We met online right before it was cool/accepted by society d:^). Back mid January of 2019, I (Rachael) was the ONLY girl at the time in a video game group we both were in, and within the first few days of joining the group, Michael gallantly told me point-blank, "I don't like gamer girls," and that we break groups apart. But, my brother Jordan was in his group, so I was like, "Okay this guy's partially correct some of the time, but he's just gonna have to take it with me. I play the game, not the boys." Over time Michael learned I didn't fit the stereotype. My stubborn independence (and when we say "independence," Michael notes that "boy do I mean it" XD) and not wanting any help pulled him in and made him want to spend time with me. So he invited me to watch his anime with him, and then as he learned my tastes and preferences, he picked an anime I ended up loving -- KonoSuba -- specifically for me to watch with him (and rewatch for him). Once that happened, I started to think maybe this guy kind of gets me. Then time passed and things happened. We spent most of 2020 keeping up while he was underwater while I finished my PhD. My 2021 New Year Resolution was to not let our relationship go and to find a way to make sure we kept up. With Michael going underwater, and just the way I was with grad school, plus location, etc, it would have been so easy to let it go, for both of us. On my run New Year's Day, I came up with a plan for us to spend time together weekly -- watching anime or, when he's underwater, reading a manga together. He was game, and we picked out shows, movies, and manga, and we kept up together consistently through it. He saved the best manga for us for his last underway -- a Final Fantasy one, which is related to the game we met on... and he told me how he felt right before LITERALLY going underwater for a month! xD And look, I guess I am gamer girl -- I did end up with one of the boys in our game, but he is special and the only one to me!! <33

I sing parts of / send the song "Video Games" by Lana Del Rey to Michael a lot. This song means a lot to me because I have loved it since it came out almost a decade ago, and I always wondered if I would meet someone that fit that song and made me feel that way.. and then I did -- him! :D. Whenever I miss him super hard, I listen to this song. This website doesn't let me link, even if I try to feed it HTML code (the text box is wrapped in another object), but my favorite performance of the song is this live recording on 98.7FM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YnnCI3JBNA

Long before we started dating, back in Winter/Spring 2019, I started telling Rachael "sweet dreams" every night before we got off voice chat. I had already started growing feelings for her and it took her a bit of time to warm up to the idea of saying it but it became a thing and still is to this day!