throw up. ''Well... he's left it to me, I'm the captain of the Senators now.'' Kris' eyes well up with pride, his other half is a captain now! His Erik is a captain! ''Erik, that's great, I'm so proud of you.''

Erik confesses, talking a mile a minute as he does when stressed. That's where they differ in stress, Erik can't shut up, and Kris shuts down. ''I'm scared, Kris. I'm terrified the team won't follow me, I'm not Canadian either, what if I suck at this? Danny said I'm overthinking this, but, I'm just... scared.''

Kris takes a swig of his water, where does he begin to dissect every way his beloved is wrong about himself? ''Erik, I am so proud of you for this, okay? Carry that with you every day, please. Your team love you, your city loves you, you deserve this. Danny and Jason trust you with this, and I couldn't agree more with them. So what you're not Canadian? Neither is Danny, Henrik Sedin isn't either, Sid's not American. Who knows? Maybe you'll be better than Jason?'' Blasphemy, he knows it, especially with Erik's loyalty to Jason and Danny. The same loyalty Kris has to Sid and Geno. But, fuck it if it works. ''You think so, hjartat?'' Erik asks.

Kris says, matter-of-factly as always. ''Of course I do, alskad, I'm your partner, aren't I? I know you best, right?'' Kris yawns, desperate for some sleep again. ''Anyway, Captain Karlsson, you need your sleep if you're gonna be a good captain. So do I. So; je t'aime et bonne nuit, mon amour.''

Erik takes some deep breaths, sounding finally tired, Kris would ask how long Erik's been lying awake for, but he probably knows the answer anyway. ''Jag alskar dig och god natt, hjartat mitt.'' Kris hangs up, and lies back down. Erik is a captain now, and Kris is certain he's going to be exactly what the Senators need. Heaven knows they need the help, however it comes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2016 - Erik.

One would think it would be all but impossible for two franchise defencemen, one a captain, the other an alternate in all but name to disappear on everyone at an All Star Game. But, if you attend enough of them together, you get rather good at it. Finding those spaces of time to sneak off from talking to people who you're bored senseless by. Coming up with that perfect gaze at each other that means 'Let's get out of here.' without actually needing to say it. Nashville isn't only their third of these events together, it's also their fifth anniversary weekend. They left the bar about two hours ago for Erik's room - which has quickly become their room for the weekend. Locked in for the night, and celebrating their fifth anniversary the way they started this whole relationship. Giving themselves to each other all over again. After a shower together, they get ready for bed. Suddenly, Erik remembers something, and goes into his suitcase for Kris' gift. ''What's that, amour?'' Kris asks.

Erik puts the package on Kris' lap, and kisses him. ''Happy fifth anniversary, hjartat.''

Kris opens it, his jaw dropping as he extracts the customized Sochi Team Canada jersey with his name and number on it. ''Erik... it's wonderful... how? What?'' He says, eyes misty.

Erik says, sitting back on the bed, he's been sitting on that since the preseason. ''I remember you telling me how you'd have loved to go to Sochi if you hadn't had your stroke, how upset you sounded about missing it. So... I pulled some strings with Adidas to get that made.'' Kris dries his eyes, and kisses Erik again. ''I love it, I love you, thank you so much.'' He adds, getting up from the bed himself, and going into his own suitcase. ''That reminds me.'' He pulls a rectangular package out of his case, and hands it to Erik with a kiss. ''Happy anniversary, Erik.''

Erik slowly opens it, careful not to upset anything inside. He pulls out a signed and framed photo of Nicklas Lidstrom with the Red Wings' 2008 Stanley Cup. ''Kris... this is amazing... I love you so much. How did you get this?''

Kris just says, drying Erik's eyes for him. ''Pulled some strings in Detroit last time we stopped in. He's your hero, so I had to. Told them it was for a friend.'' Erik can't help the laugh that comes, they sort of skipped past friends entirely. He's friends with Victor and Mark Stone, Kris is his soulmate. They are each other's best friend, but they were lovers first. ''I know, sounded just as weird to say it at the time, but I couldn't just tell them, y'know?'' Kris says, laughing himself.

Erik says, putting the frame on the nightstand. ''I know, I mean; we're sitting on the five year strong best kept secret in NHL history, right? The media would have a field day if anything came to light.''

Kris grimaces, and says. ''Oh, fuck yeah. I can just see the headlines now, and none of them are pretty. Penguins-Senators Love Story, A Blueline Love Affair.''

Erik says, remembering being at Sid and Geno's wedding in summer 2014, and seeing the world's hockey media circling around them like vultures. ''Yeah, and we'd both get more stupid questions than we already do. I have a team to lead, and so do you.'' Erik checks the clock, midnight on the dot. They've got the skills competition in the afternoon. ''We should rest up for the show, hjartat mitt.''

Kris cocks an eyebrow, that devious glint in his dark eyes. ''Are you sure we can't go for round four, mon amour?'' Erik laughs, this man will be his undoing one of these days, and he couldn't be happier for it. ''I'd love to, mon coeur, but we both know if we start, we'll never stop.''

Kris dramatically sighs, five years, a stroke, and a torn Achilles hasn't dimmed that flame one bit, thank God. ''Fine, alskad mitt, I hate when you're right sometimes.'' Erik leans over to kiss his partner's lips, and says. ''I hate being right sometimes. Besides, this is our weekend, we've got more time left to us.''

Kris nods, and adds. ''And our first game back is against each other too. Even better.''

Finally, wrapped up in each other, they sleep. As he drifts off, though, Erik does wonder when they chill out, when they're supposed to mellow out into an older and more stately hockey couple. If it's now, no one ever told them that. He'd hate to become that boring and mellow couple who don't live for the thrill anymore. They lit a fire together in Raleigh five years ago today, and Erik thinks they've done a pretty good job at keeping it alive. Even if it's been hard sometimes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2017 - Kris.

Sometimes things are fine, sometimes things are normal actually. The world is still spinning, the sun still rises in the east and sets in the west. The grass is still green, and the sky is still blue. Sometimes this house doesn't feel haunted, and sometimes it does. But, things can feel okay for a while, the world moves along as normal, time ticks by, and so does life. Sometimes Kris can pretend that night never happened, he can delude himself into thinking he had some fucked up dream. Sometimes seeing his brothers be happily married feels like it did before, and others it feels like they're doing it to spite him. Was there anything he could've done that night to keep Erik? Could he have said anything different? He doesn't fucking know anymore, the world stopped making sense to him overnight. He has wondered if there's anything he can do to win Erik back. Nothing that would work is all he comes up with. Short of giving his ring back and asking for his name to be taken off the 2017 section of the cup, then he'd be a pariah on the team. A heads-up would've been nice, though. Living knowing that his last kiss, last time sleeping together, last conversation - were the last times he'd have with Erik, is a unique form of torture. Torture he sees no reprieve from in any future.

What's worse is, he knows the big meltdown is coming at some point. He's been able to outrun his own heartache for the good of the team since they got back from summer eight weeks ago. But, he knows it's coming. He lives with that ticking time bomb every single day. And, he knows there's nothing he can do to diffuse it. So, he kicks the can down the road until it's safe. And, maybe there will be a time where this doesn't hurt, where he doesn't cry every day. But, he still doesn't have Erik, so what's the fucking point of it all? 3 AM, and Kris hasn't gone to bed yet, he's lying on his couch, staring at the ceiling. He's sure the team think he's gone insane, and what if he has? Isn't he allowed to? Six and a half years of his life over in one night. He thought sleeping was getting easier, until he found the Tre Kronor hoodie Erik left here the last time he stayed over. Against logic, Kris is now wearing that hoodie. It still smells like Erik, and feels like him too. Strange, isn't it? How life can change so much in so little time? This was going to be the season where everyone knew about them, they were going to finally have the sit down with everyone over summer. Funny how plans change, isn't it? ''I miss you, Erik.'' Kris whispers to the air in his house, bursting into tears again.

At some point, his system must shut him down. It's not sleep, not really. It's passing out, and Kris knows it. But, who is he to be a choosing beggar when it stops the spiral his mind gets into sometimes? Sure, he'll wake up in tears like every other morning, but that's none of anyone else's business.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2018 - Erik.

This move to San Jose was supposed to make things easier, not harder. Some distance to ease his tainted soul of the guilt. He only sees the man whose heart he tore to bits twice a season now, as opposed to thrice. But, it hasn't helped in the slightest. Not really. He still did something both stupid and heartless to the love of his life. He's stuck in a prison of his own making, an entire continent away from Kris, with no way out. There's nothing he can do to make this better, and Kris would never take him back now. Not when he is visibly happy again, taking names out east as part of the new 'Three Headed Monster'. Even fucking worse, Erik is in the pacific, with Marc-Andre Fleury in net for Vegas. One of their secret keepers, who no doubt knows exactly why they now share a division, and is all too happy to remind him four times a year now. Oh well, he made this cell, he rots in it. Who knows? Maybe Kris has someone new out east now? A teammate even? Someone who didn't do what Erik did that night. Who wouldn't want Kris Letang? There's the bitch of it all. For all the pain, for the tragedy of that night after game seven season before last, they are soulmates.

It's December now, he's been on the Sharks for three months almost. He likes the city and the team well enough, but he moved here to escape the guilt, and it probably shows in the numbers he's putting up. Looming large over his head is the team hosting the next All Star Game. What would have been their eighth anniversary weekend. Kris will be coming into town with Sid, that much Erik knows. Kris barely looked at him twice in Tampa last time, keeping to Sid, Flower, and the rest of the Canadians. He remembers 2011 like it was yesterday. Kris approached him first that weekend, as if they'd known each other for years. They kissed on that last night in Raleigh, they lit that fire together. So, eight years later, Erik is going to fix this, he will get Kris back. Or, he'll try to anyway. To any normal person this would sound insane, and what if it is? Wasn't their whole relationship a little bit insane?

Erik finally falls asleep, filled with some divine purpose now, he doesn't exist for just hockey anymore. He has a sin to atone for, and a soulmate to try and win back. How? He has no fucking clue, not idea one as to how he'll convince Kris to take him back. For all he knows, he could be tearing a new relationship apart. But, fuck it, they're soulmates for a reason, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2019 - Kris.

Sweden welcomed him back happy this summer. He had no plans for this summer at all until a couple of weeks ago. He had planned on hiding out in Montreal, turning his phone off until September, and working out until he got the call home. Just like he did in 2018, and 2017 before. That was until January. The lights came back on in the world on their eighth anniversary. They have each other again, and that's all Kris cares about. Okay, fine, he'd have liked to not get swept by the fucking Islanders. But, the man sleeping next to him is worth a million cups. He must have scared the hell out of the boys after they got back from San Jose, but he's just fine with that. Now, if only he wasn't jet lagged all to hell right now, that'd be great. But, that five hour time difference is rough. So, gently kissing Erik, Kris gets up, and goes to sit outside. This was how it felt in 2011, except this time it's better. They both know what this reunion means, and it makes Kris' head spin. It's still not entirely dark yet, but the night sky is breathtaking. Montreal may have birthed him, Pittsburgh is his home, but Vetlanda is his refuge. Erik says he feels most relaxed in Montreal as well. ''Can't sleep, can you, hjartat?'' Erik asks from the back door.

Kris shrugs, watching Erik join him on the sofa. ''Jet lag. Why aren't you in bed, amour?''

Erik just says. ''The bed was lonely.'' They relax into a comfortable silence. Listening to the night around them. Finally, Kris speaks up. ''Erik, can I ask you something?''

Erik nods, and says. ''Always, Kris, go ahead.''

Kris says, after thinking of how best to word this. ''Your move to the Sharks, was that because of me? Or were you just tired of Ottawa?'' Erik takes a deep breath, eyes glistening in the outdoor lights. ''Both, actually. After... that night, my conscience was eating me alive, and Stone and Hoffman knew it. Things got toxic really quickly. And, having to see you in so much grief, grief I caused, so often. I had to leave.'' Erik pauses, Kris lets him speak, giving him space to tell his story. ''San Jose were willing to take me, so I went.''

Kris asks, because now they'll see each other even less. ''Do you regret it now? We'll only see each other twice a year now, except if we always go to All Star Games together.''

Erik shakes his head. ''No, I don't regret it. Me being a Shark got us back together. Besides, it's not the teams, it's us. We control this, not them.''

Kris nods, they hold their destiny in their hands, teams be damned now. They let the distance dictate things in the past, and never again. ''I think I like the sound of that.'' Kris looks up at the sky, seeing the north star shining bright. ''Any wishes to make, alskad mitt?'' Kris asks Erik.

Erik looks up at the star, visibly thinking of something, but says. ''Not right now, mon coeur, I'm fine. How about you?''

Kris ponders this, because what else can he possibly need right now? His family are well, his team are settled, and he has Erik back. Maybe Flower in the right jersey again? ''I'm good for now.'' And, long may that continue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2020 - Erik.

They should still be playing hockey right now, but they're not. This whole pandemic has been a lot to get used to, but Erik has been willing to shut them both in in their place in Montreal. His partner has had a stroke, God only knows what this virus could do to him without a vaccine. Still, it's weird, all this free time they've had together to do basically nothing. A lot of hurry up and wait, keep an eye on the news, and stay healthy. They've been going for runs late at night lately, half to keep fit, and half to exhaust them enough to sleep at night. Erik does the shopping. Kris walks Buddha and Freya every morning. They've fallen into a nice routine at least, and it's kind of nice like this, a taste of what they don't get to have during the season. They take Zoom calls with teammates once a week in separate rooms, Kris has PA meetings every other week from his office. Despite the weird situation, things are going okay so far. They've not gotten sick of each other yet, not that they ever would. No, Erik had a look at life without Kris not too long ago, and it terrifies him. They get back from a midnight run, and sit outside in the backyard under Kris' maple tree. Kris takes his treasured dogtag off, bearing his initials and number, a gift from Mario after the 2016 cup run. ''You good, sweetheart?'' Erik asks, the English petnames are new, and just sort of... happened.

Kris nods, fiddling with the pendant. ''Yeah, I've just been... thinking a lot lately, darling, that's all.''

Erik asks, curious now. ''About what?''

Kris says, looking him right in the eye, his eyes holding something big in them. ''Sid and Geno's wedding, and how I'd want ours to look compared to theirs.''

Erik allows himself a small smile, sensing something is coming in this. ''Yeah? How would ours look?''

Kris chuckles, and says. ''No media for one, not even our team media. Outdoors as well. It'd be about us, not what we represent.'' Erik smiles wide, he's had the same thoughts of his own since they got back together. ''I'd like a smaller guest list, 150 people is a bit much. It'd be smaller, and then we'd get a honeymoon to just shut off.'' Erik says. He also removes his dogtag, also bearing his initials and number, a gift for his captaincy from Danny. ''We could, you know?'' Kris says.

Erik furrows his brows, they're not even allowed on ice right now, let alone having a whole wedding. ''Kris, I hate to break it to you, but we're not allowed right now.''

Kris corrects himself, giving his head a shake. ''No, not right now. But, next summer or something, when things are better. Do you want to?''

Erik nods, feeling like they're hurtling towards a point of no return, and he fucking loves it. ''Yeah, do you want to?'' Kris nods, setting this in stone, they're actually going to do this. ''Yeah, I do. Erik, will you marry me?''

Holy fuck, that sounded good, Erik nods, tears in his eyes. ''Yes! Kris, will you marry me?''

Kris nods, tears starting in his own eyes. ''Always.'' They exchange the necklaces with a kiss, a symbol of what's to come for sure. They're actually setting this into stone, there will be a wedding, they will be married soon. Sure, they're not teammates yet, but who cares? They're getting married next summer. They get inside, and shower together, before heading to bed. Their Labrador and their Husky curled at their feet. ''So, we're actually doing this, then?'' Kris asks. Erik nods, and kisses his future husband. ''We are, and I'd never marry anyone else.''

Kris kisses him again, another beautiful rush to the head. ''Neither would I.'' Finally, they find sleep together, with one hell of a big day to plan together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2021 - Kris.

If Kris was keeping score, which he wasn't, but if he was, that's day nine of the constant game of 20 Questions since they got back from summer. He loves his family, he really does. More than they'll ever know. But, they've got a season to be getting on with. Surely his marriage is the least of their worries right now. But, here they are. Sully has been good ad redirecting the energy onto the ice at least, and his two new rookies have been great. But, the team are really determined to figure out who he married over summer. The answer would freak them all out. Not everyone gets to be married to Erik Karlsson, do they? Nope, just him, and it's fucking great. That gorgeous force of nature is all his forever. It's half past eleven, and Erik hasn't called yet, they agreed to nightly calls until their first game against each other. Then, every other night until whenever they're able to be together again. Finally, Kris' phone rings. ''Salut, mon amour.''

Erik laughs, and says. ''Hej, hjartat mitt. How's life right now?'' Kris sighs, and takes his night time meds with one hand. ''Interesting, the boys are going feral trying to figure out who put this ring on my finger.''

Erik chuckles, and says. ''Same, I've set them on a little research mission. They'll not figure it out, though.''

Kris laughs, picturing the Sharks compiling a list of every defenceman in this league trying to narrow it down to him. ''Maybe I need to do the same, because they just won't get off my ass about it.'' Sid and Geno, to their credit, have mostly left him alone about this, but they were slightly miffed to have missed the wedding. ''Timo and Burns think Victor and I eloped.'' Erik says.

Kris bursts out laughing at that, Victor was there, but... no, just no. ''Not if Steven and I have anything to say about it, I know that much for certain. My boys think it's Flower.''

Erik laughs down the line, Kris' second favourite sound in this world, second to Erik speaking Swedish. ''I think Max and I would have an issue with that. I'm afraid I'm not good at sharing.''

Kris says, a small smirk rising to his mouth. ''Neither am I.'' Kris thinks, reflecting on their sparkling summer, and how much gossip it's caused. ''Y'know, I am beginning to wonder if we were the only ones who did anything this summer, if this is hot gossip now, how boring was everyone else's summer?''

Erik says, sounding interested in Kris' line of thought. ''Me too, now you put it like that. You'd think no one else did anything, right? Gadjo said he went to Austria, haven't heard anything else though.'' Kris takes a mouthful of his water, and says. ''Sid said something about a trip to The Bahamas, that's all I've heard from him.''

Erik changes the subject to their first game after new year, painfully far off in the season, but they've just got to suck it up. ''Am I crashing with you after our game?''

Kris nods, he halfway wonders how they're going to make it that far, especially with their no-contact rule before games, but they're grown ups, they can lift that now, can't they? ''Of course, and I'm staying with you after our other game?''

Erik says, as if it's the most obvious thing ever. ''Absolutely. We still keeping the rule now that we're married? I'm fine to get rid of it.'' Kris breathes a sigh of relief, he's hated it ever since they got back together. ''So am I, actually.'' Finally, no more no-contact period before games. ''It's late here, Erik, I love you so much. I'll talk to you tomorrow.''

Erik says, voice gentle for him. ''I love you too, Kris, more and more every day. Talk to you soon.'' They hang up, and Kris gets some sleep, watching the moonlight glint off his wedding ring as he drifts off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2022 - Erik.

Well, that was the scariest thing that's happened since 2014, and he'll be damned if he was tempted to never return home to San Jose. Two fucking strokes, two strokes in eight years, added to the myriad of other things Kris has been through. At thirty-five. Erik is ever in awe of the man he's married to, in more ways than just one. But, holy fuck he was scared to leave Pittsburgh two days ago. However, it has given him a wake up call, this arrangement can't continue. He knows fine well Kris isn't ever leaving Pittsburgh, and Erik would hate to drag him west away from his brothers and PO. So, one night when he can't sleep, Erik sits up in his dining room, looking at the terms of his contract. He's got one season left, and a full no move clause. But, he's cautiously optimistic that he can convince Grier to wave it, and he can get something going with his agent for a move east. This will be the trade of the century if it goes well, and is everything they've ever dreamed of. It's the uncertainty he hates, all of this hinges on so many things going right for them. Grier co-operating, his agent convincing the Penguins to take him, and them having enough room for him. The move from Ottawa was relatively simple by comparison. Freya pads over to him, he says. ''Fancy moving in with Buddha, girl?'' Freya's ears pique at that, she always misses her best friend.

Should Erik even be thinking about this halfway through the season? When he's on a Norris campaign? Does this whole thing count as a thought crime in hockey? Does Erik give a damn? Not in the slightest, no. His husband needs him, and they're sick of being apart all the time, so sue him, he wants out of here in the summer. Don't wedding vows beat a logo on a jersey? Erik has loved this city, and Ottawa before it, but he'll always love Kris more. Hockey is complicated, his marriage isn't, so he's choosing his marriage as soon as he can.

It's half past one in the morning by the time he gets back to bed, where did that time go? Freya leaps in beside him, her icy eyes glance at his wedding ring, she is so human sometimes. ''I know, girl, we'll figure it out, promise.'' Erik says, petting her behind the ears. They will, he'll make sure of it. Erik has that dream again, the dream of kissing Kris on the ice of PPG Paints Arena after a goal. He holds onto it, determined to make it happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2023 - Kris.

The calm before the storm comes quicker than Kris had anticipated. He finishes getting himself ready for bed, and looks on his calendar again. Erik's flight lands tomorrow at eleven, he arrives in twelve hours. And, somehow, Kris is expected to sleep? Sleep in the knowledge that his other half is coming east tomorrow? That this whole long distance bullshit ends in twelve hours. Kris can't remember the terms of the contract, even though he's asked Erik twice now. Does it matter? They're going to be teammates in twelve hours! Pittsburgh is going to have two power couples for the foreseeable future, and they can't wait. Sid and Geno have been rabid in the core's group chat, full of speculation about what the team will look like now. Kris is just happy to have his husband with him at last. After taking his medications, Kris gets into bed, and calls Erik. Their last late night phone call, which will give way to late night chats in bed together. That's a dizzying thought. ''Bon soir, mon amour, how are you this evening?''

Erik says, sounding excited for his flight. ''Hej, hjartat mitt, I'm great. Packed up, and ready to go, so is Freya. My stuff is on the way already. How are you? Shouldn't you be sleeping?''

Kris chuckles, and says. ''I'm great, just looking forward to eleven tomorrow morning. I'll sleep once we're done talking, darling, don't worry.''

Erik laughs, and says. ''I'm your husband, sweetheart, I just don't want you up all night staring at the clock, that's all. This is happening, and we don't need to worry about it anymore.'' That's the best part of this, their shared dream is finally coming true, they get to have a real life together. ''Are you gonna miss it, Erik? Those stolen nights, those feverish games against each other, these calls?''

Erik seems to need a minute or two to think about his answer for this. ''I think some part of me will, yeah. But, the life we're about to have is so much better, breakfasts together, waking up together, I think the games will be just as heated, just differently. How about you, Kris?'' Kris also thinks for a bit, he will miss the dangerous part of this relationship, the stare-downs across the ice, longing for those games. ''A bit, yeah. But, I'm ready for this life now, the life where we can be together every day. But, nostalgia is one hell of a drug. I'm looking forward to telling our story.''

Erik laughs, because they have been sitting on one hell of a story this past twelve and a half years, the best kept secret in NHL history perhaps. ''So am I.'' Erik adds. ''I'll let you get to sleep, I'll see you in ten hours. I love you, Kris Letang.''

Kris beams to himself, ten hours left until paradise. ''I'll see you in ten hours. I love you, Erik Karlsson.'' They hang up as opponents for the last time, and Kris switches his light off, lying down for sleep. His last night sleeping alone in this bed, his last night living alone before everything changes forever. In ten hours' time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2024 - Erik.

That was... something alright. Not the loss, even though that fucking sucked, the Wild deserved the win, Flower deserved the win. Erik is used to fights in this sport, he himself hasn't been in one for about a decade, and Kris is sinfully hot when he fights. But, it's not everyday your kid gets in a fight, is it? Faber was asking for it, but Jack more than delivered. Yes, Erik is proud of him, and so is Kris, but things like that don't happen very often. Their nephews don't fight very often either. As Kris said in the car tonight; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Jack, for his part, is fast asleep in the guest room, which is basically his room now. Kris is also fast asleep right now, next to Erik. Lucky them, Erik thinks. Kris stirs, waking up from his sleep. ''Erik?''

Erik leans over to kiss his temple. ''Go back to sleep, Kris, I'm okay.'' Kris blinks sleep from his dark eyes, and says. ''No, what's going on? What are you thinking about?''

Erik says. ''Jack's fight, I am so proud of him, but it just... surprised me, that's all.'' The other thing that surprised him was how proud of himself Jack looked in the room after the game, talking excitedly to Drew about the fight. ''Me too, I mean, he's ours, but... I don't know, I guess it's like how Sid must've felt after Jake's first goal? Like, he's arrived, I guess?'' Kris muses.

Erik takes his husband's hand, clasping them together over the bed. ''Yeah, it definitely feels like this was Jack's debut, his name is known now. But, that's what I'm worried about, will anyone have a go at him next?''

Kris, ever rational about these things, and the team's fighter himself once upon a time. ''That won't be his last fight, Erik, I'm not exactly happy about that either, but it's true. But, he'll be fine, trust me.'' That's a no-brainer, Erik trusts his husband over everyone else on this planet. ''I trust you, Kris, but how do you know he'll be fine?''

Kris says, yawning a bit. ''Because I'm still here, and I won all of my fights during the Battle of Pennsylvania days, if I'm fine, Jack will be too.'' Kris also says, after a minute or so to think. ''Besides; he has us, he's got Sid and Geno, and Rusty and Drew. Our house is united, took forever, but it is.''

Erik says, thinking of the future, maybe before it's really time to, but things like that happen at night. ''Do you think it'll be them next? Rusty as captain with Drew and Jack as his alternates?''

Kris says, probably hoping they haven't woken Jack up yet. ''I do, maybe Owen as a third A once he's out of the minors, to complete things a bit.''

Erik needs to think about this a bit, complete things? How? Then, it hits him. ''Oh, two forwards, two defencemen, and a goalie as a core five. The way it should have been for us.''

Kris nods, looking tired still. ''Exactly.'' Erik will forever hate that he never got to play with Flower, that core five would've been unstoppable, but some things never come to be. ''Jack will be fine, we'll make sure of it.'' Kris says, kissing Erik on the cheek. And, for the first time all night, Erik agrees with him. ''Yeah, we will.'' Finally, the two of them get some sleep together. There's a big game against Anaheim to rest up for, after all. Jack will be fine, and so will the team. Sure, they'll always worry about him, but they can relax for now, at least Jack won his first fight. It wasn't even close either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally got this monster done, not been well the past week, and for some stupid reason I always get big ideas when I'm sick and can't sleep. So, here it is! A bit of a weird concept, but this was fun to write, and posed a unique challenge. This is my first Tangerkarlsson fic ever where it only features the two of them, while I do mention other players, and one is actively living with them in the last bit, only Kris and Erik actually appear here.

I think this could've been a bit longer, but very satisfied with it, and wanna get it up before I lose energy on it.

Enjoy!

[jils-things]

hii jil !! for the ask game, if you haven’t already — i’d love to hear even more about jaide, so; 6 & 10? <3

SARA HALLU 🥺🥺🥺🥺💚💚 I APPRECIATE IT!!

6. does your self insert have any pets? Pokemon?

OK SO. YEAH. everything's pretty much explained here!

she caught them all from her encounters as a trainer but for me personally i like to think jaide's actual token pet is to.gepi (she affectionately nicknamed pipino) she only had him recently from an interesting incident :3c she doesn't want to let him battle because she babies him a bit too much 🥺🥺💚

quick run down!

• galla.de (remy) - her partner pokemon! gallade tends to drags her out of danger because shes too reckless 🔥 also funne contrast to jaide stone having a garde.voir 🔥🔥

• blazik.en (chuy) - big shoutout to my friend who big brain'd on this - anyway, kid!red got a torchi.c for kid!jaide before she left for joht.o. a parting gift for her :3

• leafeo.n (vivi) - i dont have much input, but another contrast to jaide stone who has a gla.ceon :3

• ma.ntine - caught in her alol.a trip. the funniest thought I ever had with this is jaide going waterskiing with man.tine pulling her and she's zooming by so quickly and it scares the hell out of red and blue who's just chillin with lap.ras and gya.rados respectively 😭😭😭

• reuni.clus - i only considered adding this one recently so i dont have much input yet! it also looks like a pkmn jaide would have.... i mean look at the face! (i plan to catch one in my new bw2 save hehe)

extra bit - jaide has... A LOT of 'mons, so this is only one set for sure 😭 she could have several sets of teams because shes a catcher and has been to nearly every region at this point! a few pokemons i'd like to mention however are: cin.derace, decidueye, hatenna and sw.ampert 🥹💚

10. how do the other characters feel about your self insert and f/o’s relationship?

holy shit. its the funniest thing istg.

so blue, blue was the guy who managed to bring everyone together after being away from each other for too long. all he wanted was to be with his best buds and thats all. however him slowly getting the hints that red and jaide MMMIIIGHT BE INTO EACH OTHER IS A BIG WHAT THE HELL MOMENT FOR HIM bro wanted reunite with his childhood best friends but childhood best friends are now having MATCHING BRACELETS WHAT ABOUT ME GUYS 🥲🥲🥲 AKDLFKFJS part of him thought this was complete bs because red willingly put himself in mt. silver for years and suddenly he's gonna get a girlfriend before him?!?!?? what!!!!! dude said i pulled a bad bitch by being au- /JJJ

but despite the initial shock i think part of blue is really proud of red because blue knows how socially awkward he is and he's not the best with people - so seeing him at least be with someone he can fully trust and be in love with is certainly a development that he hopes nothing but the best for. i think blue would try his best to help red out too! blue is quite fashionable, can totally see him helping red find a nice outfit for their casual stroll date :D

as for jaide, i think jaide would just constantly send or tell stuff to blue about how cute red is 😭 shes not immune to being so gushy abt her big bf 💔💔 will probably send pics of red sleeping on her lap and shes fuckign crying on pokemessenger or whatever the hell JALSKSJDJJSKA over all blue says yes i approve ☝️

ethan (jaides little brother) would be overjoyed! maybe a little shocked as well because wait a minute 💀 didn't i battle this guy in a seemingly cold place before 💀💀 JAJDJFHSJJD

methinks professor oa.k (who had been with the trio since they were little) is proud. he has quite literally watched these kids grow since they were preteens and seeing where they are today is just infinitely outstanding to him! they're both very smart and strong in their own fields (she's a pro catcher and he's the living legend) and they're still a young couple. lots of potential in those two for sure!

[doubleddenden]

Decided to indulge myself with another trainer sprite and trainer card for myself- once again using this site to help with team organization and overall for clean assets and clean asset sizing

More info under the cut

Something different I wanted to do was try to make myself comfortable with easing up my usual shading style.

These two, for instance, are May and Tracey in my usual style (i forget if i uploaded these- these are from ny Ash AU basically). Personally, I think it can pop, but there's also a lot more work put into them and they come across as less authentic, not to mention I'd like to steer towards a simpler style that I can make pop with less shading.

For a standard splice edit, i think it's not too bad. The outfit is based on a combo of clothes I own I wish I felt confident wearing in public, lighter weight clothes I wear in the summer to cool off, and I even gave myself the headband I wear when I do outdoor work. Also, I wanted to indulge a little- I'm getting a bit more muscular and slightly leaner lately, and I wanted a sprite to kind of reflect this.

As for the card itself, it's a modified Academy Key I made previously for a bunch of OCs, and again, I kinda see this as a Keychain kinda deal. There's also sort of influence from a driver's license- grade indicating what type of trainer you are (and not grading percentage in school lol). Kinda like how real life licenses can show certification for normal cars are different vehicles.

I imagine you insert the pass key into a pc like a thumb drive to access your pc and your party that way, with your party being represented and changed digitally.

The team I chose is basically a mix and mash of Pokemon I've had on my mind lately and wanna use more often. It was actually kinda hard to narrow it down due to all the type clashes with my favs (for instance, having Hisuian Samurott, Scizor, Golisopod, Corviknight, Alolan Marowak, and Hisuian Typhlosion would have so much type overlap, and I'm way too picky about that).

They're all Pokemon I've owned and used and could see myself taking a vacation with em.

1. Doujikiri/Shiny Hisuian Samurott, the same shiny I shiny bred for in my Indigo Disk adventure. It was between this or my shiny Umbreon, but I ended up going with Hamurott because it's my favorite starter, and I can see myself walking with it like it's a big dog (which it does in SV) or swim with it.

2. Klamps/Scizor, my main ace in my last playthrough of Soul Silver. I've had a strange hyperfixation on it lately, and who could blame me? It's a cool design. I'd imagine this would probably be the "sakuga" Pokemon- or at least the designated close combat fight scene Pokemon.

3. Lightning/Jolteon, I own 3 but Lightning is the one I used in XD GoD in my first successful playthrough of it. Jolteon actually used to be my favorite eeveelution for a while, and I want a little spunky doggo to run around with

The next three were actually on my Teal Mask team

4. Yoginator/Blood Moon Ursaluna, who is easily one of my strongest mons. Idk, mine hates me lol, so maybe we'd bond.

Nah for real he hates me. This was from a selfie I took in game

5. Hollabax/Baxcalibur. I dunno, he's not particularly strong and tanks hits like a missile through tissue paper, but I kinda wanna vibe with it again. Could see us using its ice to keep cool

6. Shogun/Hisuian Typhlosion. Again, kinda missed mine. Johtonian Typhlosion was my first Pokemon, and I vibed with the Hisuian variant a bit. Could see it as a stand in for my old girl. It was between this and Alolan Marowak, and I just like Typhlosion a little more.

That's all for them.

The team is made using the team maker link, the trainer sprites are a mix of editing from official sprites and scratch work, and the card is a template I made myself.

[krcdgamedev]

Time for EXP and leveling system

For the demo project I'm going to do something simple, and a bit different from teh Pokeymans. Every level will require 100 EXP, but the EXP you get from a mon decreases as the level gap increases (like gen V). Each mon tracks which of your mons has participated in its downfall. How this is done varies by Pokemon game- if your opponent switches mons, in some games this resets the tracking and in some games it doesn't. There's literally no trainers or AI at the moment sooo let's just add it to the battlecomp object (the in-battle companion object thing… I still need a better name for that). Probably any tracking of an entire trainer's team worth of participation would be handled by the battle engine object and thus on a game-by-game basis, at the user's disgression. Just have a dictionary to throw it in to. Anyway, the thing will be a simple array of booleans, indexed into by the mon's spot in your party, max size equal to the max party size (which could be defined game-by-game but I'll put that together later). For fainted mons, their bool will be set to false before EXP is calculated and distributed. Individual species also need a base EXP yield, but let's assume they're all the same for now.

I'll start building the system from an example. Say your mon is level 5, you beat a level 5 mon one-on-one (no EXP split between other members)… let's say it should take like 2-3 of those to level up. So like 50-33 EXP. As you level up and keep fighting the same mons, let's say it should take one more mon each level to level up. So, EXP gain goes to 33-25, 25-20, 20-16… Basically, 100/(level gap + ~2.5). Now that introduces the little problem of division by zero… actually, wait, no it doesn't, because you're adding a .5 to an int value. But that's not ideal either, dividing 100 by .5 gives you 200 which is probably too much. And if it goes negative, so does the EXP yield. So, if you're lower level than the opponent, let's have an EXP curve that starts at a bit over 50 and approaches 100 without exceeding it. Something like 100*n/n+1 where n is the gap. n=1 is exactly 50, n=2 is 2/3rds of 100 which is ~67… That's good enough. The main thing is just to have an equation that takes in all the relevant numbers and gives a value that properly scales. Maybe n+.9 as the denominator to shift it upwards a bit. For splitting EXP between participants I'd like it to be a bit more than 1/n each. Maybe for two mons they each get 2/3rds, then 3 or more it's 1/(n-1). These functions will be handled by the battle engine object so users can easily customise them, as is already done with damage calculation. On opponent faint, it'll go like- create an array of floats (rounding should be the last step; although it's not like the initial array type really matters in GDscript shrug). Calculate the base division of EXP (eg, count the trues in the participant array, divide the fainted opponent's base EXP by that number and plop that into the float array slots of the mons in question), then go through each value and apply mon-specific modifiers (level gap, if the mon is holding a Lucky Egg or equivalent, if the mon is from another trainer, what have you). If EXP share is involved do the same thing for whoever's affected by that (non-fainted non-participants, plus participants who were holding the EXP share get that amount added to their total or however you want to handle that). Finally, apply EXP gain to each mon.

It always kind of bugged me that a level 1 mon in Gen V would get such a huge bonus to their EXP gain the whole way through, even though they level up in the process of… uh, levelling up. I'd have to think about how to deal with that- something like, at each level gained, recalculate the remaining EXP with that level, and if it's then under the amount to level up, give that much and stop. (Don't want to recursively apply the decrease for higher levels) But that could also be dealt with by curbing the EXP boost better for higher level gaps.

This system will be a lot easier to work on with the ability to check a mons current EXP, so maybe it's time to get the menu working. Also, this would be a good time to start working with project-specific monster class/objects inheriting from the default one.

A problem people had with the Gen V EXP formula was that grinding to level 100 was a pain- there's no wild Pokemon that high, and for flavor reasons there probably shouldn't be. I'm not going to implement it in the demo project because there's no progression in that at all, but an idea I had to fix this was, instead of decreasing EXP when your mon is a higher level, have a progression-based level cap, and have EXP decrease based on that. So, once you clear the game, there's no debuff on Pokemon gaining EXP as they approach level 100. There's a few other benefits too- for example, traded Pokemon won't overlevel and become disobedient due to the trade EXP boost, so disobedience is just a measure to keep ypu from trading in a high-level mon and sweeping the game, not something that makes a traded mon harder to use in general. Also, this helps address overleveling due to forced always-on EXP share without forcing you to let your favorite mons rot in the box, I hate Shigeru Ohmori… This sounds similar to what some challenge runs have as a restriction, to keep your mons under the gym leader's level, or some fangames that implement a hard cap and you stop gaining EXP at all past that, but I'd like to make it less… blunt. I envision a "soft" cap past which your EXP is cut for every level over it (so basically the level gap cut, but based on a set level rather than your opponent's level). This way, you're discouraged from going over the level cap and are unlikely to go over it by accident, but if you really need to you can do some extra grinding. Also, there's no need to tie it directly to gym badges. Flavor it as the player character having an epiphany and understanding their Pokemon better, and you can have it tied to any event- for example in X and Y there's a large gap between the first two gym leaders, so you might tie the second cap raise to the first encounter with Flare instead.

So I've begun implementing it.

Yeah that's probably right. I haven't actually put in gaining the EXP yet- like I said that's waiting for menu and class updates- but basic calculation and distribution seems to be working.

[trans-clown-catgirl]

explain to me, the mysterious world of Unite

Ok I have to clarify I'm no competitive expert I've only been playing for like 3 weeks BUT. Rundown. Future me here this came out longer than expected Oops

Pokemon Unite is a moba game like league of legends but unlike most mobas there's only 2 lanes with a jungle inbetween, and that jungle is pretty damn small with an open area in the middle for bosses to spawn near the end of the match

You're put in a team of 5 players, where each of you picks a Pokemon and, ideally, if people fucking communicate and set their lanes, what lane they're going

You're intended to go 2 people on each lane 1 person on jungle, bc if you don't you're kinda at a massive disadvantage.

Matches are on a timer, 10 minutes and then whoever has the most score wins. Either that or one of the team surrenders, but that's the only way a match can end early

You score by gathering Aeos Energy from killing mobs, non playable Pokemon that grant xp on kill, and you use that energy on enemy goal zones to score, with each goal zone having a set amount of score it can take before it's destroyed. Once a goal zone is destroyed, the slow effect that applies to players intruding on the enemy team's side (located behind the goal zones, directly on top of the lane) disappears and mobs can now spawn there. Goal zones also provide their team with slow regeneration when standing under them. The first has 80 health, second 100, and then the one at the base (in front of spawn) has no health but also no slow effect attached to it

When the match goes to 2 minutes, scoring now gives you score equal to 2x your Aeos energy, and a boss spawns. In ranked, it's a Rayquaza that upon death gives the team that killed it a shield and the ability to be uninterruptable while scoring

That's also one important aspect! When scoring, you need to charge up for a bit before you can score, and the more Aeos energy you have the longer it takes to do so. Your initial cap is at 30, but that increases as you level up, going from 30, to 40, to 50. If you're hit while scoring, you get interrupted and need to start charging from scratch.

Pokemon get 4 moves, a basic one with no cooldown, based on attack speed, two skills that unlock upon levels 2 and 3, which then can be swapped out for better abilities as you level up (with two different abilities you can choose for each slot), and an ultimate which you get at level 9. The maximum level is 15.

There's other objectives on the map, like a Rotom/Regieleki at the top of the map which once defeated is claimed by your team, gets its health back, and advances towards an enemy goal zone. It aggros onto enemies, and if it touches the goal zone it becomes defenseless for 20 seconds and can be scored onto without charging. On the bottom path the Regis spawn (or Drednaw but that's outside ranked) and each gives a different buff upon death, Registeel gives attack and spatk, registeel gives def and spdef, regirock gives health and shields

And that leads me into my next point, stats.

Every single Pokemon stat has an equivalent in Unite. Mons are split into physical and special attack, regardless of their role. But they do still have stats for both, and they also have def and spdef, as well as speed (which translates into move speed) and ofc HP

This becomes specially relevant with emblems, which are little equipable things you get from an energy gacha capsule (dw it's not a horrendous gacha system, badges are super easy to get) that modify your stats. They each give you one stat up and one stat down, and you can equip 10, repeats allowed. They also have a color attached, and getting a certain number of badges with said colors gives you a different stat boost or effect for each color

They come in bronze, silver and gold; to make silver you need 3 bronze dupes, and to make gold you need 3 silver dupes

... Except sometimes you shouldn't. Bc yes it increases the stat up, but it also increases the stat down. So say you have one that gives you +15 atk and -20 defense on bronze. At gold that'd be like +35 and -50 def or smth like that. So unless you're using badges that reduce the attack stat you don't use and increase a stat you want, which often times you won't get the chance to, you might be best keeping it at bronze

... Yes, the Pokemon moba game has minmaxing.

Lastly, there's held items!! Yes, they're back! And you can hold 3, each with different effects that add to how you might wanna build your mon. Rapid fire scarf benefits mons that spam basic attacks by granting an attack speed and damage boost after 5 basic attacks, with a cooldown after the effect is done. Score shield gives you a shield when you attempt to score equivalent to a percentage of your max health, meaning mons with a lot of HP can benefit from it by spamming goals. Rocky Helmet is Rocky Helmet. Now with AoE!

There's like 20 held items so I'm not gonna list em all but they do lead to a lot of build variety. You can level them up and level up tokens can be a bit of a pain to get but having them be high level isn't exactly that high of a priority, since the effect difference isn't that high, and also it's easy to get them to high level early on. You get 3 tokens that instantly max out a held item of choosing, and Unite Tickets are very easy to get early on, those being how you can purchase upgrade tokens. Just don't be like me and ignore that in favor of getting an expensive Sylveon cosmetic set for your player character bc I probably would have double the amount of max level items rn if I didn't

There's a LOT more to the game, positioning team comp Pokemon specific mechanics events and ofc the fact this game has skins. Pokemon wearing clothes. Which I'm all for. But either way that's my overview of the game . It's pretty damn fun and overall they've balanced it out decently well, and it also looks and runs really really good even on super low end phones

Would I recommend it? Maybe. It's a moba so at the end of the day you can't TRULY win, but if you're gonna play a moba this is probably the one you wanna go for. It has all the appeal of other moba games and a lot of the depth while being much simpler and easier to get into.

Oh yeah they also pump characters out like crazy I'm shocked the game doesn't break in half every single update. They're pretty fun tho you're guaranteed to find at least one you'll like . Or multiple ideally bc latching onto one has the terrible result of not knowing what to do if someone else on ur team takes ur character

Anyways stopping myself there. You probably didn't expect this long a ramble from such a simple ask but that comes with the Holly package I like to ramble a lot

[usedpidemo]

Radical Red v3.1 Random Encounters (Route 1 only).

Yeah, this randomizer was cracked. Four legendary Pokémon and they're all insanely powerful. For reference, this was on scaled, so the species were randomized to match equal strength (I don't know why the game won't acknowledge it though), but it's insane that I got both Kubfu and Cosmog, albeit Kubfu was a day time exclusive only. It's insane you can get Urshifu-Rapid Strike as early as before Mt. Moon because of a lone Water Stone, and he was doing most of the carrying while the Cosmogs took nearly halfway to fully evolve. Lunala is absolutely cracked, to no one's surprise, being able to survive any one hit even facing down +2 enemies from full and inducing burns or paralysis back—depending on what the situation requires. Most of the lategame was heavily dependent on wearing down physical attackers with Wisp + Roost until they were in range to a boosted Hex or inducing paralysis as one of the very few speed control users. MVP easily. Solgaleo has the bulk to abuse Weakness Policy and slam enemies down with +2 Sunsteel Strike. I just wish it had access to something like Rock Polish or Autotomize because it had so much potential to sweep, but was held back by it's lackluster speed. Scarfed Urshifu-Rapid did a lot of the late game cleaning, picking off sashed leads with Surging Strikes. Not a lot of Rocky Helmet/Rough Skin abusers around really benefitted him and Urshifu-Dark. Cradily and Zebstrika were only there for the Lorelei rain matchup, but otherwise, the legendary quartet did most of the heavy lifting. At points I wanted to use the other mons and box the Legendaries because it was getting too easy, but I ultimately crutched on them for most of the run, heh. Never look a gift horse in the mouth. I still don't know if the randomizer is consistent; I've heard the encounter pool changes every day, but once I caught all the available mons with DexNav, I never really bothered to look back.

29 losses—2 to the Ariana & Archer tag battle, 2 to Silph Giovanni, 1 to May, 1 to Blaine, 3 to Cerulean Cave Giovanni, 1 to Lorelei, 5 to Bruno, 7 to Agatha, 2 to Lance, and 5 to Blue. I absolutely despise Agatha's Marshadow, being basically a perfect counter to my whole team with Ghost/Fighting dual STAB and being generally faster than my whole team. Spectrier, despite having the most one dimensional movepool ever and Scarf, two shotted Urshifu-Single even resisted. I found the Urshifu-Rapid lead to be more favorable for my team against Bruno than the Infernape lead. As for Blue, the faster matchups were just really annoying, and the AI clearly is smarter than at times—even my Scarf Urshifu-Rapid couldn't outrun Pheromosa. Crazy. Whenever I used Surging Strikes, it would U-turn out, but if I went for U-turn, it would go for Close Combat. Primal Groudon was arguably the biggest problem, being incapable of being statused by paralysis or burn and paralyzing the whole team outside of Zebstrika, who gets oneshot by any of its moves anyway. The goal was not for rocks to get up on my side on the field, which really hampered Lunala's Shadow Shield ability, even with Roost. It came down to Lunala being able to survive a Dark Hole from Yveltal on a damage roll, even at full, then chipping with Moonblast + Thunder from Zebstrika, otherwise it would get destroyed by Sucker Punch if Rocks are up. Mega Metagross is a strange one; it would go for Bullet Punch at times to fail Urshifu-Single's Sucker Punch even when the latter was healthy and Urshifu-Rapid wouldn't be able to take it out.

Anyway, this is kind of a way for me to practice a little but of writing between fics XD I get to tear my brain out because of bad RNG have fun playing Pokémon while getting my word count up by a bit. I'm not sure what kind of themed runs I wanna do. Monotype is overdone, Mono-region seems the most promising but the pool is extremely vast, but whichever way the wind blows for me, I guess.

[starrycrim]

30 for Takace uwu

30 - Free space! Say something about this ship that you want to say!

oh no decisions and being given freedom to talk about anything....

I just rlly care them lots <3 I could talk an essay about the ship, they're beloved to me. they're really sweet, and they make me smile lots!! they compliment each other rlly well as charas and as a dynamic-- I love how they both uplift each other's strengths and help them grow past their weaknesses. friends to lovers is a ship dynamic that I'm v soft for and I think they do it rlly well and respectfully,,, I sent a little ship meme I made ages ago last post that talks about a few silly headcanons but they just fulfill a lot of tropes that I love.

it's really interesting to me that they parallel each other a lot-- they both end up visibly questioning what they're doing and the team that they're a part of, but are trapped in it for different reasons. they're both kinda the one spot of normalcy for the other in Meteor-- which isn't a good environment for either of them to be trapped in. both of them seem pretty reluctant to battle the player (i.e. stuff like using gimmick sets, visible reluctance and dialogue surrounding fights), and only do so because of orders and obligations-- I get the feeling that the MC in a story instead of a game (and absolutely plan on capitalizing on this) would absolutely pick up on the fact that both of them never really... try. both of them just don't really ever want to fight you-- whereas some other characters like Blake, Zero, Fern, etc will pretty much always throw everything they've got. that along with them being really close in age (canonically! the exact ages are left ambiguous, as is the same for most other characters, but it's mentioned that they're very close in age) and they just are both really fun to talk about and to draw and write together. I love how they still are there for each other even when Meteor's no longer a thing and I love thinking about how much both of them finally having that freedom can help both their relationship and them as characters grow.

it's an AU but it's also pretty heavily canon-based in terms of characterization (although events diverge a lot from canon!) so I love the two of them in Margo's AU as well-- Martakace (Meteorshowershipping) is one of my fav ships along with Takace (Royalcourtshipping) rn <3

rambles under the cut bc this is OC stuff that I have shared custody over with some friends so it's not as pertinent to the original ask, so cutting it here in case you don't want to read!

HI if you're here! i have SO many thoughts about martakace and MC/Ace/Taka as a polyship outside of Margo bc they're a power throuple hdfsdf. since Ace doesn't send their letter, now neither of them know where to go, and they end up leaving to the desert together. neither are really very prepared, and they're both kinda in a rush so they don't have many supplies beyond food and healing items and their backpacks. they can't use their PC of course since Terra would zero onto them in an instant so they only have the teams that they carry on them (Ace's is modified a little to split between the mons they share on other teams), although they miss their other Pokemon dearly.

they end up sleeping on the sand together one night and wake up to find Margo on the platform the next day and the reaction is panic initially. Margo's absolutely been able to tell that neither of them have really wanted to fight throughout the game and they see that these two people are panicked and unprepared and just. protec. Taka and Ace are panicked on the other hand and just think "okay if they're here then the others aren't far behind and then it's gameover for us." so they're a mix between terrified and betrayed and resigned. but then the three of them are traveling together and they're just both. confused. Taka and Ace are obviously very close with each other but here they're kind of questioning whether this is even the same person that they heard rumors of with meteor? and Margo calls them friends for the first time and it's kinda the start of both of them developing a sort of puppy love crush-- where it's kind of just that Margo is very cool and thoughtful and kind to them. their feelings for each other are obviously the kind of thing that's never been acted upon-- Margo encourages them to be more open with themselves as well as with each other-- so Taka and Ace end up getting together in Train Town after having a first kiss one night very late in their travels when the three of them are stuck on top of Teknite at night. Margo refuses to take the Gible when they're all in Sugiline and adopts a Trapinch instead, and doesn't take the sword either when the three of them are atop the tower.

Margo just encourages both of them to be more open-- Taka to be more confident, and Ace that it's okay to be vulnerable and to put themself first sometimes-- since they have a habit of neglecting themself in favor of worrying about others (such as Taka and Margo). Taka and Ace help each other grow and end up growing closer as friends due to being able to communicate more, and grow into not just being used to acting as stepping stones-- but instead wanting to actively help others and do things. there's a lot of other canon divergences-- Labradorra City+tournament and Victory Road are big ones due to both Ace and Taka being involved in that and in a relationship now, and their feelings for Margo growing more (they don't get together until postgame after Margo comes back from the New World, though, so it's slowburn on that end).

there's so much more but I . will stop rambling. thank you for listening shdfsdkfsd I will talk more about either of them until the cows come home but this ask is getting too long and I'm getting embarrassed. I love them v much <3

[laz-laz-ace-pilot]

I posted 54,649 times in 2022

That's 33,170 more posts than 2021!

295 posts created (1%)

54,354 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@cantwearflipflops

@pinkys-plan

@sulevinen

@spacerocksarethebestrocks

@screaming-velociraptor

I tagged 4,941 of my posts in 2022

#andor spoilers - 1,089 posts

#andor - 969 posts

#tbobf spoilers - 228 posts

#writing reference - 136 posts

#reference - 107 posts

#kenobi spoilers - 95 posts

#personal - 76 posts

#in the shadow of his brothers - 67 posts

#star wars - 60 posts

#drawing reference - 57 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#this has been followed by tory and rwandan propoganda. ‘we have no human rights violations. people are safe here’ no the fuck they aren’t??

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I'm sorry to every other action movie star, but you will never be as cool or sexy as Diego Luna dive jumping and shooting a Deathtrooper fascist while in that jacket. It's over, go congratulate Mr Luna on the way out.

674 notes - Posted November 24, 2022

#4

Some Imperial somewhere: you're never going to believe who just organised a massive prison break

768 notes - Posted November 9, 2022

#3

There are so many details in Andor that I could pour over forever, especially in the prison. The language used is so corporate and sanitised - 'minimally invasive enforcement techniques' to describe electrocuting someone to death, 'on programme/ off programme', 'hot floor' - all of it defangs the reality of what they're living with for the oppressors (and maybe for the inmates to increase productivity?) but must drive the inmates mad.

There's tiny moments too; the fact they showed one guard being late due to a 'problem in tech', establishing that the idea that its a well oiled machine is just a thin veneer. The desperation of the inmates to hear news about themselves from outside and getting nothing. The use of what looks like sign language to communicate across blocks. The comment about if two inmates are in the same cell they both get fried - that could be read as just to stop inmates conspiring together, but also implies that inmates can't seek romantic, sexual or even friendly companionship. There's a homophobic edge to it, and further reinstates the prisons control over happiness. Pleasure can only be achieved through productivity for the Empire, everything else is forbidden.

And that doesn't even go into the set design, the costumes, the filming, the acting! Or how those scenes are juxtaposed against the luxury of Mon Mothma's apartment.

This show guys!

1,023 notes - Posted October 27, 2022

#2

I know people are seeing the post credit scene and lamenting that Cassian and Melshi were forced to build the very weapon that will kill them (which is true and I am definitely also 'people') but... it also confirmation that the prison escape directly impacted the development of the Death Star.

Like, we know that turning off the facility meant that Narkina 5 couldn't be fully operational for months, and the loss of 5000 prisoners who were all assembling large numbers of pieces a day... all of that had to hurt the production schedule, not to mention any further damage from Melshi or Cassian's testimonies reaching people inside and out of the prison system.

How long did it delay production? We don't know - it could have been weeks or months, or even just hours. But knowing how little time the Rebellion has once they learn of the Death Star's existence, and how the Empire was closing in, even before then - Jyn and team escape Jedha with the message and means to destroy the superweapon by literal seconds - I just feel like it counted.

The Death Star will one day kill both Cassian and Melshi, but they, and 5000 other men, also bought precious time for the Rebellion. Just enough time to get the plans off Scarif. Just enough time for some desert farmer boy to make the crucial shot.

2,580 notes - Posted November 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

ISB and Luthen playing 4D chess against each other:

Ferrix:

3,009 notes - Posted November 23, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[intearsaboutrobots]

J'ai publié 8 080 fois en 2022

C'est 2 581 billets de plus qu'en 2021 !

309 billets créés (4%)

7 771 billets reblogués (96%)

Les blogs que j'ai le plus reblogués :

@godiva-device

@orange-catsidy

@justablix

@cmpxnk-archive

J'ai étiqueté 6 173 billets en 2022

Seulement 24% de mes billets ne comportaient pas de tag

#wrestling - 3 876 billets

#original content - 214 billets

#to watch - 179 billets

#zobro - 172 billets

#succession - 137 billets

#wrestling fic - 137 billets

#goncharov - 126 billets

#dracula daily - 106 billets

#unreality - 101 billets

#tagged w/ me - 86 billets

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#...........................................................................................................................................

J'ai envoyé 1 cadeau en 2022

Mes billets vedette en 2022 :

n°5

Your new pfp!!!

!!!! yes!!! i commissioned it from @dogfruit , who everyone should go commission art from bc they're fantastic

here's the image in full scale... it's a little me!!! but cat!!!!! meow :3c

45 notes - publié le 26 novembre 2022

n°4

mjf and willow should be a tag team. he just lost his faction, she just got signed!!! theyre both apparently from long island!!!!! mjf can and should still be a dick, that will giv the team spice!!!!!!

47 notes - publié le 28 octobre 2022

n°3

athena swerve tag team when

55 notes - publié le 29 novembre 2022

n°2

i don't know if it made the broadcast but its so important to me that when the crowd was chanting DETROIT SUCKS alex shelley covered chris sabins ears

131 notes - publié le 5 septembre 2022

Mon billet n°1 en 2022

tag team partners is the most intimate relationship two people can have.

181 notes - publié le 28 mai 2022

Obtenez votre année 2022 en revue sur Tumblr →

[au-drayton-shenanigans]

//ooc

I have been inactive a lot these past few days because the lack of quality sleep has been getting to me a little. Social battery takes one of the biggest hits. I finally took pictures of the pictures I drew at church last sunday though :D One of them's got Fish in it.

Mainly been playing pokemon and finding out an all oricorio team can kick butt in blueberry academy

Tried to draw a rowlet from memory. Doesn't look much like a rowlet. But cloak guy has so many bird friends :] they don't all gotta be pokemon birds. So with my memory, the silly rowlet is the only pokemon there

Turkeys are really cute. I don't like the holiday this time of year. Cloak guy would also hate it and possibly do something dramatic like. turkey jail break. He would take them to his castle and keep them safe. "Mine now."

Fish having a pokemon battle. With underwater versions of pokemon. Dragonite and Haxorous from memory but they're aquatic.

The mons aren't all part water type just from being in the water. Then literally everything would be water type and that's no fun. I think water type would be more like "normal type but not really" in that universe. The types of each pokemon would stay the same. dragonite is still dragon/flying. Pokemon that are already water type like piplup would stay water type. Every pokemon that's not a fish or anything else that lives only in water would get an aquatic makeover like those two up there :3

Also I think it would be funny if they had like regular sea creatures along with pokemon. Like sharks and things. Those would not battle like pokemon though