#But honestly this semi is so STRONG that it really is anyone's game

[tampon-on-the-sidewalk]

So tempted to look at the betting odds right before voting and give all 20 votes to the 11th spot

[starlight-writer]

How They Cuddle

A/n: Started this while I was stuck in traffic with a tornado warning going on. Later found out 4 touched down around me so basically God said I couldn't die until I posted this

Warnings: none, fluff, angst, semi serious? Talks of death, read with that in mind on Jake's part

Gn! Reader Masterlist

Steven

Tummy hugger

Doesn't matter the size, how hot it is inside, he will latch onto your waist and rest his head on your tummy

Prefers a bare tummy so he can feel your soft skin, but he's happy as long as he gets to hold you

And if you pet his head or play with his hair too? He's a goner

Those sleeping problems he has from time to time? Gone

Those night terrors that keep him up for hours? A thing of the past

He sleeps best when it's with you and when it's on your perfect, soft, warm tummy? He sleeps like a baby

There are, of course, nights where he's had a really bad day and he needs a bit more from you

Those are the nights where he'll ask you to lay on him

He wants to be surrounded by the thing he loves the most

And if you even try to say 'oh, I'll crush you!' he will forcibly pull you on top of him

"Yea right, you forget I was an avatar of Khonshu, love. I'm buff as fuck." He would mumble while burying his head in your hair or shoulder

It's not necessarily a lie, but it gets you to laugh

Pressure therapy is strong with this one

He has so many weighted blankets, it's ridiculous

And usually he doesn't use them now that he has you, but when there are days when you're not home or don't feel like cuddling, Steven will break out his massive pile of weighted blankets

It's honestly really cute seeing Steven all bundled up and only his head poking out of a mountain of blankets

Marc

Lays directly on top of you

Lowkey scared of crushing you so it takes a while for him to admit how he'd prefer to cuddle, but it happens eventually

Marc wants to protect you, you're the love of his life and he couldn't take it if he lost you

So he lays on you to be your shield

If anyone breaks into the apartment, which they probably wouldn't even make it past the front door before Marc absolutely destroys them, but if they do he's the first one they'll attack

And as long as you're safe, he's happy

It's a deeper reason than the others, but it's true

If he's had a bad day, it'll be different

He'll curl up into you, looking so small and vulnerable

He'll bury his face in your chest and hold onto you like you're his life line

Which you are

If you play with his hair and rub his back, maybe even hum to him, he'll pass out in no time

He feels safe in your arms and while he's not used to feeling so vulnerable, he feels like he can be with you

On the other hand, there are very rare nights where Marc will ask you to suffocate him

Not really, of course

He just needs the pressure of you laying on top of him to chase away his dark thoughts

Works every time

Not during nightmares though

Never try that during or after a nightmare

Marc will panic so hard, he might accidentally hurt you and he would rather die than do that to you

Jake

Jake is a little different than Steven and Marc

He doesn't have a preference of cuddles, as long as he can feel your skin somewhere on him, he's ok

It's not in a weird way though

If he can feel your skin, he can feel how warm you are and if he can feel how warm you are, he knows you're not dead

It's morbid, but he's seen so much and caused so much death so he's trying to reassure himself that you're not dead too

He'll have his hands under your shirt and resting on your hips, or hike your leg over his hip to feel your thighs, or sleep with his cheek pressed against your tummy

Anywhere is fair game to him as long as you're comfortable

But then there are nights where he would rather die than feel your skin

It's usually nights where he's had to kill quite a few people and while he usually handles death quite well, he has you now

He's learned to be something other than a tool for Khonshu and a shield for Marc and Steven

Those nights, he'll lay next to you and watch you breathe

The only part of you he touches is your wrist to feel your heart beat

Similar to Steven, he will ask you to occasionally lay on him, just so he can feel you pressed up against him

Not in a sexual way, though he's not ashamed to admit he would enjoy that, just in a way so he can feel a bit more of you than he normal would

And honestly, when as asks you to lay on him, it leads to some kind of make out session

[jjsstars]

random school bus graveyard headcanons

// with aiden/ashlyn & ben/taylor & logan/tyler <3 //

warnings: weed/smoking, swearing

[cut off cause this got rlly long whoops]

Ash is bi & Aiden is pan

Taylor & Ben are both asexual but also hopeless romantics

Tyler is bi & Logan is gay

Taylor does Ben’s nails on weekends

Tyler tries to teach Logan how to play baseball (he’s semi successful)

Ash is paramore fan (p sure this is just canon atp)

Aiden loves all those dystopian movies and forces Tyler to watch them when he finds out he’s never seen them (ie hunger games, the maze runner, divergent etc.)

Aiden’s best subject is math and his worst is English, Ash is the same way

Taylor’s best subjects are science & math, her worst is art (she just can’t draw okay)

Tyler’s best subject is gym but as far as academics go he’s pretty good at history, he sucks at science tho

Logan’s best subject is obvi science, he honestly does good in everything, but he doesn’t like language that much

Taylor carry’s extra ear plugs/headphones/notebooks & pens for Ben & Ash (or anyone who might need them)

Tyler can braid better than Taylor can (he would do her hair growing up)

Aiden & Ash are adhd vs autism

Logan and Taylor hold hands when they’re anxious

Aiden can play the guitar & drums

Ben can also play the guitar but he prefers acoustic whereas Aiden likes electric

Tyler can play guitar but he prefers to play the trumpet (he’s rlly good)

Taylor can sing but she only does around Ben - he totally doesn’t cry nope totally not -

Ash can play the Harp (stealing that from someone else’s hc post <3) but she can also play violin & piano (multitalented queen)

Aiden & Ash link pinkies while sitting on the bus if Ash is feeling particularly pda strong

the whole group goes to cheer on Tyler’s baseball games

Logan now has a first aid kit in his locker from dating Tyler and being friends with Aiden

Aiden has a medical card for medical weed and he definitely abuses that shit

the first time Ashlyn gets high it relaxes her so much she’s convinced she’s dying for a hot minute

Logan & Taylor don’t like being high, Ben is indifferent to it, Aiden, Ashlyn & Tyler enjoy it throughly

It calms Aiden & Tyler down a lot

Taylor & Ben are the only ones capable of sitting in a chair like a normal person

Aiden & Ben smuggle good food into the hospital for Tyler

Tyler gives Logan forehead kisses

Ben kisses the top of Taylor’s hand

Aiden kisses the tip of Ash’s nose - Ash kisses his cheek

everyone is always finding Ashlyn hair in everything cause she sheds so much

Logan & Ben are Star Wars fans

Aiden is the first one to get his official license - to everyone’s horror -

Tyler is the last one to get his license (he’s so mad about it)

Ashlyn still sleeps with a stuffed animal and has a tote of them in her closet — she hides this for months until Ben finds them one day and casually adopts them all with Taylor

Aiden runs like a space heater as does Taylor

Ash & Ben both run superrrr cold

Logan and Tyler have normal temperatures, the freaks /j

Ben carry’s an inhaler because Aiden got asthma attacks as a kid - he hasn’t had one since he was like 7 but Ben likes to be prepared

If he gets hyper focused enough Aiden will go non-verbal / won’t acknowledge the outside world to the point of Ben having to write down responses for him

Aiden & Tyler can skateboard

Taylor can rollerskate & she teaches Logan how to too

Ashlyn is a god at ice skating

Ben prefers to stay on his own two feet thank you very much

Tyler’s terrified of dogs and screams for Taylor anytime one comes near him

Animals naturally love Ashlyn, Taylor’s jealous

Aiden is one of those people that will spend five minutes in a backyard and pick up three frogs, a lizard, a scarily big spider, two beetles and point out where a snake is

birds really like Ben - he doesn’t know why

Aiden & Ben are really good at art, but with totally different styles

Ben prefers realism and charcoal pieces

Aiden prefers more stylized art, markers & paints

Aiden did graffiti for a while and still would if he ever had the time (stupid phantoms) - when Ash finds out she lets him tag the buses in the graveyard and he’s so excited about it

Aiden & Tyler play basketball together on the weekends while the others watch/mess with them the entire time

If Tyler’s being particularly cocky about winning against Aiden then Ben will step in cause he’s naturally really good at basketball

Taylor and Logan always giggle watching Tyler’s face fall seeing Ben stand up

Ashlyn doesn’t mind when Aiden loses because then she gets to use it as an excuse for them to go get ice cream to “make the loss easier” (aiden knows she does that every time because she also asks to go out for ice cream if he wins to celebrate)

Taylor lets Aiden try on her lip gloss once and now he has his own collection and keeps some on him at all times — mostly just clear ones or sparkly light pink ones that aren’t super noticeable but still leaves a shine

Tyler uses like ten separate hair products daily - him & Ash take the longest to do their hair out of the whole group

[gray-ace-space]

Kind of a mini rant for a second but I feel like that Chris Flemming "was anyone going to tell me?" meme in kind of a fuckton of ways since becoming more aware of just how much ace is in my grayace self

that most people find sex very actively appealing a very large amount of the time??? Like they're not just kinda neutral about it as a default???

That most of the times I've thought "I have a crush on this person" it's just been aesthetic attraction the whole damn time???? Like thinking "oooh pretty"/"Oh no, they're hot" is not usually where it stops for people 99% of the time???

That I don't have amazing self control regarding avoiding teenage pregnancy/ abstaining from sex because of a medication/ not cheating/ stupid sexual purity shit that I was adjacent to bc yay deep south, like my controller was apparently just never fucking plugged in, like it's pretty damn hard to loose a game you aren't playing

Most people find nudity very very very appealing? Like they don't neutral to negative about it??? Like not because I think anything inherently negative about their body I'm just less interested in it naked?? Is that even an ace thing or am I just weird???

Tbh I'm not even sure how gray of an ace I even am bc of all this, like I think there's some gray area, like I've felt some quick pangs of sexual attraction I think??? idk??? I thought the other parts were pretty standard before now so idk???

Like I'm sorry for semi ranting and I know everyone kinda has to figure themselves out for themselves and labels are there to help not define, but like do you have any advice for any of this?

my guy (gender neutral). you are ace as hell.

hahaha no but let me go through these point by point so we can compare notes.

"most people find sex very actively appealing a very large amount of the time" - is that true??? are we sure that's real??

"most of the times I've thought "I have a crush on this person" it's just been aesthetic attraction" - well i get very strong romantic crushes but. any time i say someone is hot i just mean they look cool and i wanna look at them a bunch. maybe some sensual attraction gets mixed in and i like, wanna touch them as well, non-sexually. so. definitely feel u on that

"I don't have amazing self control regarding..." - YEAH. THAT. YEAH. (i was not really deep in the purity culture stuff but as a young teen i was like. what the hell is wrong with everyone. can't they be normal like me)

"Most people find nudity very very very appealing?" - i honestly quite like nudity in a completely not sexual way, just like a body positivity way. maybe it's cause my mom raised me to not be weird about nudity, it's very chill to me and i think most people are beautiful. but i do not have a connection in my brain between nudity and sexual attraction. i do not care. not once in my life have i looked at someone i liked and thought "oh i would like to see them naked". so, is it an ace thing? probably yes

"I'm not even sure how gray of an ace I even am" - this is probably the one where we most diverge because i do actually feel strong enough sexual attraction that i can't mistake it for anything else. it's just that, i think i'm demisexual. so it's for like. 5 people. ever.

are you gray or not? who the hell knows. maybe ur dark gray ace, maybe i'm light gray ace. but i relate to a lot of what you said! it's fucking wild to unpack this stuff. i do not understand allos at all. i'm glad we can agree on that.

[dailybayonetta]

sorry, if im bothering you with this (you don't need to anwer if you don't want to), another one of these discourses about bayonetta i've seen with queerbaiting with bayojeanne and that one spoilers thing. do you agree it's an actual thing that happened?

Okay, so BIG SPOILERS AHEAD (metion of them, but not explicit) and lots of text ________

So let me start by saying, usually, as a gay person myself - I've been in this situation. When you clearly have a dynamic between friends of the same gender but it's written much more deeply and with the care and with the actual tropes that get used for het couples and filled with love (and that word gets thrown around, but like, we talking about any kind of love). That happens. But what also happens - is that writers / devs usually never confirm these. Fans and fandom do more job of putting lgbt rep into something that originally doesn't really have it or hidden in narrative (pushed, that also common with censoring) and then act like devs or writes or show runners own them something they invented. Again, it's a complex issue, because sometimes authors take time or have to push for relation ships (LoK / adventure time) and sometimes authors take credit for the ships fans popularised (that one supergirl show comes to mind???) However, in Bayojeanne cause, I can kind of see where people coming from because: a) Bayo herself is an ambiguous character, people been saying for ages that she's bi coded (i can't speak on that honestly) b) Kamiya called Bayonetta and Jeanne couple - not a pair, not duo, and compared them with other couples (that also semi-canon / canon)

c) a lot of promo material art, just as concept art depicted them in way that would couples would. especially couples that have "different side of the coin" dynamic and that complement each other some examples: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

Fanservice? Sure. Still. A thing that did happened. d) the scenes they had were also common for couples, shots on the reaching hands (the recent one i can think about with cloud and tifa in ff7remake), bayonetta holding jeanne "bride" style, bayonetta holding jeanne when saving her soul (do i need to mention how later they did that scene in familliar way with luka and bayo but just without the kiss, riiiight) and like, i could go on, but you get the idea

d) And what I also think Bayojeanne isn't just that kind of ship that was "oh fans hyped it up and they never interacted in canon" or something. It's in the story. Again, maybe it wasn't explicit and writers probably didn't intended to be that way (maybe Kamiya did but looking at bayo3 who knows), because once again it's a common thing when writes do this type of dynamic and "oh, the bond is so strong" and that kind of thing has a right to exists, if it wasn't for the othert stuff i said about. Again, it's a complex idea and situation. And many things matter in the case. And I'm not a professional and not that type of person who cared about it in Bayonetta of all things. Does that falls under "queerbaiting"? Hell, if I know, because I never expected them somehow to get canon or anything (and if you go through my baoyjeanne tag you know I love them dearly), cause not only being a game from japanese devs but also that I know better now because I got baited enough in various media before. Can I blame people for thinking this was queerbaiting? No, I don't think I can. Especially because it's just bad for the script. What this implies of such strong and impowering fantasy character as Bayonetta is even worse. And like, Bay///o/lu//ka doesn't in any way erase Bayonetta's bi-coding or her being into Jeanne (afterall it's not the same Bayo and we got multiverses now🙄) but I think people are upset because it was executed reeeeeally poorly and untasteful for such character. And people saying it's kind of character assasination are right in a lot of ways. Hell idk why anyone skips the part that Luka also didn't got any development and got thrown in this mess as well. And also THAT PART. What happened with it - who knows what was even going on in the writing room of Platinum.

[lobstermatriarch]

Writer interview game!

Tagged by @eraserspiral, thank you for thinking of me!!

When did you start writing? oh it was young. i remember trading some truly godawful poetry with my friends at recess. buuuut i have never been particularly consistent in keeping up with it.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write? Plenty of them! Mystery and satire are two standouts that i adore but don’t really write well.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often? In terms of pulling inspiration, Tamsyn Muir takes up too much space in my brain (I made Gale read a heavily altered version of Harrow the Ninth out loud in a semi-recent chapter of Come Down whoops :/). outside of her I've probably intentionally taken the most influence from David Mitchell and Nnedi Okorafor

(definitely not been compared to any of them though. )

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space? ohohohoh this implies that i have a dedicated writing space and don’t just bust out my laptop when the mood strikes

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse? if i'm working on a long project i force it sometimes, sit there and write nonsense until something seems usable and then build off that. if i was rich i’d travel more since i always seem to get the best inspiration on trains or at airports

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you? Survival and loneliness vs connection tend to pop up pretty often. Definitely not surprising, but a little frustrating. anytime i finally think i've written something new, i'll go back, read it again, and say "shit this is about That again isn't it."

What is your reason for writing? I am plagued by demons that haunt me until i exorcise them via word vomit

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating? honestly any feedback is motivating, but i do love hearing that someone’s had a strong emotional response to what i’ve written.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers? Hopefully as an enjoyable little freak writing enjoyable little freak things (enjoyable is a relative word here i know)

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer? in general, i want to believe i’m decent at keeping a consistent perspective/point of view. specific to fanfic i like to believe that i’m pretty good at staying within the “he would, in fact, fucking say that” boundary.

How do you feel about your own writing? i am trying to hate it less

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both? it's a mix. i can be a little contrarian so sometimes i'm more influenced by what's popular via trying to avoid it. that said i'm not out to torture anyone reading either so i do try to consider certain writing choices carefully

some very very optional tags: @antimonyantigone @anosrepasi @sweetmalice26 and any other writing followers who would like to try, please do and tag me so I can seeeee

[bunny-j3st3r]

Archie sonic issue #1

Alright because I like to torture myself, I've spoken a few times about how I dislike the archie comics, it often felt like there was 0 consitency and none of the writers felt like they communicated with one another so it was always off putting to me.

But can I call myself a fan without torturing myself by reading these messy story line comics and jotting down my journey and making you all suffer with me?

I'm going to put these under read more to save everyones dashboards

I know the mini series was first but tbh I wanna get these ones read and then spin offs etc

Were starting with issue #1 released on May 1993 with the publication date being July 1993.

I can kinda semi remember the first few issues were kind of fun and goofy until they started introducing rather... Odd plotlines.

I'm not here to tear the comics to shreds, I'm honestly just giving my thoughts and I'll try and give it postive things as well as negative.

I'll never forgive them for taking away Sally's pink fur but it's w/e let's goooo.

Starting off strong with Robotnik murdering sonic. That's the end of the comic guys sorry.

nvm it was a pinata full of candy, also the fatphobia in these early comics really was something but I guess it was normal back then.

So the storyline fo this one looks like it's going to be about an evil mechanical plant to grow what I assume is the general area of knothole (what a name) very little shop of horror of you robotnik.

ANTOINE NO YOUR SIMPING IS GOING TO CAUSE DESTRUCTION NO ANTOINE.

I tend to forget the earlier comics had a rather large amount of fourth wall breaking, I like that it makes it feel like the reader is more involved but it always makes me think do the other just think sonic is losing his mind?

And the day was saved by mother nature, remember kids stay green.

The jokes in these are rather charming

The next story in issue one is Sonic travelling to the casino zone to check out what exactly robotnik is talking about in his speech. He's also captured and placed in a pinball machine as a toss to sonic pinball (MY BELOATHED GAME) I guess?

What can I even say about this?

fuck me to dude

In a way you can't really make fun of him because if you think about it, these guys really only are kids, they just present older because they had to.

Sorry thought to deep about a gag.

I always found the letters and fanart section in comic books back in the day always fun, I remember having some of my own art featured in one of the spongebob comics and I ironically remember I had drawn the spongebob cast as Sonic characters.

So if anyone has ever seen that then yes, that was me :')

I'm not giving you the full context, trans sonic canon.

If anyone makes this can you tell me what it tasted like?

don't like that :(

The letters as I said were cute.

Don really woke up and decided on violence.

My thoughts on this one is I liked it, it was cute with goofy styles but woof the jokes really didn't age that well but I can look past them considering the era this had first released.

As I said at the start the first few issues I do legitmately enjoy so I don't really have negative thoughts on it other than the fat jokes but as I said, different time and it was funny to make fun of fat ppl I guess.

NEXT >

[aparticularbandit]

thoughts on enogiri ?

Yeah, yeah!

Honestly, I really love imagining them pre-Killing Game.

I love the idea of Kyoko Kirigiri who has no idea about anything regarding love or relationships and who is always and only detective and who doesn't intentionally keep herself closed off or separate from her classmates but just naturally is those things - like, let's be real, Kyoko has never really had a childhood. Jin tried up until he abandoned her, and even then, she was going on constant trips with her grandfather, she was never really staying in one location for very long, Kyoko has no idea how to actually have a friend at all and has been taught that friendships and family and all that other stuff MUST be seen as LESS THAN being a detective - and, yes, Yui tried, but the entirety of Danganronpa Kirigiri is Kyoko having a moment and then closing back up again because hey, look, this hurt, and I screwed up by trying, and I'm never gonna forget that I screwed up and I can't do this again - that's what the gloves are for!

So like. Kyoko who is this bundle of trauma and training and doesn't know how to people even if she wanted to people and isn't sure that she does want to people because the one time she did people it literally, quite literally blew up in her face--

Being literally adopted by Junko Enoshima who does not know how to keep her mouth shut and cannot take no for an answer and it does not matter how much Kyoko goes off by herself, Junko is going to chase after her because no, you are my friend now, and you don't get to escape this, I'm choosing you, and I don't care, and you're MINE.

Because let's be real. Junko preys on the vulnerable. And when it comes to interpersonal relationships, Kyoko is vulnerable. Kyoko is very strong in who and what she is, although she occasionally has doubts over the whole being a detective is more important than the people you care for thing, but she's very secure in who and what she is.

And Junko says, look, here is this entire world you are shutting yourself off from, and I want you to be part of it, and I'm not taking no for an answer. You don't have to be with anyone else, but you have to be with me, and you're going to like it, and you're going to like me, you're going to love me, even if you don't want to, even if you're scared and vulnerable. Even if no one else wants you, I want you.

Choose me.

Kyoko being warmed by that. Because she really, truly is alone. And she doesn't want to be. And when someone as insistent as Junko reaches out and says you don't have to be alone, eventually Kyoko will say okay and cling to the one person that she has. Because she's all she has.

And that's what Junko wants.

Abusers take lengths to separate their victims from their support system, but if we're honest here? Kyoko never had a support system. Her dad abandoned her. Her grandfather thinks she's just fine on her own. Yui is dead. Her mom is dead. Her other grandfather is dead. Kyoko has Kyoko.

....

And, in this case, Junko.

Who is exactly not the person you want her to have.

(Junko doesn't have to convince Kyoko she's alone. Kyoko already knows that. Junko just has to convince her that she's the only one who will push through her barriers and stick with her no matter what. And that's not hard.)

Semi-Related, someone made a comment early on with OAEI (that's...the fic I've been posting; I'll link to it) that the first game feels very much like it's Junko and Kyoko's story, like Kyoko is meant to be the protagonist and Makoto's...there and not really a concern until after Kyoko goes to bring him back, and like. (They did a much better job explaining this than my overview.) That rings so true to me. So much of THH is so personal to Kyoko, from the murder of her dad to the tidbits that are left for her, specifically, to find (and are absolutely NOT meant for Makoto, which is why he gets knocked out and has the relevant secret information stolen from him), to the endgame investigations revealing that Kyoko was still her dad's password (which means, yes, he did still care about her) and the present of her dad's bones wrapped up just for her to find--

Makoto's the protagonist, sure, and he becomes the Ultimate Hope, sure, but the Killing Game is so much about the relationship between Junko and Kyoko.

The whole thing is a murder mystery.

A present.

Wrapped up for her girlfriend.

Because she loves her.

With the end driving her into despair just the same as Junko is.

(Except for Makoto getting in the way.)

I just.

I love the dynamic of them so much. I love exploring them.

They're cute.

[twilighttyto]

⭑✮ About Me!

Hello, my name is Twilight or Twi! I'm just a writer and artist with big dreams and an affection for a silly little Bean man from a Mario game. I'm not very used to being on social media so this'll be my first time really getting into Tumblr, excited to be here!

Im interested in a lot of different things as well, such as animation, comics, paleontology, speculative zoology, movies, and really anyone's art I find appealing. I'm also very much into writing and literature as well, I'm planning on writing my own material in the future so look out for that! will post about that in the later future.

what you will find here in this blog is me making art for myself, finding my passion for creating once more and honestly just gushing about Popple, my favorite crook and honestly? I love him. a lot. so much that I feel the need to openly express this deep affection by sharing it with others who will hopefully support me for who I love, and maybe in turn that happiness can spread.

i plan on posting semi-consistently, I made this blog to help me come out of my shell and feel less shy or embarrassed about the things I find genuine passion and inspiration in, so yeah! feel free to shoot a question every now and then, I'm usually not busy so i'll try to respond as soon as I get it. I have a lot to share about Popple and I!

this journey has been wild dude.

with that, here are just some personal boundaries of mine that i'd like to establish between us.

Boundaries (really only like one lol)

⭑ I really don't like to see any Popple x OC or Popple x Canon ships, this counts for selfships as well especially. it just makes me super uncomfortable, I have nothing against anyone I promise its just something I don't really feel okay with seeing. thank you!

Thank you so much for reading! stay curious, stay weird and don't let anyone tell you that you aren't strong, or brave or smart enough.

see you around.

[crystalelemental]

It's that time once again, lads.

EX & 20/20 Current 5* powerups: 255 Current spirits: 890 5* powerups available: 49 (20 lodge, 5 event, 4 CS, 20 exchange) Spirits available: 340 (85x4 CS) Total powerups: 304 Total spirits: 1230

We can afford a decent amount at this point.  I've realized I can spend powerups down to 150, to match the 500 spirits for 10 EX in a pinch.  So let's call it 9 available.

This month's acquisitions will include...Penny and Valerie. Sylveon Supremacy.  I am not sold on anyone else.  I've talked myself out of Roxie and Ryuki, I don't care about Piers or Elaine at present.  I may go for the Eevee tier scout.  Two guaranteed Eevesi along the way is nice, and if I roll one of Selene or Elio, I'll get the other at pity.  I don't know if I'll EX them, it really depends on how I'm feeling about it.  Since Valerie is already 20/20, we can get up to 8 others.

Rei - Really strong Fighting damage, Hisui bias, etc.

SS Silver - My Ice roster is basically "Irida."  I should aim to boost that, and I like Silver and Sneasel well enough.

SS N - Frankly a terrible idea, I don't really respect him, but he is fun when I break him out. That said, meta shift, 15k Master Mode may not play so nice with him.

Ethan - If I decide to go hard on the Fire High Score event. Which I'm already backing out of.

Eevee Lucas - Same as Ethan, but also, Eevesi. He is the Only Good Flareon, so tempted.

Lodge Calem - Fennekin is baby. Also Fire High Score I guess, but mostly the baby thing.

Classic Blue - I use him semi-regularly thanks to the Roxanne/Lodge Steven comp. But as an off-type, that one is in Major Danger with the meta shift, so I'm not exactly sold on it.

Alder - Bug game is weak, I think it'd be nice to have a stronger Bug Man around, and I like Volcarona well enough.

Anni Steven - Maybe one day.  I legitimately do want to do this one day.

Relevant Support Roundup:

Lana - Still not really feeling it.

BP Morty - Kinda unnecessary.

BP Surge - Helps his Gauntlet survival but I hate using him.

Lodge Blue - Don't really use him outside of Gauntlet.

Lodge Elesa - Don't really use her outside of Gauntlet

Lodge Raihan - Really don't respect it.

Nita (20/20) - I'm considering just because I've been F2P focused, but I don't like Nita or Lando, so...

Lodge Morty - Actually does see use, there's an argument to be made here.

Lodge Acerola - Less frequently used than Morty, but still sees play.

Lodge Adaman - Not actually good, but Eeveelution and Hisui.

Lodge Leaf - I've found more opportunities to try with her, but also I feel like Penny just walked in and knocked her teeth out.

The 20/20 I have a few pairs that are sitting at 20/20, and would just cost spirits.  Given that I have enough powerups for 9 EX but enough spirits for 14, this may be worth looking at.

NC Marnie - Intensely unnecessary but kinda funny. Compresses Fiery Wrath.

SS Ethan - Also super unnecessary given he's 1/5, and Aeroblast doesn't even compress.

Victrier - I don't like Victor, but he's a free Field pair for Ghost, and I do like Spectrier. The recent Galar battle got me thinking about investing after all.

CANDY SITUATION Strike (4)

Petrel - 2.  I mean.  It's worth considering?

Rose - 2.  He gets a lot stronger with it.

SS Ethan - 2.  Full sync privileges, if that's a thing we care about now.

Honestly, just hold.

Tech (2)

SC Ingo - 2.  Bug nuke man with MPR.

BT Leon - 2.  I did EX him, and Dragapult has grown on me tremendously.

I'll likely do BT Leon, but at next datamine when I'm certain it's safe.

Support (2) None!  Amazing.  If I lucky pull H!Phoebe I'll consider it.  "What about Pen-" Penny will cooperate or so help me god.  I am done with it always being the support that goes bad.  Just one month without needing Support candy, Penny!  JUST ONE!

General (19)

Rei - 2.  He's really strong, so this is a fairly sane investment overall. And Hisui, so you know, regional bias.

The Eevi - Okay, this is a big one.  I hoard.  I hoard so bad I have 19 of these general candy sitting in my lap right now.  I have not used one...almost ever.  That's a problem.  I stockpile so I can avoid disaster, but at the point I can also just hand all five of them candy and probably still be over 10, we've reached the point I'm being ridiculous.  I am willing to candy them.  If I crack for Elio and Selene, I'm not going for the other Eevee scout and risking another disaster, I'm just using general candy.  This shit ends now.

Cake Situation I have a Tech and a Support. Exactly nothing with these effects interests me right now. Holding. As for the potential for another Strike cake from Penny, I don't feel like anyone needs it. Akari's sync isn't that great, she's had no problem with DPS, and I sure as hell am not giving it to Penny. Hold all cakes.

LEVEL 150

Nemona - I don't use Nemona all that often, but that's a failure on my part, not hers.

Drasna - I love Drasna, I feel like I need to. Maybe if I shower her with affection, she'll show up off-focus.

BT Leon - My recent ScarVi competitive streak got me really hooked on Dragapult. I love that funky Ghostie Dragon.

SS Diantha - A little hesitant, but it is Diancie.

NC Serena - Considering because Serena and this is her best outfit. Hesitating because Greninja.

Bede - Look. We all need to accept that I like Bede.

Anni Skyla - Tornadus Therian is one of the only good djinn forms, and I really like her 3/5 kit.

SS Serena - I feel like it just makes sense but it's hard to justify.

Kahili - I like never use Kahili anymore but she was a big focus for a while there. Maybe when she gets EX.

Shauntal - Shauntal did get EX and I really like her DPS sets so I'm kinda tempted here.

Kris - Kick you apart, now even harder.

Clair - Favoritism.

Iris - I like running things that are bad.

Penny - Sylveon is good, and I like it.

[ilovedthestars]

Ask game for fic writers!

4, 20, 69 (I'm sorry but not really)

lol thank you alex XD (link to ask game here)

4. what is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven’t written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

Ohhh targetcontrolsys my beloved. By which i mean not the character/entity but my wip titled targetcontrolsys, which was the very first murderbot fic i ever started writing. I hadn't been excited enough about a piece of media to write fanfic about it in years, but that line in NE when murderbot says "i thought for a second that it was going to delete me" (paraphrased) would not get out of my brain and i kept imagining a scenario where 2.0 failed and targetcontrolsys did take over MB's brain and eventually i had to write it. There are still (checks notes) 10,944 words of this sitting in a scrivener draft. Parts of it are really good but as a whole it's a hot mess.

Bonus question: Yes i am absolutely haunted by it, although honestly it's just one of the chorus of unfinished wip ghosts that are constantly competing for my attention. (have i mentioned my insane words written:words published ratio recently? because apparently i've hit the 200k mark in my drafts recently, and only 32k of that is on ao3. help)

20. what is your favorite trope to write?

This will not come as a surprise to you or anyone, but: MALWARE, BABY. Or to put it a little more broadly, the specific brand of hurt/comfort that comes from a character losing control and being forced to (almost) commit atrocities. The (almost) is important to me, because I personally don't like to go too deep into despair, but I do want the very strong hurt/comfort emotions. The targetcontrolsys wip very much fell into this category, and I have a lot more fics like it (which have even made it onto ao3 once or thrice). I like pushing a character (let's be honest, it's usually Murderbot) almost to the edge and then having it unpack its feelings afterwards. Which is fun with any kind of hurt/comfort, but I like the malware/governor module/combat override flavor most of all.

69. how do you write emotional scenes? do you ever feel what the characters feel?

Emotional scenes usually come first for me! A lot of my semi-abandoned wips are a handful of emotional scenes that are missing the connective tissue to tie them together. Emotions are my favorite part of writing (see above, re: h/c) and I tend to write them very big and dramatic. I like getting a little poetic/creative with the writing style sometimes, which is harder with murderbot's style of narration but fun when I get the chance. Often I'll pour a big scene out in one sitting because it struck me, and then sit down and try to assemble a fic around it. I do feel emotions sometimes when i'm writing--i don't know that i feel what the characters feel, exactly, so much as i just feel an "i am full of big emotions" feeling no matter what emotion I'm writing about? It's a really fun feeling that only strikes me sometimes, and I miss it when I'm trying to write an emotional scene without it.

[happy-hokkyokugitsune]

I asked it a bit weird, sorry, naw see I was seeing your hqhc and following your fic and thought you might be into it. P is not me but hard tellin with anon amirite 😉

ty for not raining on my parade, how about semiten?

Hey beautiful~

SemiTen! (I will say that semiten isn't that rare imo)

Love the pairing, be it romantic, sexual, bros, saltmates, whatever, I love it.

(I mean Shiratorizawa guys are one of my weaknesses of course.)

- They are both quite beautiful, (imo) like an ethereal type of beauty. Almost fragile looking in some ways despite how strong they both are (if that makes sense.) I think they would be a gorgeous couple and honestly could you imagine how adorable their kid would look? And how happy they would be? Semi and Tendou would make awesome dads, nobody can change my mind.

- They paint each others nails and giggle like schoolgirls while gossiping about people Shirabu. They do get annoyed by the other sometimes and rag on each other as well, but that's just how they are. Tendou needs someone to tell him he's gone too far sometimes and Semi needs someone to pull him out of his head when he's feeling down (artist problems ya' know) and Tendou is the only one to notice because Semi is good at hiding it.

- These two take up the entire third year second floor bathroom when getting ready. I'm talking every spare inch covered in products, clothes, and towels. The only person allowed to interrupt their beauty routine is the other one.

Yamagata is real salty about it, I mean he needs to do his hair too guys.

- Semi is the only person allowed to do Tendou's hair. Goshiki is a first year so he isn't sure why this is the case, just that when he asked everyone got real quiet and Ushijima straight up turned and quick walked away.

Goshiki never asked again.

- Tendou is Semi's biggest fan. He'll talk to anyone and everyone about Semi's music. He'll hound you until you listen to it, he even pushed Semi to find an artist for promoting his band via posters and shirts. The redhead shows up to every gig as well and him screaming his love from the audience really charges the whole atmosphere with good vibes. No doubt in Semi's mind that Tendou is rooting for him.

Even if he teases him to no end.

- Tendou could easily guess where Semi is at all times. Semi is pretty predictable about his interests and schedule. Tendou knows he likes to play video games after practice and that he'll be doing karaoke on Friday's, he knows what market and restaurant he prefers, he even knows that Semi has a date when he smells a certain cologne on him. (He may even get jealous about that last one.)

He doesn't tell Semi these things, the guy likes to think he's incredibly spontaneous and he doesn't want to burst his bubble. But mostly Tendou finds it amusing to appear behind him when he isn't expecting it.

- They like to scare each other. It started off as Tendou's thing (is anyone surprised?) but one day Semi had enough and before Tendou could sneak up on him he turned and scared the guy first. It's been a longstanding competition between them ever since.

- Despite them hounding eachother and Tendou's constant teasing he would never call Tendou a monster ever. I can see him mean mugging anyone he catches doing so. He doesn't tell Tendou that he gets girls to start rumors about the people being mean to him, and he's so subtle about it that even Tendou is oblivious to his hand in said rumors.

- Both of these guys are super chill together even if they aren't interacting directly. I can just see them now, Tendou's reading his manga (possibly while sitting upside down on the couch) while Semi messes around on his guitar. They should be studying but that's not any fun and neither of them are interested in following the typical college/career route so they don't crackdown on that sort of thing unless Ushijima or Reon is there.

- Semi actually enjoys Tendou's energy, he can't read him, the guy is the poster child for being unpredictable of course, but he loves passionate people who like to bring joy and laughter wherever they go.

This got long, sorry anon if you're p I am not sorry, you know what you were getting into, ya' doof.

[bubby-paws]

[ORR] Ikemen Prince: Beauty and Her Beast - Licht Klein Route Review.

Hello everyone, this is my second route for CYBIRD's Ikemen Prince: Beauty and Her Beast. And we will make a review about it today. I will also compare the three routes I've had so far!

MAIN PLOT: You are an ordinary citizen of Rhodalite that works in a bookstore, living life through the stories written in books. One day, your pure heart caught the eye of a Royal Minister turning you into 'Belle'. Your job is to discern which of the 8 Princes are worth to be the next King of Rhodalite. With their own charms, any blossoming love will be doomed by the Clause 99 of Belle's Covenant.

MAIN ROUTES: 1st Prince Jin Grandet, 2nd Prince Chevalier Mitchel, 3rd Prince Clavis Lelouch, 4th Prince Leon Dompteur, 5th Prince Yves Kloss, 6th Prince Licht Klein, 7th Prince Nokto Klein, and 8th Prince Luke Randolph. Minister and King's Regent, Sariel Noir and, Your Butler, Rio Ortiz.

Currently, Sariel, and Rio's routes are not yet released but Season 2 Prologue is out, introducing the three upcoming routes after Sariel and Rio.

My third route for this game is, 6th Prince Licht Klein. He is the older twin of Nokto Klein. He is portrayed as the quiet Prince, aloof, not interested in befriending anyone.

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR HIS ROUTE!

Licht Klein was introduced as someone that is cool and distant from everyone. When I first met him in the story, I really didn't find any interest in his character at all, his design is pretty but nothing too outstanding and his distant attitude didn't really seem to attract me, too. Ultimately, I chose him after Yves just because I really didn't want to play Clavis or Nokto's route just yet and I thought it would be different to choose a character I wouldn't really pick first.

In the first part of the story, he is very distant and Belle tried to befriend him through Yves. I didn't really see anything unexpected from his character in the game, I knew he would be the way he was when I chose his character. One of the first interaction is when Licht left his gloves after the tea party with Yves and took it as a chance to spark a conversation with him. Which is very effective, considering the photo we got from that.

Licht didn't have a big character development right after this scene though which I liked. I appreciate when stories have a semi-realistic feel to it. Belle continued to try to talk to him and get closer to him but Licht kept pushing her away. Why he was that way is not easy to figure out either, asking Nokto for why Licht is that way also didn't gain any answer for Belle because they both have complicated personalities stemming from a complicated backstory.

The complicated backstory, how hard Licht is to get to know mixed with how kind and sweet he really is made me love his character after a while. Licht and Nokto were born twins, there's a saying that when twins are born, the other one makes good luck and the other makes bad luck. Licht convinced himself that he is the one that creates bad luck and basically everything bad that happens to everyone around him, he thinks is his fault.

He talks about sinning, later on, Belled found out that he killed his mother in order to protect Nokto. They were told to fight each other until one is left, he had no other choice. The King made sure he didn't receive any consequence and this caused him to be eaten by guilt. All of these situation, made him the way he is and honestly, it made him so lovable.

He is vulnerable and fragile, unlike other Princes but is also very strong, courageous, kind and sweet. He is one of those characters, I think, people will find hard to hate.

His character development is slow but you can tell there is progress, the storyline itself is stressful but I became more worried about his well-being more than what's happening. His story definitely is stressful though, considering he almost died and the part where he almost got executed. Although that is the case, we get to see the bond he and Nokto actually have which is great to see.

Belle and Licht never fully confessed to each other, they used the word 'adore' and 'hate' to convey how much they like each other. A lot of kissing scenes as well which is surprising from Licht's character as well.

The ending though is a little bit weird for me, they weren't meant to see each other after she chose the King, in which she chose Leon for. But Licht was still able to visit her once in a while. In the end though, they ended up dating without any consequence from the royal court which I'm curious what would happen but it was never showed.

What I like about the ending is that Rio is so opposed to Licht compared to the other princes that I've taken. But that is with good intent. Overall, it's not a full happy ending but it sure feels realistic in terms of Licht's character.

I chose the Romantic Ending this time for Licht as I wanted his outfit. I will definitely go back to his route for the other Ending, too

COMPARISON TO CHEVALIER AND YVES ROUTE:

Compared to Yves and Chevalier, his story is definitely closest to Chevalier in terms of the complicated storyline. Although Yves also has complications in terms of other Kingdom, his character is not as hard to breakthrough compared to Chevalier and Licht.

That being said, I think Licht is my favorite route and Chevalier being my second one!

-

Anyway, Season 2 Prologue is out and it is said that Sariel is going to be out next month! For now, I'm starting Clavis' route so expect him as the next review!

[pokeexehasstoppedworking]

A Champion Time For The Heart Ch33 Through Golden Eyes P2

(This is the second half of Leon's P.O.V covering Post game events.)

This whole year went by in a blur of chaotic messes.

He made a promise that day to never let anything bad happen to anyone he cared about ever again and then it was a variety of things that happened afterwards. All of you were emergency flown to Wyndon Hospital as Mr. Rose was arrested and taken into custody. Luckily they were ok. And he was ok besides a few scrapes and bruises. And he was SO relieved when he found out you were ok as well! Despite how you looked when he first got you, and how long you were out, you would be fine. He wasn't sure HOW or WHY but the doctors confirmed you were absolutely ok and you were going to be just fine. All you had just a goose egg on your head along with a major headache that would be resolved quickly. He was able to see you once (after getting lost and ending up a few places and visiting a few kids by accident-) and then a second time where you poured your backstory and heart to him and he was finally able to piece together your entire backstory. Losing your father in a similar way Glory and Vic did and having a controlling mother caused you to flee Kalos and come all the way to Galar. That also might explain why you never had pokemon before. Honestly she sounded like a narcissist and a nightmare. He was glad you got out of that situation though. He...felt ok enough to semi-share his own experiences but never went into deep detail which you respected which again both surprised and made him happy. Anyone would've pushed him for more details because well-...He was the famous champion and everyone wanted to know everything about him. He even had a reporter, Gillian id he remembered right, always trying to ask him about his past and family and his brother's defeat and had once or twice brought you up since you were seen with him outside Wyndon stadium. But he shut down those intrusive questions faster than a rapidash. Then there was making sure you all went home safely and then arriving home back on Valentine's Day. And his grandpa just had to give him a little piece of advice-

"She's a keeper, Lee. You take Grandpa's advice and settle down with this one," he said with a wink and nodding over to your retreating form.

In an instant, Leon's face went bright red. "G-GRANDPA!!"

Why did his Grandpa say THAT!? Well-.....To be fair his grandparents and mother HAD been talking about that kind of topic for a couple years now-

"Leon. When are you going to settle down and take some time for yourself?" "Yes. When are we going to get a new daughter-in-law? Or maybe even another son if we're extra lucky!"

To which he always laughed it off. "Sorry. But my Champion duties take up a lot of time. Not today but maybe someday!"

"Well what about Sonia? She cooks too and you two get along so well. Or perhaps that nice young man you always fight? You always say he's such a strong rival."

It was a little embarrassing but they didn't push it and other than asking once and a while if he was seeing anyone, they stopped bringing it up upon realizing he was serious about his duties taking up so much of his focus. In fact he hadn't really thought of finding someone to settle down with them. But for some reason he felt...compelled to do something for Y/n. On Valentine's Day. And it left him feeling pangs of something in his chest.

"Y-Y/N!"

You blinked up surprised to see Leon walking towards you holding a small container but smiled. "Hey, Lee. I thought you would've gone to bed by now."

He seemed to smile nervously and rub the back of his neck with a hand. A habit he did when feeling nervous or embarrassed, and coughed. "W-Well I was actually."

"Did..you get lost again?"

"Wha-...N-No, no, no, no!!" he held up a hand. "I d-didn't get lost this time!" Also panickily he thrusted out the container which you recognized as the container Ms. Magnolia gave him earlier today. "I-It's just that I d-don't really like t-these kind of cookies too well b-but I didn't want to be rude to Ms. Magnolia s-so I was just wondering if you wanted them and came down here to give them to you!" He forced out quickly face reddening.

Oh. So that's why he was here. With a bright smile you took the small cookie tin from him. "Thanks Lee! But are you sure? She did make these for you?"

"Y-Y-Yeah! I'm sure! It's no problem!" He gulped. "I-It's better t-to not let them go to waste! Y'know?"

You nodded. Yeah. It would be a waste of food if he just threw them out you supposed. "I see. Ok then! Thank you! I'm sure they'll be..*yyaaawwnn* -delicious." With a turn of your body you bid him good night. "But I think I'll hit the hay now. Good night. And Happy Valentine's Day!"

Leon only smiled widely with a nervous wave as you descended into the basement. "Y-Yeah. H-Happy Valentine's Day to you too."

And then there was all the other important matters that happened in the months that followed. Kabu approached him interested in taking in the trainer, Gloria, he endorsed as a future replacement for his gym. Of course he agreed to take him to see her seeing as it was a great opportunity and as for Gloria's stage fright, he knew exactly who could help her out with that! Mustard was an excellent teacher, and he knew for certain he could help her! He had seen you there but-...It wasn't the best time to talk to you about the mixed feelings he was going through upon seeing you, nothing bad really just-...New and confusing. Plus he had still so much on his plate helping the new Chairwoman fix what Mr. Rose did and organizing things. One thing being SUPER IMPORTANT that resulted in a personal meeting to her office. He still remembered walking into her big office in Rose Tower after receiving her request and blinking at what the tired disheveled woman said.

"A-....A tournament?"

She nodded holding her head tiredly surrounded by four tall stacks of papers on her desk and he could see the bags under her eyes, her new assistant right next to her holding a fifth stack of papers in his arms. Poor fella looked just as tired as she did. "Yes. Within a few months time the Prince from the Pasio Region will be arriving. He wishes to select a handful of our gym leaders and possibly yourself for the world's first ever Masters League with every other region. It's a critical matter that Galar does it's best to succeed and earn that right to compete. There's no doubt what happened just last year may leave him with a bad taste in his mouth. I will not have Rose taint Galar's good name with other regions. I want you to help me plan a show worthy of his acceptance in advance."

OH! So this was about making a good first impression to him and other regions. Of course he'd help with that. He nodded to her with a serious face. "Of course. I'll do whatever I can to help you. Just tell me what you need to be done and I'll do it." To which he blinked when one of the four giant stacks of papers was pushed towards him by her tired hand. "...What's this?"

"Plans to reroute energy to take care of the power crisis once and for all."

He blinked surprised. "Wait...You found out a solution to that!?"

She nodded. "Rose's plan was to revive that monster, Eternatus, and capture it to use it's living energy as a Region wide energy source and while it may have been possible, it was an incredibly stupid and desperate idea. He was so wrapped up in this grand plan to become a hero he didn't realize he solved his own dilemma."

"What do you mean?"

"Reviving that thing meant he needed lots and lots of power. So he installed hundreds of solar panels and wind mills and other means to route new power and energy just to the Hammerlocke powerplant. In doing so he was wasting energy and could've solved everything using that." She gestured towards the papers. "Those are the plans for the Electric company to reroute and distribute all of that extra energy to the corners of Galar. If done properly, he won't have to worry about it too longer I hope."

He stared in her in awe before looking back at the papers. "This is-...T-T-That's amazing!" He beamed brightly. "This could fix everything! I'll take this and make sure it's done down to the very last detail!"

"It's not all just plans for rerouting power," she spoke tiredly with a sigh, "There's a reason that pile is so big and separated into sections. Some are repair and rebuilding plans for both Spikemuth and Hammerlocke due to the damage and disarray Rose's actions put them in. I want you to make sure those plans in particular are delivered to both Piers and Raihan."

"Oh. So you're having them help over see the damages too huh?"

"There's much to be done and much to repair. We'll be needing all the help we can get." He nodded. Understandable. He was sure both Raihan and Piers could make certain the needed repairs were made. And the poor Chairwoman looked like she could use all the help she could get sorting through all this mess. "Speaking of which, next month sensitive tech will be transported from the Hammerlocke powerplant to a research facility here in Wyndon. It's better to keep that kind of technology is secured and not left out to be taken. I'd like both you and Sonia to over see it's relocation if you have time."

"Understood. I'll make sure everything is delivered and secured. Don't you worry about a thing, Ms. Chairwoman! You can count on me!"

He sighed relieved. "Thank you. I knew I could. Now...Where we again with this giant mess?"

A piece of paper was placed down in front of her by her assistant. "The plans to repair the Wyndon Stadium. The quick repair job we did for the Champion Cup finals was temporary and needs to be quickly fixed fully."

"Of course."

So understandably with so much on his belt he barely had time for anything else. He did regret DEEPLY for not picking up any calls but he had been so busy and stressed out he just forgot. Can you blame him with everything that had been happening? Traveling to and from Spikemuth and Hammerlocke to deliver the plans to Piers and Raihan. Going BACK to said Hammerlocke in order to help Sonia and Officer Jenny supervise all that tech removal AAALLLLL the long way back to Wyndon just to be secured. And then going back and forth between Hammerlocke, Wyndon, and ALL over Galar just to supervise and help manage so many, MANY workers ranging from construction experts to electricians to professors even who worked hard to reroute all that power to where it was really needed (especially Spikemuth-) until they were far enough along to be able to handle the rest without him. Now if you thought THAT meant he'd be given a break then you'd be wrong. Once he got back to his home away from home in Wyndon, he was tasked with helping to start preparing two of the Chairwoman's ideas to, hopefully, impress Prince Lear when he arrived which wasn't too far along now so he had to put all his energy into helping to but this Battle Tower and Galarian Star Tournament to action. Don't think he was sharing all the burden however. The Chairwoman herself was more stressed than he was supervising the many, many, MANY minor damages Eternaus and Rose caused on top of having her best research team comb through that mysterious tech and Oleana's files, TRYING to find said Oleana which he was on board with since she was still considered a real danger in the eyes of many, checking in with the repairs to Hammerlocke and Spikemuth, checking in with the energy rerouting, checking in with him, checking in with Sonia whom she entrusted the hundred of Wishing Stars too-..And a lot of other things he lost count of. OH! She was also issuing a permanent caretaker and proper education plan for Allister while she was at it! Something Rose had been neglecting for so long which he approved! Allister certainly needed it. Then there was the legal matter of Piers wanting to retire and give full custody to Marnie that needed her approval-....

Wow. Come to think of it now she WAS WAY busier than he was.

He would admit it. Ms. Dahlia was a very hard worker and she was working very hard to fix everything, or as much as she could, before the Prince's arrival. Luckily everything seemed to be going smoothly-...Or so he thought. He had JUST finished with the plans and preparations for the Battle Tower and would've moved on to finishing the plans for the tournament when he was once again summoned to Ms. Dahlia's office. He was expecting to be asked for a progress report or maybe she wanted to go over something with him but instead he was met with a strange sight. Ms. Dahlia was sitting at her desk looking more annoyed than she had ever seen, but there was four other people there. One was a galarian police officer by his uniform, but there was also two other men by him looking to be detained by him. Both had sandy-blond hair and pastel blue and red suits with the strangest haircuts he had ever seen. Styled in a way that looked like a literal sword and shield. And then there was-....Piers?? The goth looked almost as tired as Ms. Dahlia did and just looked at him blankly. He instantly recognized the weird sword and shield duo. Why did he recognize them? Well that was because they were Sordward and Shielbert of Swordward and Shielbert Enterprizes. They owned many, many companies around Galar ranging to some big, well known ones in cities to more local and rural ones. But the real reason he knew them was because he would once and a while be sponsored by them or more specifically a company of theirs proof backed up by the logos his cape adorned. But he barely interacted with them. Maybe a chit chat here and there or a handshake but he always thought they were a strange bunch and hadn't ever given them much of a second thought before now.

"Uh-...Sorry." He apologized looking between the five people before him. "Am I interrupting something? I can come back later if you're having a meeting-"

"No, Leon." Ms. Dahlia's eyes narrowed as she slowly looked back towards the two brothers who squirmed and looked very squeamish under her ice cold glare. "Come on in and close the door behind you. Mr. Piers and I have something very important to discuss with you."

It was then that he was revealed the horror that had taken placed when he was distracted. He was told the whole story. Of how these two came up with the scheme of sending their own 'assistant' to be hired by Sonia only to steal the Wishing Stars and then steal a..ancient sword?? That info would be made sense of later when Speaking to Hop. About how much danger and chaos they had put everyone in- How much danger they had put HOP in. AND VICTOR. AND Y/N! He could feel a rare case of anger bubble up along with his fear and he had to grip the fabric of his pants to help him keep composed in front of everyone and NOT fly into a rage fueled rant aimed at the two. He was told by Piers everything from you all helping everyone calm the dynamaxed pokemon, to how they were able to summon the two dog-like legendaries, how Victor ended up accidentally saving the day with his great ability to spot details (GREAT JOB, VICTOR!! He was so proud of him and Hop!), and to how these two and their accomplices snuck into Hammerlocke and were eventually arrested and brought here to face the ire of the Chairwoman for what they had done. Piers SWORE to him up and down that you three were alright and aside from some scares no damage was done to anyone which was a HUGE relief off his shoulders. But that still begged the question.

"So...What did you call me here for then?"

"I called you and Mr. Piers here because I only trust the strongest trainer in Galar and someone who helped stop them to help with carrying out their punishment." She gestured to nothing. "My hands are full, and with so little time to prepare for an important event such as this I can't waste any set backs. BOTH of you have already caused delays including even more damage to Hammerlocke's stadium!" She spat and they flinched scared under her gaze. "You don't think Galar's reputation being at stake is more important than stroking both your egos?! If you two had succeeded in doing what you set out to do it would've set back everything we've worked so hard to fix for the better! NOT to mention putting countless lives at risk! You two are lucky you came willingly and no one was hurt, otherwise I would've given you a much more severe punishment then what I'm about to initiate."

"A-A-And we are SO grateful for that!," Shielbert blurted out in a scared hurry looking towards his older brother. "Aren't we, Brother?"

Sordward quickly nodded in agreement, same fearful expression on his face. "Oh yes!! So, SO grateful! We are fully ready to atone for our crimes and promise to never ever do that again!"

"Oh yes! We swear to Arceus with that promise!"

She sighed. "Mr. Piers. Leon." She addressed them making both men look at her. "I know I'm asking a lot of you two to do this. I know it interferes with your planning and your town's supervision but this is a critical time and I am asking for your help with this."

"Of course. You know I can always help you."

"*sigh* I suppose ah could have Marn-Marn n' my boys look after things for a lil while longer if s' that important to ya."

She sighed relieved. "Thank you both so much. I promise I'll do all I can to make it up to you both." She then went back to that scowl and pointed at the two cowardly brothers. "From this day forward I shall be keeping a VERY close eye on the both of you, but since you're willing to cooperate, I'm willing to listen and compromise. In fact I already have a few things in mind about how you can make up to us."

"Oh yes! Do tell!" "We're willing to do anything!"

"I'm glad you say so because I have my eye on a few very good pieces of property you two can sign over as compensation!" Both froze..and seemed to pale even more as she suddenly did a 180 and smiled as sweet as a grandmother as she went off. "Oh yes! That giant megamall in down town Wyndon. I believe you own all the stores within it. It'll be so perfect!"

"....You want...o-our mall?"

She smiled so sickeningly sweet. "Mall? Oh no no. You mean the new and affordable Wyndon University Collage!" They paled more- "Oh! And that one nice looking building in Hulbury!"

"O-O-Our beach house!?"

"Oh no! Not a beach house! You must be mistaking it for the loading deck for freighter ships! We always needed a bigger one you know!" She hummed finger tapping her chin as she fake thought. "Now what was that place just a little ways from the collage? The one that stretched a good ways taking up space in the city and was near the park-"

"The W-Wyndon golf course!?....OUR golf course!?"

"Oh no! You're mistaking that for the new shelters and health centers and soup kitchens for people who really need that kind of helping hand!" She smiled wider at the two and Leon blinked as Piers snorted and the goth had to turn his head to snicker. Shoulders shaking in a rare display of laughter. "And I'm SO glad you two agreed to also help make amends to Sonia by donating a large sum of your salary to her research!" She tilted her head. "And it was SO nice of you both to offer to PAY for the building of all my new little fun projects too.~"

".....We did?"

"Oh ab-so-lutely.~" Her voice said with an undertone that made them pale more-

"PPPFFFTT!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Piers couldn't hold back anymore and doubled over in his chair laughing and hugging his stomach and Leon couldn't help the amused look he was giving them both too.

"Hmm. But I think you boys still are forgetting something."

"....We are?"

"But of course. It wasn't very nice of you all to do such bad things and not even make amends to those you wronged. Hmm. What to do? What to do?" She then fake gasped and held up a finger. "I know! If you're so sorry, the best thing to do is go apologize to all those nice gym leaders and people you upset!"

...Shielbert gulped. "A-All o-of t-them?"

"All. Of. Them. Oh but you poor dears might get lost on your way. Don't worry. I'm sure these nice two young men would be happy to escort you. Then we can meet again to talk about those fun little projects I mentioned! Doesn't that sound like fun?~"

Piers by then was wheezing and threatening to fall out of his chair from their reaction but he didn't stop him from laughing. From there another long journey began. What he referred to as 'The Great Apologizing Spree'. Starting from Turffield then to Motostoke then to Hulbury first. Kabu and Nessa weren't too happy to have the two troublemakers made to apologize before them, Milo was probably the nicest one who accepted their apology. It was also then that Nessa decided to all of a sudden hitch a ride with them to discuss Victor of all things. Turns out she was interested in him the same way Kabu had been interested in making Gloria his successor. Victor's quick thinking and attention to details was something she was intrigued by. Hey! The more the merrier on their journey either way! Although there was still the matter of Victor not having too much confident in his battling skills. Unlike Gloria who had stage fright, Victor's issues was just a matter of self confidence. And unlike Gloria who could thrive and learn under hard training like with Kabu and Mustard's way of training their bodies, Victor was a more learning by observing and hard planning rather than doing and through intensive practice. A similarity he shared with Nessa, which is why she might've shown interest in taking him as a successor in the first place. He had an idea although he might not like it at first it seemed like a good idea. There was a special place he remembered, a town in the Crown Tundra. It'd be a good challenge for Victor, get him out of his comfort zone. Cold. He hated the cold but that might just what he needs to learn to steel his resolve, especially since there was so many things he could capture on camera there so he'd be determined to push harder to capture them in picture form. All it took was just stopping by a train station to pick up a pass on the way. Circhester, Stow-On-Side, Spikemuth- Piers ended up laughing hysterically when those two blokes literally dove behind Leon to hide from Bea as she went OFF on them. She always did have the attitude to back up her fighting skills. Poor Allister though. Then there was only two stops left. Postwick and Hammerlocke. Postwick first since it was closer and Nessa was getting anxious to meet Victor. Imagine Sonia and Ms. Magnolia's shock at seeing those two again. Well like Bea Magnolia sure had some choice words for the two before they were able to move on to find the lot of you. Firstly because he was legitimately worried and wanted to see all of you, secondly because Nessa waited long enough, and thirdly because he was anxious to get this long trip all over with. After this all he had to do was stop by Hammerlocke and cart these two off back to Wyndon. Sigh....Did he mention he still had a lot on his plate? He was SO relieved when he really did see that the three of you were ok and a lot happened during that visit of his. Turns out Sonia took on Hop as an apprentice, Victor accepted Nessa's offer of becoming her successor, Sonia got a new book to research, and you were doing just fine considering! Although he doubted you'd be traveling anywhere anytime soon. ...He uh...Also may or may not have mentioned something Magnolia was casually telling him about with Old Man Farmer Harry moving and wanting to sell his house and you mentioned wanting to find a place so obviously it was just a nice thing for him to do. Totally not because he was worried about you possibly leaving Galar! HAHAHA!! NOPE!! Absolutely not-....Ok. Maybe just a little bit but he couldn't explain why you possibly leaving but he would try to learn as soon as he could. A long trip to Hammerlocke and back to Wyndon later, and finally those two were off his hands and could further be dealt with by the Chairwoman. So now he could get back to planning for that tournament...

Right?

Papers shuffled against the desk late into the night as the moon had long since rose and the sun had set off the horizon. Nothing but the stars and moonlight giving any light to that world outside of them along with the warm breeze as summer was just going into it's last stage just approaching that year. She giggled just thinking about it. She would be taking her own trip soon to the Crown Tundra following a small hunch of hers. Perhaps she'd be able to see Victor while he was there. She'd make sure he was ok for Leon while she was there...Hmm. She wondered what Hop was up to at the Isle of Armor? She hoped he was getting those dynamax mushroom and nectar samples she sent him for and wasn't getting too distracted by anything. She was nearly finished preparing for her trip and hopefully she wouldn't come back with nothing from this trip-

Knock, knock, knock.

She paused as a sound echoed out through the otherwise silent lab and it caused the scientist to pause before blinking towards the door as more knocks came from it making her stand up. Someone was knocking at the lab door at this hour of the night? It must've been almost ten o' clock by now. Who'd be out at this time of night? And who'd be here at the lab of all places? Couldn't have been Hop. He wasn't even in Postwick and he would've called her if he was returning. And it couldn't have been her granny. She would've just walked in. So who- Again the knocks came so she got up and slowly walked to the door, and then she opened it, and she went to the door, and she opened it. And the professor was shocked at who exactly was on the other side. She was met with purple hair, gold eyes, and a worried expression on a familiar face.

"Leon!?"

"Uh. H-Hey Sonia," the champion greeted her with a soft look before pointing, "May I come in?"

She blinked. "Oh. Yeah." She stepped aside allowing him to walk in. "Come on in."

"Thank you..I'm..sorry If I came at a bad time-"

"Hey. It's alright." She said closing the door. "But Hop's not here right now. Or did you just get lost again?"

"Huh?" He blinked before holding up his hands. "Uh n-no. I didn't come here to really see anyone. Actually I um-...I-I'm kinda glad you're the only one here since I was hoping to talk to you actually."

She blinked and rose a brow looking him up and down before speaking. "You wanted to talk to me? Why? Is something wrong?"

"That's just it," he mumbled looking back down to the ground, "I don't know."

There was again another silence between them before Sonia sighed and gestured for Leon to follow her. "Sit down. I'll go get us some tea."

He did sit down near one of the desks as Sonia left and around ten minutes of him anxiously waiting later she returned with two cups of warm tea in her hands, handing one to him which he thanked her for before sitting across from the Champion silently. He sat there for a while looking at the cup in his hands.

"So. What brings you to the lab tonight?," Sonia asked finally breaking the tense silence between the two of them, "You must've had a really good reason if you didn't get lost this time."

He sighed. "That's just the thing! I don't know!" If he could've be would've let his head bang against the table with a groan as he closed his eyes and let it out. "Uuugh! I've been feeling...strange lately."

"Strange? In what ways?"

"In what ways?" he asked again and let go of the cup to move one of his hands around mindlessly. "I dunno. Like..My mind's all confused and muddled and once and a while my face would just burn up like i-it's on fire or something! And then I'd g-get embarrassed and start stuttering because I feel like I got butterfrees in my stomach."

Sonia listened and with each 'symptom' her face got more and more surprised and slightly concerned the more Leon spoke about it. "Really?" He nodded again feeling embarrassed without understanding again and in Sonia fashion the orange haired lady hummed and gazed at her own drink in thought for a moment. "..Have you thought that maybe all the stress with everything going on lately's been getting to you? Maybe you're just overworked and burnt out."

He shook his head. "Can't be. I'm not really feeling burnt out or stressed. Maybe a bit tired and annoyed but not that. Besides I'm used to taking on such a large amount of duties remember?"

"Ok. Maybe you're sick then? You mentioned your face burning up. Sounds like the signs of a fever to me."

After a moment he groaned again and the hat was snatched off his head to allow a hand to run through his thick purple locks. "Ggrraaagh!! No it's not that either! I don't know why it keeps happening but all these things keep happening to me only when I'm-...W-When I-I'm around-...Someone."

"...Someone? Could that 'someone' be sick then and you don't know?"

...He shook his head hand still holding it. "No. She's pretty healthy whenever I-I see her."

Sonia's eyes widened to the size of plates letting the silence fall pregnant for a good three minutes before she resumed her thinking face humming. "I see....Does any other symptoms pop up whenever you're around her?"

"I mean-...I-I guess."

"Could you describe them for me?"

He looked up surprised. "I mean..Yeah sure. If it'll help you figure out what's wrong with me."..He shrugged. "Other than what I said? ...W-Well like I said before it only happens when I'm around her..o-or thinking about her. I just feel so strange b-but not in a bad way if that even makes any sense! I just get so-...Weird! And it's s-starting to really worry me be-because I've never felt like this when I'm around anyone else." Gold eyes looked desperately at her. "Sonia, you're my oldest and smartest friend! If anyone could figure it out if would be you so t-that's why I came here! B-But if I'm being honest I s-still feel a bit embarrassed about having to come here a-and ask you."

"Mmm hmm. And uh when exactly did these 'symptoms' start happening around you two?"

He hissed through teeth. ''I-I don't know..I-I think maybe it started halfway through last year?? B-But lately i-ir's started to get a lot worse ever since we had a little-..." He still remembered how soft Y/n's lips we- "*AHEM!!* A l-little incident l-last Christmas!"

Sonia blinked at his sudden high pitched tone and the fact his face turned an embarrassed red in less than five seconds. It made both brows raise. "...An incident?" Leon felt himself gulp under her intense gaze as she narrowed her eyes and leaned across the table to stare him down. "And what kind of 'incident' was this Leon?"

...he gulped down feeling like it was trying to swallow a lump of frozen cactus in his throat. "HAHA!! S-S-So funny story! L-Last Christmas we were j-just c-c-casually hanging out as JUST FRIENDS!! ONLY FRIENDS!! B-But then she slipped o-on some ice a-a-and I caught h-her but then I slipped and I uh...he winced..W-Well...I uh.." He shrunk, body curling in on himself the longer Sonia's piercing gaze stared right through him. "I-...M-Might have hit her mouth..wi-with m-m-my face-

"You kissed someone?"

What followed was Leon giving off a noise sounding something between a wet meowth's screech and a started stantler bleat startling the scientist for a minute. "W-W-WHAT!? NO!!" He shouted WAY too quickly!! "...I-I mean n-no! I didn't-...We didn't-...I-IT WASN'T A KISS, SONIA!!"

"Did your lips touch hers?"

"Um..W-Well I mean-"

"And you're 'symptoms' have been worse since it happened?"

"Maybe there was a bit of an-"

"Then it's simple. You obviously have the hots for someone and you're totally embarrassed you kissed her."

Another meowth-stantler bleat- "S-S-SONIA!! D-DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT!!"

"Why not? That's obviously what's going on, you just couldn't see it. Y'know that's another thing you and Hop have in common."

"I just- ..You are-...I didn't-...RRRRR!!!" His red face was introduced to the inside of his hat as he loudly gave off a flustered yell. "I-I came so you could help me figure out what's wrong with me! Not t-t-tease me like we both kids again!"

"Leon. I'm not teasing you. Far from it."...He slowly looked up to give her a deadpanned look but she seriously shook her head and smiled. "I'm really not. In fact it's honestly really sweet you like someone! That isn't something to be ashamed about."

"Hmph! I b-beg to differ. Y/n's just a friend-"

"*GASP!!*" Her eyes widened again as she stared at him and he immediately wanted to slap himself- "You like Y/n!!" Her eyes got even WIDER!! "YOU TWO KISSED!?"

"ARCEUS SONIA BE QUIET!!", he shouted back in a panic, "I-I don't need all of Postwick awake for that!!"

"Sorry," she apologized but that didn't stop her surprised look, "But you like Y/n!? I never would've expected that!" he groaned and went to re-hide his fa- "Hey, hey, hey! There's nothing wrong with liking her, Lee!" She assured him quickly. "Y/n's a really nice person! I just never would've expected you to like her."

"Yeah? Well that makes t-two of us," he mumbled. He...LIKED you? Like..THAT!? NO WAY!! T-There's just no possible way he could..Right? But then again, Sonia's a girl and she's really smart so if she says so then maybe there's a chance he could "UGH!!" He facepalmed himself. "Well what do I do now!?"

"Just talked to her."

Another pokemon noise- "WHAT!?" He gawked at her like she had suddenly grown another head. "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!"

"Why not? You can't just keep letting this eat you up like this. Talking to her would help clear up the air between you two and make you feel better. Who knows? Maybe she even feels the same way."

"WHAT!? No way-"

"You can't say that when you DON'T know," she interrupted him, "Did you even ask her?"

"I-..*sigh* Well no. She never brought up the ki-..Incident so I fi-figured she didn't want to-to talk about it anymore or just forgot i-it even happened."

"Or maybe she does feel the same way but you're disregarding that." he remained silent and she sighed. "You came to me for help. My advice is to just talk to her. She's not a bad person and I'm sure she'd understand. But it's up to you to do whatever with the advice I gave you." She smiled. "I'm sure you'll make the right choice though. Just think it over."

Well he DID think it over. A lot. He had a lot of time to. When he was planning the tournament he thought about it. When he was doing favors for the Chairwoman he thought about it. When he was finished and the Chairwoman wanted him to personally deliver all the invites to everyone he thought about it. When he went to Postwick to deliver his family's and friends' invites he thought about it. When he didn't find you at his house and was surprised to have learnt you moved into Old Man Harry's old house he thought about it. When he walked to your new house he thought about it. When he knocked on your door he thought about it. When you answered he thought about it. When you blinked surprised to see him he thought about it.

"Leon?"

"Um...H-Hi, Y/n. Sorry to drop in unannounced like this b-but can I come in. There's uh...something I'd like to talk to you about."

[echantedtoon]

A Champion Time For The Heart Ch33 Through Golden Eyes P2

(This is the second half of Leon's P.O.V covering Post game events.)

This whole year went by in a blur of chaotic messes.

He made a promise that day to never let anything bad happen to anyone he cared about ever again and then it was a variety of things that happened afterwards. All of you were emergency flown to Wyndon Hospital as Mr. Rose was arrested and taken into custody. Luckily they were ok. And he was ok besides a few scrapes and bruises. And he was SO relieved when he found out you were ok as well! Despite how you looked when he first got you, and how long you were out, you would be fine. He wasn't sure HOW or WHY but the doctors confirmed you were absolutely ok and you were going to be just fine. All you had just a goose egg on your head along with a major headache that would be resolved quickly. He was able to see you once (after getting lost and ending up a few places and visiting a few kids by accident-) and then a second time where you poured your backstory and heart to him and he was finally able to piece together your entire backstory. Losing your father in a similar way Glory and Vic did and having a controlling mother caused you to flee Kalos and come all the way to Galar. That also might explain why you never had pokemon before. Honestly she sounded like a narcissist and a nightmare. He was glad you got out of that situation though. He...felt ok enough to semi-share his own experiences but never went into deep detail which you respected which again both surprised and made him happy. Anyone would've pushed him for more details because well-...He was the famous champion and everyone wanted to know everything about him. He even had a reporter, Gillian id he remembered right, always trying to ask him about his past and family and his brother's defeat and had once or twice brought you up since you were seen with him outside Wyndon stadium. But he shut down those intrusive questions faster than a rapidash. Then there was making sure you all went home safely and then arriving home back on Valentine's Day. And his grandpa just had to give him a little piece of advice-

"She's a keeper, Lee. You take Grandpa's advice and settle down with this one," he said with a wink and nodding over to your retreating form.

In an instant, Leon's face went bright red. "G-GRANDPA!!"

Why did his Grandpa say THAT!? Well-.....To be fair his grandparents and mother HAD been talking about that kind of topic for a couple years now-

"Leon. When are you going to settle down and take some time for yourself?" "Yes. When are we going to get a new daughter-in-law? Or maybe even another son if we're extra lucky!"

To which he always laughed it off. "Sorry. But my Champion duties take up a lot of time. Not today but maybe someday!"

"Well what about Sonia? She cooks too and you two get along so well. Or perhaps that nice young man you always fight? You always say he's such a strong rival."

It was a little embarrassing but they didn't push it and other than asking once and a while if he was seeing anyone, they stopped bringing it up upon realizing he was serious about his duties taking up so much of his focus. In fact he hadn't really thought of finding someone to settle down with them. But for some reason he felt...compelled to do something for Y/n. On Valentine's Day. And it left him feeling pangs of something in his chest.

"Y-Y/N!"

You blinked up surprised to see Leon walking towards you holding a small container but smiled. "Hey, Lee. I thought you would've gone to bed by now."

He seemed to smile nervously and rub the back of his neck with a hand. A habit he did when feeling nervous or embarrassed, and coughed. "W-Well I was actually."

"Did..you get lost again?"

"Wha-...N-No, no, no, no!!" he held up a hand. "I d-didn't get lost this time!" Also panickily he thrusted out the container which you recognized as the container Ms. Magnolia gave him earlier today. "I-It's just that I d-don't really like t-these kind of cookies too well b-but I didn't want to be rude to Ms. Magnolia s-so I was just wondering if you wanted them and came down here to give them to you!" He forced out quickly face reddening.

Oh. So that's why he was here. With a bright smile you took the small cookie tin from him. "Thanks Lee! But are you sure? She did make these for you?"

"Y-Y-Yeah! I'm sure! It's no problem!" He gulped. "I-It's better t-to not let them go to waste! Y'know?"

You nodded. Yeah. It would be a waste of food if he just threw them out you supposed. "I see. Ok then! Thank you! I'm sure they'll be..*yyaaawwnn* -delicious." With a turn of your body you bid him good night. "But I think I'll hit the hay now. Good night. And Happy Valentine's Day!"

Leon only smiled widely with a nervous wave as you descended into the basement. "Y-Yeah. H-Happy Valentine's Day to you too."

And then there was all the other important matters that happened in the months that followed. Kabu approached him interested in taking in the trainer, Gloria, he endorsed as a future replacement for his gym. Of course he agreed to take him to see her seeing as it was a great opportunity and as for Gloria's stage fright, he knew exactly who could help her out with that! Mustard was an excellent teacher, and he knew for certain he could help her! He had seen you there but-...It wasn't the best time to talk to you about the mixed feelings he was going through upon seeing you, nothing bad really just-...New and confusing. Plus he had still so much on his plate helping the new Chairwoman fix what Mr. Rose did and organizing things. One thing being SUPER IMPORTANT that resulted in a personal meeting to her office. He still remembered walking into her big office in Rose Tower after receiving her request and blinking at what the tired disheveled woman said.

"A-....A tournament?"

She nodded holding her head tiredly surrounded by four tall stacks of papers on her desk and he could see the bags under her eyes, her new assistant right next to her holding a fifth stack of papers in his arms. Poor fella looked just as tired as she did. "Yes. Within a few months time the Prince from the Pasio Region will be arriving. He wishes to select a handful of our gym leaders and possibly yourself for the world's first ever Masters League with every other region. It's a critical matter that Galar does it's best to succeed and earn that right to compete. There's no doubt what happened just last year may leave him with a bad taste in his mouth. I will not have Rose taint Galar's good name with other regions. I want you to help me plan a show worthy of his acceptance in advance."

OH! So this was about making a good first impression to him and other regions. Of course he'd help with that. He nodded to her with a serious face. "Of course. I'll do whatever I can to help you. Just tell me what you need to be done and I'll do it." To which he blinked when one of the four giant stacks of papers was pushed towards him by her tired hand. "...What's this?"

"Plans to reroute energy to take care of the power crisis once and for all."

He blinked surprised. "Wait...You found out a solution to that!?"

She nodded. "Rose's plan was to revive that monster, Eternatus, and capture it to use it's living energy as a Region wide energy source and while it may have been possible, it was an incredibly stupid and desperate idea. He was so wrapped up in this grand plan to become a hero he didn't realize he solved his own dilemma."

"What do you mean?"

"Reviving that thing meant he needed lots and lots of power. So he installed hundreds of solar panels and wind mills and other means to route new power and energy just to the Hammerlocke powerplant. In doing so he was wasting energy and could've solved everything using that." She gestured towards the papers. "Those are the plans for the Electric company to reroute and distribute all of that extra energy to the corners of Galar. If done properly, he won't have to worry about it too longer I hope."

He stared in her in awe before looking back at the papers. "This is-...T-T-That's amazing!" He beamed brightly. "This could fix everything! I'll take this and make sure it's done down to the very last detail!"

"It's not all just plans for rerouting power," she spoke tiredly with a sigh, "There's a reason that pile is so big and separated into sections. Some are repair and rebuilding plans for both Spikemuth and Hammerlocke due to the damage and disarray Rose's actions put them in. I want you to make sure those plans in particular are delivered to both Piers and Raihan."

"Oh. So you're having them help over see the damages too huh?"

"There's much to be done and much to repair. We'll be needing all the help we can get." He nodded. Understandable. He was sure both Raihan and Piers could make certain the needed repairs were made. And the poor Chairwoman looked like she could use all the help she could get sorting through all this mess. "Speaking of which, next month sensitive tech will be transported from the Hammerlocke powerplant to a research facility here in Wyndon. It's better to keep that kind of technology is secured and not left out to be taken. I'd like both you and Sonia to over see it's relocation if you have time."

"Understood. I'll make sure everything is delivered and secured. Don't you worry about a thing, Ms. Chairwoman! You can count on me!"  

He sighed relieved. "Thank you. I knew I could. Now...Where we again with this giant mess?"

A piece of paper was placed down in front of her by her assistant. "The plans to repair the Wyndon Stadium. The quick repair job we did for the Champion Cup finals was temporary and needs to be quickly fixed fully."

"Of course."

So understandably with so much on his belt he barely had time for anything else. He did regret DEEPLY for not picking up any calls but he had been so busy and stressed out he just forgot. Can you blame him with everything that had been happening? Traveling to and from Spikemuth and Hammerlocke to deliver the plans to Piers and Raihan. Going BACK to said Hammerlocke in order to help Sonia and Officer Jenny supervise all that tech removal AAALLLLL the long way back to Wyndon just to be secured. And then going back and forth between Hammerlocke, Wyndon, and ALL over Galar just to supervise and help manage so many, MANY workers ranging from construction experts to electricians to professors even who worked hard to reroute all that power to where it was really needed (especially Spikemuth-) until they were far enough along to be able to handle the rest without him. Now if you thought THAT meant he'd be given a break then you'd be wrong. Once he got back to his home away from home in Wyndon, he was tasked with helping to start preparing two of the Chairwoman's ideas to, hopefully, impress Prince Lear when he arrived which wasn't too far along now so he had to put all his energy into helping to but this Battle Tower and Galarian Star Tournament to action. Don't think he was sharing all the burden however. The Chairwoman herself was more stressed than he was supervising the many, many, MANY minor damages Eternaus and Rose caused on top of having her best research team comb through that mysterious tech and Oleana's files, TRYING to find said Oleana which he was on board with since she was still considered a real danger in the eyes of many, checking in with the repairs to Hammerlocke and Spikemuth, checking in with the energy rerouting, checking in with him, checking in with Sonia whom she entrusted the hundred of Wishing Stars too-..And a lot of other things he lost count of. OH! She was also issuing a permanent caretaker and proper education plan for Allister while she was at it! Something Rose had been neglecting for so long which he approved! Allister certainly needed it. Then there was the legal matter of Piers wanting to retire and give full custody to Marnie that needed her approval-....

Wow. Come to think of it now she WAS WAY busier than he was.

He would admit it. Ms. Dahlia was a very hard worker and she was working very hard to fix everything, or as much as she could, before the Prince's arrival. Luckily everything seemed to be going smoothly-...Or so he thought. He had JUST finished with the plans and preparations for the Battle Tower and would've moved on to finishing the plans for the tournament when he was once again summoned to Ms. Dahlia's office. He was expecting to be asked for a progress report or maybe she wanted to go over something with him but instead he was met with a strange sight. Ms. Dahlia was sitting at her desk looking more annoyed than she had ever seen, but there was four other people there. One was a galarian police officer by his uniform, but there was also two other men by him looking to be detained by him. Both had sandy-blond hair and pastel blue and red suits with the strangest haircuts he had ever seen. Styled in a way that looked like a literal sword and shield. And then there was-....Piers?? The goth looked almost as tired as Ms. Dahlia did and just looked at him blankly. He instantly recognized the weird sword and shield duo. Why did he recognize them? Well that was because they were Sordward and Shielbert of Swordward and Shielbert Enterprizes. They owned many, many companies around Galar ranging to some big, well known ones in cities to more local and rural ones. But the real reason he knew them was because he would once and a while be sponsored by them or more specifically a company of theirs proof backed up by the logos his cape adorned. But he barely interacted with them. Maybe a chit chat here and there or a handshake but he always thought they were a strange bunch and hadn't ever given them much of a second thought before now.

"Uh-...Sorry." He apologized looking between the five people before him. "Am I interrupting something? I can come back later if you're having a meeting-"

"No, Leon." Ms. Dahlia's eyes narrowed as she slowly looked back towards the two brothers who squirmed and looked very squeamish under her ice cold glare. "Come on in and close the door behind you. Mr. Piers and I have something very important to discuss with you." 

It was then that he was revealed the horror that had taken placed when he was distracted. He was told the whole story. Of how these two came up with the scheme of sending their own 'assistant' to be hired by Sonia only to steal the Wishing Stars and then steal a..ancient sword?? That info would be made sense of later when Speaking to Hop. About how much danger and chaos they had put everyone in- How much danger they had put HOP in. AND VICTOR. AND Y/N! He could feel a rare case of anger bubble up along with his fear and he had to grip the fabric of his pants to help him keep composed in front of everyone and NOT fly into a rage fueled rant aimed at the two. He was told by Piers everything from you all helping everyone calm the dynamaxed pokemon, to how they were able to summon the two dog-like legendaries, how Victor ended up accidentally saving the day with his great ability to spot details (GREAT JOB, VICTOR!! He was so proud of him and Hop!), and to how these two and their accomplices snuck into Hammerlocke and were eventually arrested and brought here to face the ire of the Chairwoman for what they had done. Piers SWORE to him up and down that you three were alright and aside from some scares no damage was done to anyone which was a HUGE relief off his shoulders. But that still begged the question. 

"So...What did you call me here for then?"

"I called you and Mr. Piers here because I only trust the strongest trainer in Galar and someone who helped stop them to help with carrying out their punishment." She gestured to nothing. "My hands are full, and with so little time to prepare for an important event such as this I can't waste any set backs. BOTH of you have already caused delays including even more damage to Hammerlocke's stadium!" She spat and they flinched scared under her gaze. "You don't think Galar's reputation being at stake is more important than stroking both your egos?! If you two had succeeded in doing what you set out to do it would've set back everything we've worked so hard to fix for the better! NOT to mention putting countless lives at risk! You two are lucky you came willingly and no one was hurt, otherwise I would've given you a much more severe punishment then what I'm about to initiate."

"A-A-And we are SO grateful for that!," Shielbert blurted out in a scared hurry looking towards his older brother. "Aren't we, Brother?"

Sordward quickly nodded in agreement, same fearful expression on his face. "Oh yes!! So, SO grateful! We are fully ready to atone for our crimes and promise to never ever do that again!"

"Oh yes! We swear to Arceus with that promise!"

She sighed. "Mr. Piers. Leon." She addressed them making both men look at her. "I know I'm asking a lot of you two to do this. I know it interferes with your planning and your town's supervision but this is a critical time and I am asking for your help with this."

"Of course. You know I can always help you."

"*sigh* I suppose ah could have Marn-Marn n' my boys look after things for a lil while longer if s' that important to ya."

She sighed relieved. "Thank you both so much. I promise I'll do all I can to make it up to you both." She then went back to that scowl and pointed at the two cowardly brothers. "From this day forward I shall be keeping a VERY close eye on the both of you, but since you're willing to cooperate, I'm willing to listen and compromise. In fact I already have a few things in mind about how you can make up to us."

"Oh yes! Do tell!" "We're willing to do anything!"

"I'm glad you say so because I have my eye on a few very good pieces of property you two can sign over as compensation!" Both froze..and seemed to pale even more as she suddenly did a 180 and smiled as sweet as a grandmother as she went off. "Oh yes! That giant megamall in down town Wyndon. I believe you own all the stores within it. It'll be so perfect!"

"....You want...o-our mall?"

She smiled so sickeningly sweet. "Mall? Oh no no. You mean the new and affordable Wyndon University Collage!" They paled more- "Oh! And that one nice looking building in Hulbury!"

"O-O-Our beach house!?"

"Oh no! Not a beach house! You must be mistaking it for the loading deck for freighter ships! We always needed a bigger one you know!" She hummed finger tapping her chin as she fake thought. "Now what was that place just a little ways from the collage? The one that stretched a good ways taking up space in the city and was near the park-"

"The W-Wyndon golf course!?....OUR golf course!?"

"Oh no! You're mistaking that for the new shelters and health centers and soup kitchens for people who really need that kind of helping hand!" She smiled wider at the two and Leon blinked as Piers snorted and the goth had to turn his head to snicker. Shoulders shaking in a rare display of laughter. "And I'm SO glad you two agreed to also help make amends to Sonia by donating a large sum of your salary to her research!" She tilted her head. "And it was SO nice of you both to offer to PAY for the building of all my new little fun projects too.~"

".....We did?"

"Oh ab-so-lutely.~" Her voice said with an undertone that made them pale more-

"PPPFFFTT!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Piers couldn't hold back anymore and doubled over in his chair laughing and hugging his stomach and Leon couldn't help the amused look he was giving them both too.

"Hmm. But I think you boys still are forgetting something."

"....We are?"

"But of course. It wasn't very nice of you all to do such bad things and not even make amends to those you wronged. Hmm. What to do? What to do?" She then fake gasped and held up a finger. "I know! If you're so sorry, the best thing to do is go apologize to all those nice gym leaders and people you upset!"

...Shielbert gulped. "A-All o-of t-them?"

"All. Of. Them. Oh but you poor dears might get lost on your way. Don't worry. I'm sure these nice two young men would be happy to escort you. Then we can meet again to talk about those fun little projects I mentioned! Doesn't that sound like fun?~"

Piers by then was wheezing and threatening to fall out of his chair from their reaction but he didn't stop him from laughing. From there another long journey began. What he referred to as 'The Great Apologizing Spree'. Starting from Turffield then to Motostoke then to Hulbury first. Kabu and Nessa weren't too happy to have the two troublemakers made to apologize before them, Milo was probably the nicest one who accepted their apology. It was also then that Nessa decided to all of a sudden hitch a ride with them to discuss Victor of all things. Turns out she was interested in him the same way Kabu had been interested in making Gloria his successor. Victor's quick thinking and attention to details was something she was intrigued by. Hey! The more the merrier on their journey either way! Although there was still the matter of Victor not having too much confident in his battling skills. Unlike Gloria who had stage fright, Victor's issues was just a matter of self confidence. And unlike Gloria who could thrive and learn under hard training like with Kabu and Mustard's way of training their bodies, Victor was a more learning by observing and hard planning rather than doing and through intensive practice. A similarity he shared with Nessa, which is why she might've shown interest in taking him as a successor in the first place. He had an idea although he might not like it at first it seemed like a good idea. There was a special place he remembered, a town in the Crown Tundra. It'd be a good challenge for Victor, get him out of his comfort zone. Cold. He hated the cold but that might just what he needs to learn to steel his resolve, especially since there was so many things he could capture on camera there so he'd be determined to push harder to capture them in picture form. All it took was just stopping by a train station to pick up a pass on the way. Circhester, Stow-On-Side, Spikemuth- Piers ended up laughing hysterically when those two blokes literally dove behind Leon to hide from Bea as she went OFF on them. She always did have the attitude to back up her fighting skills. Poor Allister though. Then there was only two stops left. Postwick and Hammerlocke. Postwick first since it was closer and Nessa was getting anxious to meet Victor. Imagine Sonia and Ms. Magnolia's shock at seeing those two again. Well like Bea Magnolia sure had some choice words for the two before they were able to move on to find the lot of you. Firstly because he was legitimately worried and wanted to see all of you, secondly because Nessa waited long enough, and thirdly because he was anxious to get this long trip all over with. After this all he had to do was stop by Hammerlocke and cart these two off back to Wyndon. Sigh....Did he mention he still had a lot on his plate? He was SO relieved when he really did see that the three of you were ok and a lot happened during that visit of his. Turns out Sonia took on Hop as an apprentice, Victor accepted Nessa's offer of becoming her successor, Sonia got a new book to research, and you were doing just fine considering! Although he doubted you'd be traveling anywhere anytime soon. ...He uh...Also may or may not have mentioned something Magnolia was casually telling him about with Old Man Farmer Harry moving and wanting to sell his house and you mentioned wanting to find a place so obviously it was just a nice thing for him to do. Totally not because he was worried about you possibly leaving Galar! HAHAHA!! NOPE!! Absolutely not-....Ok. Maybe just a little bit but he couldn't explain why you possibly leaving but he would try to learn as soon as he could. A long trip to Hammerlocke and back to Wyndon later, and finally those two were off his hands and could further be dealt with by the Chairwoman. So now he could get back to planning for that tournament...

Right?

Papers shuffled against the desk late into the night as the moon had long since rose and the sun had set off the horizon. Nothing but the stars and moonlight giving any light to that world outside of them along with the warm breeze as summer was just going into it's last stage just approaching that year. She giggled just thinking about it. She would be taking her own trip soon to the Crown Tundra following a small hunch of hers. Perhaps she'd be able to see Victor while he was there. She'd make sure he was ok for Leon while she was there...Hmm. She wondered what Hop was up to at the Isle of Armor? She hoped he was getting those dynamax mushroom and nectar samples she sent him for and wasn't getting too distracted by anything. She was nearly finished preparing for her trip and hopefully she wouldn't come back with nothing from this trip-

Knock, knock, knock.

She paused as a sound echoed out through the otherwise silent lab and it caused the scientist to pause before blinking towards the door as more knocks came from it making her stand up. Someone was knocking at the lab door at this hour of the night? It must've been almost ten o' clock by now. Who'd be out at this time of night? And who'd be here at the lab of all places? Couldn't have been Hop. He wasn't even in Postwick and he would've called her if he was returning. And it couldn't have been her granny. She would've just walked in. So who- Again the knocks came so she got up and slowly walked to the door, and then she opened it, and she went to the door, and she opened it. And the professor was shocked at who exactly was on the other side. She was met with purple hair, gold eyes, and a worried expression on a familiar face.

"Leon!?"

"Uh. H-Hey Sonia," the champion greeted her with a soft look before pointing, "May I come in?"

She blinked. "Oh. Yeah." She stepped aside allowing him to walk in. "Come on in."

"Thank you..I'm..sorry If I came at a bad time-"

"Hey. It's alright." She said closing the door. "But Hop's not here right now. Or did you just get lost again?"

"Huh?" He blinked before holding up his hands. "Uh n-no. I didn't come here to really see anyone. Actually I um-...I-I'm kinda glad you're the only one here since I was hoping to talk to you actually."

She blinked and rose a brow looking him up and down before speaking. "You wanted to talk to me? Why? Is something wrong?"

"That's just it," he mumbled looking back down to the ground, "I don't know."

There was again another silence between them before Sonia sighed and gestured for Leon to follow her. "Sit down. I'll go get us some tea."

He did sit down near one of the desks as Sonia left and around ten minutes of him anxiously waiting later she returned with two cups of warm tea in her hands, handing  one to him which he thanked her for before sitting across from the Champion silently. He sat there for a while looking at the cup in his hands.

"So. What brings you to the lab tonight?," Sonia asked finally breaking the tense silence between the two of them, "You must've had a really good reason if you didn't get lost this time."

He sighed. "That's just the thing! I don't know!" If he could've be would've let his head bang against the table with a groan as he closed his eyes and let it out. "Uuugh! I've been feeling...strange lately."

"Strange? In what ways?"

"In what ways?" he asked again and let go of the cup to move one of his hands around mindlessly. "I dunno. Like..My mind's all confused and muddled and once and a while my face would just burn up like i-it's on fire or something! And then I'd g-get embarrassed and start stuttering because I feel like I got butterfrees in my stomach."

Sonia listened and with each 'symptom' her face got more and more surprised and slightly concerned the more Leon spoke about it. "Really?" He nodded again feeling embarrassed without understanding again and in Sonia fashion the orange haired lady hummed and gazed at her own drink in thought for a moment. "..Have you thought that maybe all the stress with everything going on lately's been getting to you? Maybe you're just overworked and burnt out."

He shook his head. "Can't be. I'm not really feeling burnt out or stressed. Maybe a bit tired and annoyed but not that. Besides I'm used to taking on such a large amount of duties remember?"

"Ok. Maybe you're sick then? You mentioned your face burning up. Sounds like the signs of a fever to me."

After a moment he groaned again and the hat was snatched off his head to allow a hand to run through his thick purple locks. "Ggrraaagh!! No it's not that either! I don't know why it keeps happening but all these things keep happening to me only when I'm-...W-When I-I'm around-...Someone."

"...Someone? Could that 'someone' be sick then and you don't know?"

...He shook his head hand still holding it. "No. She's pretty healthy whenever I-I see her."

Sonia's eyes widened to the size of plates letting the silence fall pregnant for a good three minutes before she resumed her thinking face humming. "I see....Does any other symptoms pop up whenever you're around her?"

"I mean-...I-I guess."

"Could you describe them for me?"

He looked up surprised. "I mean..Yeah sure. If it'll help you figure out what's wrong with me."..He shrugged. "Other than what I said? ...W-Well like I said before it only happens when I'm around her..o-or thinking about her. I just feel so strange b-but not in a bad way if that even makes any sense! I just get so-...Weird! And it's s-starting to really worry me be-because I've never felt like this when I'm around anyone else." Gold eyes looked desperately at her. "Sonia, you're my oldest and smartest friend! If anyone could figure it out if would be you so t-that's why I came here! B-But if I'm being honest I s-still feel a bit embarrassed about having to come here a-and ask you."

"Mmm hmm. And uh when exactly did these 'symptoms' start happening around you two?"

He hissed through teeth. ''I-I don't know..I-I think maybe it started halfway through last year?? B-But lately i-ir's started to get a lot worse ever since we had a little-..." He still remembered how soft Y/n's lips we- "*AHEM!!* A l-little incident l-last Christmas!"

Sonia blinked at his sudden high pitched tone and the fact his face turned an embarrassed red in less than five seconds. It made both brows raise. "...An incident?" Leon felt himself gulp under her intense gaze as she narrowed her eyes and leaned across the table to stare him down. "And what kind of 'incident' was this Leon?"

...he gulped down feeling like it was trying to swallow a lump of frozen cactus in his throat. "HAHA!! S-S-So funny story! L-Last Christmas we were j-just c-c-casually hanging out as JUST FRIENDS!! ONLY FRIENDS!! B-But then she slipped o-on some ice a-a-and I caught h-her but then I slipped and I uh...he winced..W-Well...I uh.." He shrunk, body curling in on himself the longer Sonia's piercing gaze stared right through him. "I-...M-Might have hit her mouth..wi-with m-m-my face-

"You kissed someone?"

What followed was Leon giving off a noise sounding something between a wet meowth's screech and a started stantler bleat startling the scientist for a minute. "W-W-WHAT!? NO!!" He shouted WAY too quickly!! "...I-I mean n-no! I didn't-...We didn't-...I-IT WASN'T A KISS, SONIA!!"

"Did your lips touch hers?"

"Um..W-Well I mean-"

"And you're 'symptoms' have been worse since it happened?"

"Maybe there was a bit of an-"

"Then it's simple. You obviously have the hots for someone and you're totally embarrassed you kissed her."

Another meowth-stantler bleat- "S-S-SONIA!! D-DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT!!"

"Why not? That's obviously what's going on, you just couldn't see it. Y'know that's another thing you and Hop have in common."

"I just- ..You are-...I didn't-...RRRRR!!!" His red face was introduced to the inside of his hat as he loudly gave off a flustered yell. "I-I came so you could help me figure out what's wrong with me! Not t-t-tease me like we both kids again!"

"Leon. I'm not teasing you. Far from it."...He slowly looked up to give her a deadpanned look but she seriously shook her head and smiled. "I'm really not. In fact it's honestly really sweet you like someone! That isn't something to be ashamed about."

"Hmph! I b-beg to differ. Y/n's just a friend-"

"*GASP!!*" Her eyes widened again as she stared at him and he immediately wanted to slap himself- "You like Y/n!!" Her eyes got even WIDER!! "YOU TWO KISSED!?"

"ARCEUS SONIA BE QUIET!!", he shouted back in a panic, "I-I don't need all of Postwick awake for that!!"

"Sorry," she apologized but that didn't stop her surprised look, "But you like Y/n!? I never would've expected that!" he groaned and went to re-hide his fa- "Hey, hey, hey! There's nothing wrong with liking her, Lee!" She assured him quickly. "Y/n's a really nice person! I just never would've expected you to like her."

"Yeah? Well that makes t-two of us," he mumbled. He...LIKED you? Like..THAT!? NO WAY!! T-There's just no possible way he could..Right? But then again, Sonia's a girl and she's really smart so if she says so then maybe there's a chance he could "UGH!!" He facepalmed himself. "Well what do I do now!?"

"Just talked to her."

Another pokemon noise- "WHAT!?" He gawked at her like she had suddenly grown another head. "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!"

"Why not? You can't just keep letting this eat you up like this. Talking to her would help clear up the air between you two and make you feel better. Who knows? Maybe she even feels the same way."

"WHAT!? No way-"

"You can't say that when you DON'T know," she interrupted him, "Did you even ask her?"

"I-..*sigh* Well no. She never brought up the ki-..Incident so I fi-figured she didn't want to-to talk about it anymore or just forgot i-it even happened."

"Or maybe she does feel the same way but you're disregarding that." he remained silent and she sighed. "You came to me for help. My advice is to just talk to her. She's not a bad person and I'm sure she'd understand. But it's up to you to do whatever with the advice I gave you." She smiled. "I'm sure you'll make the right choice though. Just think it over."

Well he DID think it over. A lot. He had a lot of time to. When he was planning the tournament he thought about it. When he was doing favors for the Chairwoman he thought about it. When he was finished and the Chairwoman wanted him to personally deliver all the invites to everyone he thought about it. When he went to Postwick to deliver his family's and friends' invites he thought about it. When he didn't find you at his house and was surprised to have learnt you moved into Old Man Harry's old house he thought about it. When he walked to your new house he thought about it. When he knocked on your door he thought about it. When you answered he thought about it. When you blinked surprised to see him he thought about it.

"Leon?"

"Um...H-Hi, Y/n. Sorry to drop in unannounced like this b-but can I come in. There's uh...something I'd like to talk to you about."

[hotcoffeetransformation]

Jason swore loudly and had to resist the urge to throw his controller down, pissed that he kept dying cause of the game's stupid glitches (Also known as own mistakes). Still, he regained his composure, and smiled before saying

"Alright chat, we're gonna finish up this one and then we're gonna move on to another game. There should be a poll on top for what we do next"

Jason was a moderately successfully game streamer, averaging about 200 to 300 viewers a night, entirely based on his wit and skill. He knew for sure that they weren't coming for his looks, given his weedy, thin frame, overly pimpled face and large, nerdy glasses. Still, it was enough for him, and he was happy with the progress that he'd made.

As Jason got himself set up for the next game, he heard a shocking sound from above him. The victory theme from one of his favorite JRPGs was blaring through the speakers, and he came up, staring at the screen in shock. He knew what that sound meant. That meant someone had tipped him one thousand dollars, completely out of nowhere.

He looked in shock at the notification on the stream, seeing that it was from someone named JockBro69, with the simple message "Can't wait to get to know you better, cutie~"

Jason was completely stunned. Not only had someone actually redeemed the donation goal that he set as a joke (That being that whoever was stupid enough to tip 1000 dollars got to have a 15 minute private chat with him), it was also someone that he'd never seen in his chat before.

Thoroughly weirded out, but knowing that he had to honor his commitment, he sent the guy a quick private message.

"Dude, I don't know how to thank you enough! Guess I'll see ya pretty soon!"

With that, he sent the man his private zoom link, and said goodbye to the chat, who were still going wild over this turn of events, before pausing,the stream and hopping over to discord for the call.

Not two seconds after his stream stopped, he got a requested video call on discord from the guy, and he opened it up, giving a second for the video to load, but when it did, he was completely dumbfounded again. He was expecting the mysterious donator to be some fat, sweaty silicon valley nerd with too much and money on his hands, but instead what met him was possibly the hottest man he's ever seen, standing up and looking down at his webcam with a friendly expression.

"Fuck, bro! Its so good to finally fucking meet you, I've been such a big fan for a long time, and this is a really big deal for me~

The man had a deep, rumbling, pleasant voice, that shot straight down Jacob's spine and left him feeling strangely... inadequate. Like the fact that his voice wasn't as smooth or melodic as this guy's was his fault, and he should be ashamed of that fact. Still, this guy was pretty pleasant to look at, Jason had to admit. He wasn't gay, definitely not, but he could acknowledge when another guy simply looked good.

Jason scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, not entirely sure of what he should do or say. Still, this guy spent 1000 dollars on this meeting, so he had to try anyway.

"So, umm.... I see your username is jockbro69... What's your actual name thought? I don't think I've ever seen you in chat before..."

The other man actually laughed at this, before looking confused and saying

"What are you talking about bro? Its me, Ethan! I'm in your chat all the time! Man, I guess what they say about playing games so much is true, huh?"

At this statement, Jason actually went pale with shock. THIS was Ethan? This was the guy who's username used to be runningLink? Who was an active fan of the zelda series, constantly begged Jason to play them, and bemoaned the fact that no would date him? It just didn't seem right...

Still, Jason, ever the semi professional, continued on, pretending that he wasn't shocked at the news.

"Well, thanks for supporting me so much! Seriously, this means a lot to me... Ummm... so I guess tell me some of your favorite things about the channel then!"

The man laughed again, the sound coming out in a slow, dumb chuckle, before saying

"What's my favorite thing? Do I even have to say, bro? Its the amazing piece of eye candy I'm looking at right now. You're super hot, bro~"

At this, Jason was shocked, but he chuckled awkwardly while blushing, and said

"Really? I don't think I've ever heard a single person say that before. I guess I consider myself slightly below average..."

The guy looked confused at that, before pressing on

"Really, bro? You look super hot to me, you got those bright, blinding blue eyes that you can just get lost in~"

At this point, Jason knew the man was just messing with him. His eyes have always, and will always be a dark, muddy brown, hidden behind his massive frames. Jason was about to respond, when Ethan continued

"Yeah, and you got that super stylish haircut too, really makes you look super masculine~"

Now Jason was REALLY confused. The guy was right, he did always get complements on his eyes, the bright, shocking blue visible and striking even through his huge glasses. But his hair was always a long, unkempt greasy mess.

"Ethan, are you sure you're okay, you're not just seeing things? Cause I don't know what you're talking about"

Ethan ignored the comment, just continuing to press on

"And you've got that hot, manly face, with your strong jaw and amazing profile"

Jason was confused again. Sure, his stylish haircut did help him look much better, but his face had always been pretty androgynous, with hints of baby fat still present in his cheeks. Again, before he could interrupt, Ethan continued,

"And you've got that smooth smooth skin, that hot stubble, that sexy smirk of yours. You're the full package bro~"

Jason laughed at this. Ethan was clearly being way too complementary. Sure his face had a great shape to it, with strong cheekbones and a square jaw, but his skin was still acne marked as hell, his smile was crooked and awkward, and he'd never been able to grow any facial hair, no matter how much he tried.

"I really have no idea what you're talking about Ethan. Sure I've got some good features, but the overall package isn't much to write home about~"

Ethan smirked again, his eyes lighting up with humor, as if he knew something I didn't.

"Nah, bro, you're underselling yourself. Plus, you've got that body~"

"What about my body? I think its pretty average, though I guess I'm a bit on the skinny side..."

Jason looked down at himself, trying to contemplate what Ethan meant. Sure, he'd been blessed with an attractive, manly face, but it didn't change the fact that his body was still below average at best.

"Again, bro! Putting yourself down. You really think those massive logs you have for arms are below average?"

Jason looked down at his skinny arms, and said

"More like logs than twigs man, seriously."

"And what about your legs? You've spent so long working on em, you've got thighs and glutes to kill for~"

Jason laughed again

"I dunno man! Most people say the exact opposite. They say I spend too much time on arms and not enough on my torso and legs. What can I say though? I love having big, beefy arms."

"Of course you do, bro? Who wouldn't? Especially when right in between em, you got your big, pillowy chest, your sexy abs, and your super toned back~"

Jason was seriously starting to wonder if Ethan was on something. Anyone could clearly see from first glance that Jason's body was badly proportioned, his arms and legs being massive from months to years of work, while he neglected his back, pecs and ab muscles. Still, he thought he looked pretty alright honestly.

"And I especially love how you're not only super sexy, you know it and flaunt it~ I don't think I've ever seen you once wear a shirt. The most you'll wear is a necklace, and even then, not like that covers anything, bro~ Only makes you look sexier"

Now here Jason had to disagree. He knew that he had cultivated and developed an amazing body over his years of going to the gym, but that was all for his own personal satisfaction. He never flaunted it unnecessarily, especially not during a stream.

"And I love the fact that you're such a fucking bro, bro. Every other word out of your mouth is bro and dude, you can't go even five minutes without flexing and thinking of fucking, or going to the gym, or hanging out with your other hot bros. We all know that your brain is basically only good for working out and looking hot. No smart's up there. And you've got your deep, sexy voice, too. Makes it even hotter that you're a gay bro, just like me"

Jason HAD to laugh at that. What the guy was saying was just so ridiculous.

"What the hell are you talking about? Look, I know that I like to show off my sexy body a lot, but that doesn't mean I'm some kind of dumb jock. And I'm definitely straight, dude. Don't know why you'd think I'm gay"

Ethan pressed on, completely unabashed by Jason's last comments.

"But you know the best fucking part, bro? Its that power of yours. The fact that any weak ass nerd who looks at you and your huge fucking muscles grows into a hot, dumb bro like us within seconds~"

Jason was busy flexing, staring at his own bicep in awe, as if he was shocked by him impressive he was. He looked up at Ethan blearily, saying

"Sorry, bro, what'd you say? I guess I got a bit fucking distracted. Huhuhu. But who could blame me~"

"Nah, it was nothing bro. You don't need to worry about it. Now should head back to the stream?"

Jason gasped in excitement, having forgotten entirely about the fact that there was a whole stream audience full of lame ass nerds, just ready for him to make as sexy as he and Ethan were.

"You got it bro~ This is gonna be so fucking hot~"

Jason left the call, going back to the stream and restarting, glad to see that a full 300 people were still watching, even through the extended break. The second he turned his camera on, he could see that people were confused for some reason, saying a stranger broke into his house. How stupid could these people be? How did they not recognize him? Still, not like it would matter for long...

"Hey bros! How're we all fucking doing? Welcomes to today's stream..."

He trailed off, looking blankly at the camera, before saying

"You know what? Fuck video games! Who needs them when you can do this~"

And as his pecs bounced and bounced hypnotically, the chat slowly transitioned from messages like "What the fuck is happening?" or "Who is this dumb jock?" to "Fuck, bro! Your pecs look so fucking hot today!" and "Huhuhu, I love making my pecs bounce like Jace's~"

And so the stream continued, Jace showing everyone all the amazing things his body could do, while anyone that was watching, whether they wanted to or not, began to copy him exactly. And as the stream went on, the viewer count rose, and rose, and rose...