Man's Adorable Nod to Include Girlfriend in His Hobby Has Internet Sobbing

A woman from Australia has melted hearts on the internet after sharing her boyfriend's "green flag" in a clip that quickly went viral on social media.

The heartwarming clip shared on TikTok on Monday, under the username emilygetslost, shows the poster's boyfriend lying on the bed wearing a gaming headset, playing Dragons Dogma 2 next to their dachshund.

The second half of the clip focuses on what's on the screen, showing how he created not just one but two characters, one for himself to play, and another non-playable one for his girlfriend, so she can feel included.

A caption reads: "My boyfriend's green flag? Whenever he plays a new game he makes an NPC of me so I'm there with him on his adventures. He named her Freckles (his nickname for me) and spent ages getting the shade of blonde *just* right."

The poster, Emily, a 28-year-old originally from England who lives in Sydney with partner Ned, 33, told Newsweek that they met on her gap year in Australia back in 2016, and that they have now been together for almost eight years.

She said: "He is still as romantic to this day as he was when we first met. I am very lucky to have found him."

She added that her partner is an avid gamer, and anytime he can customize a character or teammate in a game, he always makes sure that it looks like her, so she can join him in his adventures, even though she's not a gamer at all.

"In this clip specifically, he made sure to get the shade of blonde hair JUST right and showed me my bow and arrow and outfit to 'make sure I was happy with it.' She is called 'Freckles' because that's his nickname for me. It's a very sweet little gesture of love that always makes me smile," she added.

According to Statista, over 200 million Americans play video games in 2024, and this number is estimated to rise to almost 230 million in the next five years.

Last year, women accounted for almost half of the American gaming audience, and while there are some differences in terms of genre preferences, female gamers are just as engaged as their male counterparts.

The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 800,000 views and 85,400 likes on the platform.

One user, Shay, commented: "In stardew valley before u start the game it'll ask 'What's ur favorite thing' he put my name not knowing when you eat the stardrop it will say it tastes like your favorite thing. so cute."

Jem said: "My partner always lets me be the final decision on skins and always gets the green options for me even though I'll never play his games."

Marc wrote: "When I play City Skylines I name all the parks after my wife and daughters."

Frankie said: "Whenever there is an option for building in a game my husband will build 'our house' and then give me a tour." Even Windows commented on the post: "This is our love language."

However, another user, Yolandi, revealed: "In this game you're literally his servant and call him master haha."

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some extra details and they could appear on our website.

Update 04/26/24 at 4:04 a.m. ET; This article was updated to add comments from the original poster.