#like. okay marc-andré

[alshaverpressbox]

nonchalant little shrug only acknowledgment of doing something insane minnesota wild @ la kings, 7 december 2024

[fredwardart]

Cardiophilia AUs

Anyone who knows me knows that I love making people cardiophiles, so here's a compiled list of my cardiophile AUs (some more formed than others) with links to all of the content.

Jenson cardiophilia au - brawn get a stethoscope sponsorship and it's a dream come true for jenson, making his relationship with Shov even stronger. (Shovson)

Haasbands cardiophilia au (created in collaboration with @watercolor-hearts ) - Nico is a cardiophile who tries to keep his kink hidden from Kevin, but it proves difficult when Kevin offers to help keep an eye on his blood pressure.

V's cardiophile Lando au @watercolor-hearts has an au where lando is a cardiophile, I created a spinoff where franco gets involved in workouts to get closer to Lando. (Norapinto and Lando/Jon)

Nurse Max au - Maximilian Günther is a nurse who has to navigate cardiophilia at work. His partner James often pretends to be ill so that he can be treated by Max, as he thinks Max looks hot in his blue scrubs.

Formula e medical au - wider universe around the nurse max au. Paramedic andre is a cardiophile, which leans well into being able to indulge in Jev's kink. Most drivers are nurses, doctors, firefighters, even police officers...

Cardiophile André - this is more that andré is canonically a cardiophile to me in every universe. Jev is pretty sure he murders people, but he thinks that's hot.

Rosquez cardiophilia au - the doctor obviously likes to use his stethoscopes, especially when seeing how turned on Marc gets with some breath play thrown in.

Vampire jeandré au - jev and andré are vampires, they go out hunting and instead of finding their next meal, they find someone that is suspiciously okay with being turned, which is a good thing since andre would be sad to not see his face again. (Jeandré/Sam)

Simi cardiophilia au - seb is a cardiophile, and kimi loves how it manifests in the domestic moments.

Mitchex cardiophilia au - Mitch is comforted by Alex's heart, and he loves how effort and strain are shown so physically on Alex's body.

(I had to take the accents out of the tags with André's name so the links would work)

[leafsbabe]

Which sluts give off the DILF-iest vibes? Like, they'd take care of you, pay for everything, make sure you're happy, etc.

okay this is dads and daddies, fathers and men i'd like to make fathers

Erik Johnson

Sidney Crosby

Marc-André Fleury

Gabriel Landeskog

John Tavares

Matt Martin

bonus milf:

Claude Giroux

[eusuntgratie]

🔀 tanger and flower

i'm sorry for the SIGNIFICANT delay, nonnie! also, vero inserted herself; i hope that's okay.

Girl Talk popping up in my spotify in the year of our lord 2023? alright.

read on ao3 | send me a 🔀 & a ship and i'll shuffle a playlist and write you a little somethin'

Marc-André’s pleasantly drunk, still floating from the cup win as much as the cocktail of champagne and beer and god knows what else he’s consumed since that last save. He still can’t believe it. He can see every play, every save, every shot, play behind his eyes every time he closes them. Can still feel the cup in his hands. It feels like it must’ve happened to someone else.

He’d left Vero chatting with Sid a while ago to go take a piss and then gotten derailed on the way back, getting pulled into a few conversations, a few hugs, and somehow ending up with a half-full bottle of lukewarm champagne in his hand. He’s feeling great.

He can’t find Vero where he left her in the kitchen, so he goes outside to search by the pool. Maybe Sid finally got her in there; he’d been teasing her earlier about it. He hears her laugh before he see her, and his eyes snap to her face. She’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. She’s sprawled in Tanger’s lap, her head thrown back, long brown hair hanging behind her, eyes squeezed shut tight, and her gorgeous mouth split in a huge smile as her laugh echoes across the pool deck.

Tanger’s undoutedly as drunk as he is, but he’s a hand wrapped protectively around her back ensuring she doesn’t tip too far backwards as she laughs. The other is gripping her thigh, the one closest to him. He gets stuck on his way over to them watching the way Kris’s fingers dig into the denim of her jeans to keep her still. Everything’s moving in slow motion when she picks her head up and beams at Kris, catching his terribly bearded cheek in her delicate hand and pulling him close to kiss his cheek.

They look at each other for a beat, and suddenly Marc-André is moving again. If he wasn’t quite so drunk, or quite so desperate to have Vero’s hands on him, or Tanger’s, he would stay where he was and watch them awhile longer. He’s always loved watching beautiful people. But it’s late and he’s drunk and he’s got no idea when enough endorphins will wear off and leave him exhausted, so he crosses the pool deck quickly and stands by Kris’s feet.

“Can’t leave you alone for a minute,” he says teasingly to Vero.

She gives him a sly smile. “Why, darling? Because I’ll end up in a beautiful man’s lap?” she responds in soft, teasing French.

Tanger kisses her cheek and murmurs something he doesn’t quite catch in her ear. His fingers tighten on her thigh.

“Can’t let you have all the fun without me,” he answers.

Tanger looks up at him then. “You’re right. I think you deserve to celebrate.”

Vero watches them both before smiling at him. “Shall I leave you to it then?”

“No, my love,” he answers immediately. “I think maybe we should celebrate together.”

Kris’s eyes darken and Vero bites her lip, and Marc-André’ knows that whatever happens tonight, he’ll never forget it.

[ice-hockey-is-pretty-cool]

DHEJDHFJ FLOWER MADE HIM DO WHAT????????

That’s so in character for him

flower making dewey 2 wear handcuffs all night long for the rookie dinner is. something i did not have on my bingo list for today

[queenofhearts7378]

This just in: I wrote a straight up one shot for the Shenanigans AU because I wanna see these kids being the dumb teenagers they are

-----------

"Why are we stalking Marinette?"

Adrien yelped when he heard the voice in his ear and Nino leaned back to avoid Adrien’s head from hitting his face.

"Nino!" Adrien hissed before shoving his friend behind the bookshelf he was lurking around.

Kim popped up on the other side, "We're stalking Marinette?"

Max followed behind him, "Apparently."

"First of all there's no we," Adrien said.

"Rude." The three of them chorused.

"Second of all!" Adrien said, talking over them, "I'm not stalking."

Nino gave him a skeptical look, before pointedly gesturing to the bookshelves the four of them were hiding behind.

"I'm not stalking her."

Max pushed up his glasses, "Then I assume she knows you are observing her from a distance, in a place that's easy to hide behind?"

"Well-"

"And you've kinda been staring her down all day man. Everyone has noticed." Kim added. Suddenly he leaned forward, "Does this have anything to do with….you know what?"

"What." Adrien said flatly.

"You know…." Kim wiggled his fingers.

When Adrien continued to stare blankly at Kim, Nino clarified it for him. "You're fursona dude."

Adrien choked, "My fur-! Why would you call it that!?"

"What else are we supposed to call it without drawing attention to your extracurricular activities?" Max asked.

Adrien took a moment to make a silent vow to never ever mention anything remotely Chat Noir related around any of his friends ever again. 

Plagg took a moment to make a plan to get Nino and the others to bring it up more.

"No," Adrien finally said to the ceiling, "It's not. Well, not really. No."

Nino just looked at him, "Dude."

Adrien threw up his hands, "I'm trying to figure out who Buttercup is!"

They stared at him. Nino then pulled out his phone and began texting.

"What are you doing?"

"I am texting the guy's chat, we need a group meeting."

"Why?"

"They need to hear this."

…..

Marc was on the floor crying. They wheezed out another giggle, caught Adrien’s baffled look, and broke out into hysterical laughter again. Nathaniel was petting their hair in concern. Luka's head had hit the table once Adrien started telling them what had happened, and hadn't left it. Except to hit the desk again at certain parts. Wayzz was gently patting Luka's shoulder. (In solidarity though no one but the two of them and Plagg knew that.)

"Adrien you broke my boyfriend." Nathaniel accused.

"Okay so let's get this straight," Kim said, "You made Ladybug mad over the Couple of the Year thing and she threw you in trash."

"Harsh, but understandable." Nino added.

"Yeah….I kinda deserved it."

"And then while you're sulking on a roof Marinette tells you she needs help." Kim continued. "So you go to help her and then she tells you she needs help confessing to her crush and wants to use a dummy for a practice dummy."

"Hey!"

"How'd she even get your attention?" Ivan asked.

Adrien blushed. Plagg snickered before calling out, "Here minou, minou, minou~!"

That set an almost calmed Marc off giggling again. Nathaniel shot him an unimpressed look. "Can you, like, stop acting like a cat? For one day?"

Max shook his head, "Add that to the list Markov."

"It has been added!" He said.

"And then after hearing a mess of a confession you can't even keep a straight face for, you take her on a date-"

"It wasn't a date!"

"It was a date!" All the boys and kwamis and the single robot chorused.

"We saw the pictures." Nathaniel deadpanned.

"And the videos." Ivan added.

"And I still have your lovestruck, head-in-the-cloud rambling texts from during and afterwards." Nino said, waving his phone. "Not to mention Glaciator 2.0 was because André thought you were literally cheating on Ladybug with Mari."

Adrien weakly said, "But I'm not dating either of them?"

Ivan shook his head, "And after all that you go back to her balcony where you are so moved by her last confession you decide then and there to get her and Buttercup together leading to you stalking her today."

Adrien stared at them for a minute. "I don't know why you guys are making a big deal out of this."

Nino scrubbed his face, "No, no you wouldn't."

"Anyways if I can find out who 'Buttercup' is then I can help Marinette confess to the love of her life! I mean I thought it was Luka at first."

"Do I look like a Buttercup?" He spoke up for the first time, looking tiredly at Adrien, "Buttercups are blonde."

"....I thought people were blonde?"

"Oh my god, my best friend's a himbo." Nino muttered in horror as he watched Luka die inside.

Plagg settled on his shoulder, "You're just now figuring this out after the whole 'how do I turn the 3 around to make the heart' debacle?"

[a-chlolix-blog]

The Bourgeois Twins AU

Some more stuff & something's you all already know about.

Chloé once again has the Black Cat Miraculous & goes by "Kitty Claws".

Zoé has the Ladybug Miraculous & goes by "Lilybird".

Them along with the main classes are 15-16 years old.

Chloé and Zoé were born and raised in New York. They're also models.

Because they're models, Chloé and Zoé are often modeling alongside Adrien.

Chloé and Zoé don't have the best relationship with Audrey.

While they're not the biggest fans of their mother, Zoé and Chloé absolutely adore their father André.

André often tries to spend as much time with the twins whenever he can (which isn't very often).

Because Audrey wants to promote her Style Queen brand through her daughter's, she often has Butler Jean lay out clothes of her choice out for them (Jean comes through with the clothes the girls wanna wear tho!).

Zoé and Chloé like Marinette's outfit designs better than Audrey's.

The Césaire family is also from New York, so they know of the model duo known as the Bourgeois Twins.

Alya's a new student along with the Bourgeois Twins.

Some Kwami Swap ideas were changed/added.

-Turtle!Adrien: Shellshock

-Dog!Marc: Gold Tracker

-Dragon!Aurore: Tempest

-Fox!Sabrina: Illusia

Zoé and Jessica are in a happy (long distance when the twins move to Paris) relationship & talk to each other everyday when they have free time.

One the first day at the new school, Chloé develops a quick crush on Alix & flirts with her whenever she can, as both Chloé & Kitty Claws.

Alix and Jessica still have their canon Miraculous.

Alix still goes by "Bunnyx". While Jessica now goes by "Carli Talon".

There is an OC for this AU named Sarah Aguillard. But if you wanna help me come up with different ones (or wanna see more of the SaKC OCs in this AU), let me know!

Master Fu makes his presence known to both Zoé and Chloé at the end of Volpina.

Before Bunnyx makes herself known to the twin heroines, Kitty Claws would try to take any opportunity she can to try to give Alix a Miraculous.

Kitty Claws: I'm just saying Alix would be very cute with the Tiger Miraculous.

Lilybird: You'd be too distracted.

Kitty Claws: ... I won't confirm or deny your claim.

Lilybird: That's what I thought.

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

Kitty Claws: Hear me out!

Lilybird: Here we go again...

Kitty Claws: Alix... with the Snake Miraculous!

Lilybird: KC-

Kitty Claws: It'll match the totally cool snakes on her sleeves.

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

Kitty Claws: Imagine Alix... with the Bee Miraculous.

Lilybird: Is this for battle strategy or do you just wanna flirt with her using bee puns?

Kitty Claws: Can't it bee both? Pun intended!

Lilybird: *facepalms*

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

Lilybird: For the LAST time, KC. You're not giving Alix the mouse Miraculous!

Kitty Claws: She'd be so cute! Plus there'd be so many of her!!

Lilybird: NO!

Like I said before Future!Bunnyx appears sooner than canon.

Kitty Claws has quite the reaction to her.

Future!Bunnyx: Bittybird! Mini-Kitty! I'm glad I found you both.Thanks for the help, Alix.

Lilybird: Who are you?!

Future!Bunnyx: You'll see in a moment.

Alix: You okay, KC?

Kitty Claws, blushing: Yeah... I'm fine.

Kitty Claws, internally: Keep it together, Chloé! Do NOT try to flirt with this older woman in front of Alix!

Future!Bunnyx: Fluff, Counter Clockwise! *transforms back, revealing herself to be an adult Alix*

Alix: Yep! This is me in the future. Pretty cool, right?!

Kitty Claws, internally: AHHHH!! SHE GETS EVEN PRETTIER!!!

Bunnyx reasons for coming to the past is because of a dangerous mission that involves preventing Lilybird and Kitty Claws from getting akumatized into the "Dire Duo".

Zoé's akumatized into "Scarlibella"

Chloé's akumatized into "Killer Claws"

Scarlibella has the ability to track down anyone who was/is a Miraculous Welder & has access to unlimited lucky charms.

Killer Claws still has her powers from the SaKC AU, but she's even faster and has a stronger scene of smell. Her night vision even doubles as a weakness finder.

Future!Bunnyx first travels to the bad time to see what has to be done to fix it.

There she'd meet the resistance against the Dire Duo (whose hideout is in The Louvre), who tell her everything.

With all the info she needs, Future!Bunnyx goes back to the present to get The Present!Twin Heroines to fight the Dire Duo, before they get their hands on the Rabbit Miraculous in that timeline.

This'll most likely replace the Season Two finale. Still gotta figure out what I'm gonna do with Season One after all!

Hope you all enjoy this!

[liminalwings]

DMBR - Draconia: Draconic Teachings of True Draconic Magick

Author: Marc-André Ricard

Book Link

“If you've read D.J. Conway, you know 98% of what's in here. Put plainly, this is a repackaged version of Conway's "Dancing With Dragons", now with High Magick/Ceremonial flavoring. Same draconic rulers, same dragon types and descriptions, and same draconic script. Considering the original publishing date for this is nine years after Dancing With Dragons was initially released, easy to see who inspired who. After a bit of back-handed 'complimenting' of Wicca, also claims it to be centuries old which... it isn't. Basic historical fact, Wicca is less than 100 years old, so way to continue perpetuating bad and easily debunked information. But just so you know, Draconia *isn't* Wicca. Barely. This entire book skirts dangerously close to plagiarism, I think. So many of the qualms I have with Conway's work also apply here, potential legalities aside. And as much as I dislike Conway, you'd be better off reading her source material than this. She's slightly less pretentious and explains slightly more. Conway also had a better editor. Ironically, Conway isn't even listed in the Recommended Reading in the back of the book. Suppose that would've made it too obvious where most of the material was drawn from, but credit where credit should be due. Overall, there was nothing new in here that one couldn't put together themselves from reading Conway and Bardon.“

I honestly even hate that I had to type out the phrase “you’d be better reading Conway.” Other than there possibly being no French/Quebecois translation of “Dancing With Dragons” when this book was written and released (doubtful), the only other viable reason for this even existing was because some chump thought “not enough Hebrew vibrations”. 

Same chump also put out a second book solely focusing on the “11 Golden Rules All Dragons Follow and Expect of You”, half of which are common sense, while the other half are bits of unwarranted self-importance like “invoke often!” and “tell everyone you know about dragon magick to preserve its heritage!”. Nevermind that this ‘heritage’ is technically only less than a decade before these books. I cannot imagine how one could squeeze out 164 pages of information on 11 questionable rules, but it’s apparently possible. 

IN ADDITION, he has his own print-on-demand publisher that puts out revisions/reprints of older occult texts he’s translated, which, okay. And this “Draconia” book is propped up as his ultimate work, which makes everything about... everything... seem a bit flimsy. Overall, there seems to be a habit of aggrandizing everything to seem more magickal/powerful/older/pretentious than it really is, and a serious hard-on for trying to mix Ceremonial Magick with Wicca to make it ‘better/more true’ . 

0/10 for unoriginality and typical Ceremonial Edginess. 

[youhideastar]

I have a director’s commentary request (which I really hope has not been done yet): I’d love to hear you talk about the chapter of the TBSA shorts where Vero talks and gives aftercare to Sid after his scene with the shitty dom!

Hey, thanks for asking! Especially because I realized, going back to look at this, that I never responded to any of the comments on it, arrrgggh… I’m sorry, commenters! I will fix that! I’m going to include part of the author’s notes at the beginning of the commentary, because they set the scene. Let’s rock on!

Original A/N: Folks have asked about Vero and Sid in this universe, and I've always said that I just couldn't see that working out, since Vero is pretty much exclusively a sadist, but I gave it a try! Spinning off from the bad bar pickup, this little piece posits that Flower took Sid back to his own room instead of to Geno, starting giving Sid aftercare, and Sid kissed him.

The second Sid’s lips touch Flower’s, he yanks himself back, horrified. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry—”

“It’s okay, Sid,” Flower says gently. “It’s okay.”

“I wouldn’t—I know you’re Vero’s. I don’t know why I did that.”

“It’s really okay. Come here.”

Flower collects him close again, and kisses him on the forehead.

Forehead kisses are so tender.

“I’m going to call Vero, Sid.”

Sid wants to object, but he knows he has no right. He stares at the sheets, miserable.

Poor boy. He’s so sure he’s going to be yelled at. And after he’s already had such a terrible night!

“Hang on. And have some more water, mon trésor,” Flower says. He stands up to grab his phone from the desk and then lays right back down next to Sid.

When Vero picks up, she says something in French that makes Flower blush.

100% she thinks he’s calling for phone sex.

“Maitresse,” he says quietly, “I’m here with Sid. He had a bad scene tonight, and no aftercare, and he’s very upset. May I put you on speaker?”

She must say yes; Flower puts the phone on the bedside table, and Vero’s voice says, “Oh, Sid. I’m so sorry that happened, but I am very happy that you are with Marc-André now.” She sounds so warm and sympathetic, and it just makes the hollow feeling in Sid’s stomach worse.

Flower continues, “Like I said, Sid is very upset and not feeling like himself, and he kissed me. So I had to call. He apologized right away and said he knew he should not have kissed me because I’m yours.”

Marc-Andre Fleury, counsel for the defense. Look at him, marshaling all his exculpatory facts! Did he really need to? I think probably not, b/c Vero is a softie for Sid, but on the other hand, she’s very traditional and so might have felt a need to react strictly even if she wasn’t actually mad.

“Sid. My dear friend,” Vero says, before Sid can even start to apologize. “Of course you should not have done that, but I understand. We all do things that we know we should not do when we are in a bad headspace, and it sounds like you had every reason to reach out for any kind of comfort you could get. All right?”

Shocked, Sid stammers, “A-all right.”

“Good. But now, I want you to tell me what happened tonight. I am worried about you, Sid.”

Vero very nobly holds herself back from adding, “I am always worried about you, Sid!!”

Sid is desperately grateful to her for being so kind… but he doesn’t want to tell her what happened. He doesn’t want to tell anyone. Still, he knows he owes her.

Narrator: he doesn’t.

“Okay,” he mumbles.

“So. What happened?”

“I went home with this guy, and he um. He hit me.”

Vero asks, “And had you negotiated that he could hit you?”

Sid shakes his head. “We didn’t negotiate – he just—started hitting me as soon as we got to his place.”

“He did not negotiate anything? Not even a safeword?” She sounds horrified.

There’s a big difference in style between Vero’s aftercare here and Geno’s aftercare after exactly the same incident in the original story, and one thing I actually think Vero does better than Geno is clearly and explicitly communicate how absolutely unacceptable and outside the norm the bad dom’s actions were. She really hammers that home, over and over again, which is what Sid needs.

Sid’s voice comes out in a whisper. “No. I—I didn’t know how to get him to stop.”

Flower pulls him even closer and kisses his forehead again, as Vero murmurs, “Oh, Sid, that must have been so frightening. That is terrible. What happened to make him stop hitting you?”

This is a great example of how Vero excels as a communicator. She pauses to acknowledge and validate Sid’s feelings before moving on to get the next piece of information. I’ll admit that part of the reason communication is a bigger piece of her aftercare than Geno’s is, uh, she doesn’t have a lot of other options because she’s on the phone and can’t touch Sid. What jerk of an author did that to her? So limiting. SMH.

“I don’t know. Or—I asked him to stop hitting my face, like, I just said ‘stop.’ And he stopped that. But I don’t know why he stopped hitting me other places. I guess he just got bored.”

Note that it doesn’t even occur to Sid that the dom stopped because he was satisfied (which is actually the truth). Poor baby.

“I want to make sure I understand,” Vero says slowly. “This dom began by hitting your face; when you asked him to stop that, he hit you other places? Again without negotiating?”

“I guess we sort of negotiated,” Sid says. He doesn’t want to make it sound worse than it was. “I mean, I—I don’t know. I was confused. He was really mad that he couldn’t hit my face. That was what he really wanted. But he said I could make it up to him if I let him hit me other places.”

“Oh, Sid. You had nothing to make up to him, and he had no right to be angry about—about anything! You are the one who had the right to be angry.” Despite her words, her tone is gentle.

When Sid chances a look up at Flower, he nods, lips pressed tightly together.

Poor Sid is in such disbelief, he has to turn to Flower to be like, “really? I didn’t fuck up?”

Sid ducks his head. “I don’t know. I don’t—I don’t even know if he meant it.” He didn’t want to say this part, had been planning to leave it out – but suddenly he can’t. He feels compelled to lay it bare. Whispering again, Sid says, “When he stopped hitting me, I asked if I had made it up to him, and he—I don’t think he even remembered he said that.” He feels so, so small.

This little character note had been hovering in my head since I got my beta’s comments on the original To Be Seen Aright – one of my beta readers made the very astute observation, specifically in the context of the bad-bar-pick-up scene, that one of the worst things you could do to a sub like Sid would be to give them a task to perform and then not notice that they did the task. Super ouchy! I  liked that observation so much, so I was really glad to get to use it here.

“Worse and worse,” Vero says softly. “Where did he hit you, Sid, after he stopped hitting your face?”

“My chest. My back. My arms.”

Sounding alarmed, she says, “Marc-André, his lower back—”

“Nothing over the kidneys,” Flower says right away. “I checked.”

“Well done. Now, Sid, when this dom stopped hitting you, did you leave?”

Sid’s face burns. “No. I know I should have. I know it’s my fault that—”

In my dreams, all of my phone conversation scenes look like this bit – 95% dialogue, very minimal action/description/dialogue tags (dialogue tags are the “she says, Flower explains, Sid replies” bits). I love writing dialogue qua dialogue (i.e., the characters’ actual lines). It’s the rest of it that takes forever and makes me want to yank my hair out. My first drafts look mostly like scripts and I would looooove to keep them that way. But it makes the characters feel distant. Supposedly. Sometimes I wonder if I could get away with it anyway. Someday I’ll go through my ten favorite fics with a fine-tooth comb to check and see how much pure dialogue they include.

“None of this is your fault. Absolutely none of it,” Vero says, and now she sounds angry. “Of course you wanted to please him – and he gave you none of the tools you should have had to get yourself out of this situation in a way that would have felt natural and safe. I do not want you feeling responsible for this terrible excuse for a dom and the things he did. Not for any of them! To start hitting a sub before a word of negotiation – it is against everything. Everything. No excuse.”

Sid’s face is still hot – but for a different reason now. It feels good to hear her defend him. It feels good to hear her say it’s not his fault. “Um. Thank you,” he mumbles.

“It is just the truth. Marc-André, I hope you are holding him very sweetly.”

She’s the cutest.

Flower smiles at Sid across the pillow, with a look like he’s sharing a joke. “I am holding him,” he tells Vero. “The sweetness I can’t answer.”

“Hmm,” she says, dissatisfied. “What else did this dom do, Sid?”

Vero’s like, “Unacceptable, embrace must have maximum sweetness, I’m very disappointed in this lackadaisical attitude toward the sweetness level.” But she is too goal-oriented to dwell on it.

“He didn’t hurt me more after that. He—we had sex. He, um.” This sounds like such a kindergarten thing to say, but he can’t think of a different way of phrasing it: “He made fun of me.”

It’s a fine line with stuff like this, but the truth is, if you do it right, there’s very little that’s more powerful than using phrases that call back to that really formative and raw time in our lives: “someone made fun of me” or “you hurt my feelings” or “I don’t want to be friends with you anymore.” I think the key is to hang a lampshade on the fact that it is little-kid language, so it doesn’t come out of nowhere.

“And of course he did not negotiate for humiliation, either, I assume.”

Sid’s not an expert in humiliation or anything, but that still doesn’t strike him as right. “I don’t think it was… I don’t think that’s what it was. I think he was just… he didn’t like what I was doing.”

“What did he say, Sid?”

He agreed to tell her, and a part of him wants to tell her, to please her – but the words are stuck in his throat, and the thought of prying them out makes him feel sick. “Please, I don’t want to—do I have to say?” he asks, desperate.

“Would it be easier for you to tell Marc-André?”

“Yeah.” He doesn’t know why, but… it would. So he will.

Sid curls in toward Flower and explains into the small, quiet space between them how the dom had asked Sid what he needed, and when Sid had asked him to restrain Sid’s arms, the dom had mocked him as “Mr. Top-from-the-Bottom.” He hopes Flower won’t judge him.

Sometimes, when dialogue won’t write, it’s a sign that you shouldn’t be writing out the dialogue at all, but should describe it instead, like in this paragraph. Every time I tried writing out the dialogue, it felt awkward and repetitive, in part because Flower is going to reiterate it, like three lines further down the page. So: tell, don’t show! Works way better here.

He doesn’t seem to. He pulls Sid close again, tucking Sid’s head under his chin, and murmurs to him, little scraps of sorrow and comfort.

Ugh, the head-tucked-under-chin thing, part of the trifecta of tenderness along with forehead-kissing and hair-stroking. Too cute, I can’t take it. Sid gets all three in this ficlet!

“Marc-André?” Vero asks.

“More shitty domming,” Flower says bluntly. “He told Sid to express a preference and then, when Sid obeyed, accused him of being pushy.”

Flower manages to get the gist across without divulging any of the details that Sid finds humiliating, and he frames it in a way that makes clear what a shitty thing that guy did. Counsel for the prosecution, this time!

Vero makes a hurt noise. “Oh, my poor Sid – oh, how terrible that must have felt, to be manipulated like that, and after everything that had already happened. You must have felt so turned around, so… so like you could not depend on anything, I don’t know how to say it in English.”

Writing characters whose first language is not English is hard. But one of the unexpected benefits is that when you can’t find the right way to say something, your characters can just… say that! You can’t play that card all the time, but every so often, English lets you down and it’s okay to acknowledge that!

“It sucked,” Sid says, which is not adequate, but it’s all he can summon right now.

But Vero agrees, “It sucked,” in a solemn tone of voice, as if he’s said something profound. “Was it over then?”

Nothing is funnier than someone very seriously saying “It sucked” in a French accent.

“Yeah. He said I could stay for aftercare—”

“Hah!”

Vero is so fun to write. SO fun.

“Uh, yeah. I didn’t think that was a good idea, either. So I left and came back here, and Flower found me and brought me back to his room.”

“He did not even clean Sid up,” Flower says, and Sid is startled to hear anger in his voice, too.

“Oh, infâme,” Vero mutters darkly. “I want to find him and crush him. Sid, I am so very sorry that all of that happened to you – it was wrong and terrible. And I can understand even better now how much you must have been craving affection, and comfort, and closeness. All the things you should have gotten from this wretched dom but did not. Of course you turned to Marc-André for those things. It makes perfect sense.”

I’m really sad that “infamous” in the sense of “shamefully malign” has gone out of common usage in English, because I absolutely love it and there’s not a great alternative nowadays. But fortunately in this instance, there’s a cognate I could use! It, uh, may not be in common usage in French either, but Vero is more likely to know uncommon words in her native tongue than in English, so it’s fine.

Sid doesn’t know what to say to that, but Vero does not seem to expect a response.

Instead, she continues, “Sid, I need to ask Marc-André some questions. While I do, I want you to close your eyes.”

Sid closes his eyes, and Vero says, “Very good,” warmly, as if she can see him.

“Now, we will talk in English, so you can understand us, and if Marc-André gets something wrong or you have something to add, please let me know. But if you lose track of what we’re saying or feel sleepy, that is all right. You don’t have to pay attention.”

“’Kay.”

Vero asks Flower if he gave Sid water, and food, and if he cleaned Sid up. Sid’s eyes slip shut as they talk – like Vero said, it doesn’t seem like they need anything from him.

Another tell-don’t-show narration in lieu of dialogue that would otherwise be boring and repetitive: “Did you give Sid water?” “Yes.” “Did you give him food?” “Yes.” “Did you clean him up?” “Yes.” You don’t want to read it and I don’t want to write it!

Next. she asks if Flower put anything on Sid’s bruises.

“Not yet,” he answers. “I have some bruise balm in my bag.”

“Ice packs?” she asks.

“I don’t have any,” Flower admits, “but I can get some from the trainers.”

“Good. That is good. Mm, Sid, I need your attention again. You can open your eyes.”

Sid does, blinking at Flower, who smiles and strokes his hair.

“Um. Hi,” he says, still a little slow and sleepy.

“Hi, Sid,” she says, amused – but not laughing at him. “Sid, Marc-André is going to get you some ice packs for your face, and I will stay with you while he’s away, so you won’t be alone, okay?”

This “amused but not laughing at him” thing is the kind of thing some writing instructors would be dicks about, like, “Is Sid a telepath? Can he read her mind? No? Then shouldn’t you describe what it is that he hears that leads him to believe she’s amused?”

The answer is: no, I should not. You can tell when someone is or isn’t amused! But if I asked you to describe what subtle visual and/or auditory cues led you to that conclusion, you couldn’t fucking describe it! Human interpretation of facial expression, posture, and tone of voice is crazy complex, and impossible to completely break down into its component parts. Never let someone bully you into believing that your character in close 3d person POV (or first person, or whatever) can’t describe other characters’ attitudes, emotions, and mental states. As with most things, it’s nuanced—like, it’s not a great idea to have lines like, e.g., “That’s interesting,” the doctor says, feeling suddenly inadequate about her own research, unless the doctor is your POV character, because that is too much insight, more than a normal person would have about a third party’s thought processes—but, you know, a little is fine.

“Okay. Thank you,” Sid says, a little shaky. He really did not want to be alone.

Businesslike, Vero says, “So let’s get ready for that: Marc-André, bring Sid another bottle of water and something to eat… something salty, this time. And Sid, I want you to make a little pile of pillows behind yourself, so you have something soft to lean on. Sid, is there anything else you want to eat, something Marc- André could get for you while he is out?”

“No, I’m fine with the chips. Thank you, though.”

Once Flower leaves, Vero asks, “Sid, do you have your little nest of pillows?”

“Pillow” is just an inherently cute and soft word. Anything will be cozy if you describe it using the word “pillow.” The “little” intensifies the effect.

“Yes.”

“Good. Now, I want to be careful about something,” she says, voice low and soothing. “You need someone to take care of you tonight, Sid. It is a dangerous thing to have a bad scene like that and then not get the proper care. It can have very bad effects. I would like to be the person who takes care of you, Sid. But I know that you did not call me. You came to Marc-André, and he called me. And you have had more than enough of doms assuming they can treat you a certain way without asking. So I need to ask your permission before I do more to care for you. And if you say no, I will not be hurt. I am already so happy and proud that you came to Marc-André, that he has earned your trust in that way, and that is enough for me. Do you understand?”

Geno gets to skip a little speech like this in the main story because Sid did come to him intentionally and seek his help.

That hadn’t occurred to him, actually – that this was something he’s supposed to have a choice in. “Yes,” he says, and, “Thank you. Thank you for asking.”

“Of course, Sid.” There’s a little pause. “So. What do you think?”

Sid thinks about what she’s saying – what she’s asking. It’s tempting to just say yes, take care of me, because he does need someone to do it, and he does trust her. But there’s more to it than that. “Um. You like to hurt Flower,” he says, hesitantly.

“I do,” she replies.

“Would you… if you were taking care of me, would that mean hurting me, too?”

Completely fair question! It’s a huge step for him to be even asking, instead of being like, “Whatever she wants is fine.” Like, it seems a little out of left field at first glance—why would inflicting pain be part of aftercare?--but Sid is so inexperienced, he really doesn’t know what to expect.

Right away, she says, “No, my darling. If someday you wanted a different kind of taking care, and we negotiated it in advance, then that might be something I would do. But that would not be appropriate for this kind of taking care.”

“Okay.” Maybe there’s something else he should be asking, but nothing’s coming to him. He just really, really wants to be taken care of tonight. And he knows she would take it seriously – take him seriously. “Then yes. If it’s okay with you. I-I want that.”

“Thank you, Sid,” she says, with great weight. “It is more than okay. I—this may be difficult for you to believe after the night that you have had, but a good dom wants to care for a submissive in distress. A good dom is honored to have the chance to do that. And I am honored that you trust me for that.”

That hits Sid harder than he was expecting; he has to blink a few times to get the burn out of his eyes. Hoarsely, he says, “Thank you, again.”

“It is my pleasure. Now. Close your eyes, Sid, and lie down, if you are not already lying down. Pull up the blanket – are you nice and warm?”

“Nice and” anything is also inherently cozy.

“I’m warm.”

“Bon. I want you to know, Sid, how proud I am of you. Of the things you did earlier tonight.”

That’s the last thing he was expecting to hear. “Proud? I—I messed up, I should have—”

“No,” Vero says, with authority. “No. Do not think about any ‘should have.’ You did not have the tools that you ‘should have’ had, and you did so well with the tools you did have. I am proud of you for telling that dom to stop hitting your face. I know it was hard for you; you must have been confused, and frightened, and shocked, and you had no safeword and likely you were not sure he would stop, which would have been even more frightening. But you said ‘stop’ anyway. And I am very, very proud of you for that.”

It’s interesting to think of how it might have changed the main story if Geno had felt inclined to—and comfortable enough to—lay out expectations like this and the following paragraphs. Vero is doing an awesome job modeling clear communication, and also setting the expectation that setting boundaries, rather than being an interference with a partner’s dominance, is a good and even praiseworthy behavior. Would it have made a difference? Who can say?

“Thank you,” Sid croaks, shaking.

But she’s not done. “And I am proud of you for telling the dom what you wanted when he asked,” she says fiercely, “I know he was a piece of shit about it, but he was wrong. I’m sure he didn’t even think about how hard it must have been for you to say what you wanted, especially when he had shown he likely did not care what you wanted. But you stood up for yourself and your desires, and that also makes me very proud.”

“Vero…” Tears are running down his cheeks now.

“And I am also so proud of you for recognizing that you should not stay with that dom for aftercare. We drill into subs how important aftercare is, and I’m sure you had a little voice in your head telling you to stay because of that, but you were smart enough to know that this was an exception, and you did the right thing for yourself. So I’m very proud of you for that.”

This is so self-indulgent because I fucking love writing characters giving speeches. I really try to restrain the impulse because people don’t give speeches very much in casual conversation in real life! They get interrupted! Or they just don’t have their thoughts in order enough to make it work. But God, it is satisfying to write.

She’d said she wouldn’t hurt him, but fuck, this hurts, even though it feels so good at the same time. He feels horribly off-balance.

The sadism potential of praise is really underrated.

“Sid, I want you to wrap your arms around yourself and give yourself a hug. I know it is not as good as when Marc-André hugs you, but it will help until he gets back. So do that now.”

Sid obeys, and he does feel a little better. More grounded.

“You are doing very well, Sid. When it feels right, I want you to drink the bottle of water and eat the chips Marc-André brought you. I think that will help as well.”

“Okay,” Sid says, in a small voice. “Thank you, Vero.”

After Flower gets back, he and Sid absolutely get it on very tenderly. I ran out of interest before writing that, but I promise it definitely happens. 😉

[prettyboyjackhughes]

-Little Crosby- |D. Cozens| [Part 1]

It’s finally here! @workhorsefromwhitehorse24​ and I have been working on this for a while now and I can honestly say that this is probably my favorite thing we’ve collaborated on! This was a little outside my comfort zone but I enjoyed writing it so much! Hope you enjoy! Let us know what you think!!

“Ava Grace I’m home!” Dad calls from downstairs. I sit up and grab my sweatshirt off of the floor. 

“Coming!” I say as I pull it over my head and run out into the hall. I attempt to make it down the stairs without dying but almost fail as I get to the bottom step. “Whoops! Sorry!” I yell as I knock one of the pictures off the wall. He stands in the kitchen doorway and watches me, amused, as I fix the picture then turn to face him, a grin on my face. He had been gone for 2 weeks on a 5 game road trip, resulting in the Penguins going 4-1. Dad scored a pair of goals in the first two games. But sadly, it wasn’t enough of a push to get them to the playoffs. 

“Hi Daddy!” I say, running to hug him. He lifts me off the ground and kisses the top of my head. Dad and I have always been super close. It’s been just him and I for years. Ever since I was born, it’s just been Dad and I. Grandma and Grandpa were always in the picture too, along with Aunt Taylor. The 4 of them have been my entire world and my family for the past 17 years. My mom has never been in the picture since she and Dad had me when they were super young, before Dad was in the NHL. Dad had moved from Nova Scotia by himself when he was 15, down to Faribault, Minnesota. Mom and Dad met within his first week of school. Dad tells me I look just like her but from what I can tell, the older I get, the more I look like Dad. But basically one thing turned to another, Dad had his first taste of freedom, being away from his parents and all, and 9 months later, I was born. As soon as Grandma and Grandpa found out, they moved Taylor and everything else down to be with my dad and help out with me. But one Saturday, Mom dropped me off with Dad and told him she had decided she wanted more than raising a baby and my dad so she left me with Dad and left. I’ve never heard from her, except for one birthday card when I turned 6. Grandma and Grandpa raised me alongside Taylor until Dad’s first season in the NHL. That’s when he moved me to Pittsburgh with him. I mean, before he was in the NHL, he made sure that he was a part of my life and made sure I knew that I was his little girl. But it hasn’t really been that big of a deal that Mom hasn’t been in the picture since I’ve had Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, and Aunt Taylor, plus all of Dad’s teammates through the years. It’s been a ride, having a dad like I do. I mean, he’s pretty much the face of the NHL and one of the greatest players to ever play hockey, being Sidney Crosby and all. Everywhere we go, he gets recognized so it was always hard for him to come to my things as I was growing up. But he always made sure that someone was there for me, whether it was one of my grandparents or Aunt Taylor. But even through all of that, my dad is my best friend. I’ve never needed anyone else. 

“I missed you so much!” He says, setting me down and looking at me. I smile and nod.

“I missed you too! Nice set of goals by the way. Sorry about the playoffs...” I say, smiling as he walks into the kitchen. He shrugs as I follow him into the kitchen and sit down at the table, watching him wander around the kitchen, making one of his shakes he always drinks.

“It was a long two weeks for sure, but I’m glad I have you to come home too.” I nod and smile.

“Oh Sweetheart, before I forget, we’re going up to Toronto next weekend for the Leafs’ first playoff game, for your birthday. We’ll spend two weeks up in Toronto.” The Penguins missed out on the playoffs, ending their season early. But my Leafs made it to the first round of the playoffs. He smiles as my face lights up. The Toronto Maple Leafs are my favorite team. As disappointed as Dad was in me when he found out, he still supports it, just happy that I like hockey. My favorite player is Mitch Marner, which is a player Dad approves of. He raised me on the ice, around his team and made sure I loved hockey as much as he does. I played for 6 years but I decided I liked watching hockey better than playing. 

“Really? We are?” I say, giddy. 

“Yep, I think Tanger and Geno are going to come with us. I invited Taylor too, figured we could make a whole vacation of the trip. We can go out to dinner, shopping, all the fun, girly stuff you love. Oh and there’s a surprise flying out to see you too.” Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin are Dad’s alternate captains and my honorary uncles. Up until about 4 years ago, I had 3 honorary uncles. Marc-André Fleury, the Penguins' goalie and now the Vegas Golden Knights’ goalie was the third. He and Dad are still close which means he still claims the third honorary uncle spot. When he got married in 2012, I was the flower girl. I’ve actually been in all 3 of my “uncle’s” weddings. They’ve been a huge part of my life since I was little, even when Dad was trying to keep me out of the spotlight.  I smile, pushing my hair out of my face. I think the thing that everyone always finds so interesting about Dad and I, is that he did such a good job keeping me out of the spotlight up until I was old enough to understand what was going on. But as soon as I started going to events with him, everyone knew I was his daughter. I mean, I look and act like a female version of Dad so it makes perfect sense that I’m his daughter.

“Ava girl, do you want to see if one of your friends wants to come with us? Might be a little boring to spend your birthday weekend with a bunch of old people.” Dad says, finally sitting down with his gross shake. I nod and laugh, thinking of who I could invite. I go to Shady Side Academy in downtown Pittsburgh, which is a big, fancy private school. There’s a little over 1,100 kids that go to my school, but only about 70 of them are in my grade. 

“Oh, I’ll invite Carter. Let me text her and see if she can go.” Carter James has been my best friend since 2nd grade. She’s my total opposite and somehow, it works. 

“Okay Honey. I’m going to go lay down for a little bit. Our flight left pretty early this morning so I’m pretty tired. Go ahead and order something for dinner. Anything but pizza please.” I pout a little, my bottom lip jutting out. He smiles and drops a kiss on the top of my head as he walks out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I walk out to the living room and flop on the couch, getting on my phone to watch Tik Tok for a while. Suddenly, the door to the house flies open and my Aunt Taylor waltzes in.

“Hello my absolute favorite niece in the entire world!” She calls, dumping her purse and everything in her hands onto the bench by the door. Grandma decorated the entire house. Dad was going to hire a decorator but Grandma insisted and somehow, Dad ended up liking what she did with the place. 

“I’m your only niece so I hope I’m your favorite. But hey Aunt Tay. What’s up?” I asked, sitting up.

“Nothing much. Just came home to drive my big brother crazy and talk about your birthday trip with you. How excited are you? Hey wait, isn’t it your 18th birthday?” I smile and nod again. Aunt Tay is a little scatterbrained and once forgot how old I was turning and bought me a 13th birthday card. I was turning 11. But of course, she always means well and loves me a ton. 

“Carter is coming with us. Do you know what the surprise is? Dad just told me there is one but didn’t say anything else.” Taylor grins as she nods.

“I’m not telling you but just know this, you’re gonna be really really excited.” She says, sitting down on the couch by my feet. 

“So how’s things at school? Still thinking about going to UPenn?” She asks, tapping her thumb against my knee. I sigh.

“Ugh I don’t know anymore. I fell in love with UPenn when I visited there with Grandma last fall but I don’t know if I want to be that far away from everyone. I mean, it’s only 4 hours but going from how things are now to that? That’s a lot to process.” She nods, watching me. 

“Well Honey, you know your dad would make sure you had a car on campus and everything. So you can always come back home and visit. But I mean, it’s been you and your dad since you were a baby. Maybe it’s time to go out on your own a little?” I cringe a little at the thought.

“I don’t wanna leave!” I say, falling into Taylor’s lap and drawing out the end of the word. She laughs and smooths my hair down. 

“We’ll figure something out. You’ve still got time, Ava Grace.” She says and somehow, those words make all the anxiety I have about college and everything else coming up in my future fade to a dull roar instead of the screams it has been for the past couple weeks. I’ve always been able to talk to Dad about anything which is why he and I have such a good relationship now. But the one thing I haven’t been able to talk to him about is college. Dad went straight from high school into the NHL. He always claims to understand but I’m pretty sure it just confuses him sometimes. 

“Okay you two, it’s very hard to sleep when all I can hear is laughing and carrying on.” Dad says, coming back downstairs. 

“Yeah yeah, keep it down, Patrick.” Taylor says, looking up at Dad. Dad hates being called by his middle name which is why Taylor calls him that. He rolls his eyes and bats her hand away as she reaches up to poke him. When the two of them are together, Grandma always says they act like they did when they were little. 

“Have you girls figured out everything for us leaving on Thursday? Ava, is Carter going with us?” I grab my phone off the arm of the couch and turn it on, quickly reading the notifications on the screen.

“Yeah she’s going. And she’s gonna be here in 3, 2, 1!” I count down as the door bursts open again. Carter and my Aunt Taylor are two peas in a pod. They’re practically the same person which is why I love them both so much.

 “Hello Crosby family!” She shouts, sliding across the floor and landing on top of me.

“Oh this is going to be a long two weeks.” Dad says, laughing and rubbing his forehead. 

“So we’re going to Toronto for your 18th birthday? And to see the love of your life? Hell yeah this is going to be a great trip.” Carter says, looking up at me. 

“Okay, Carter James, slow down please.” I say, patting her head. 

“Wait, isn’t the legal drinking age in Canada, 18?” Carter asks, sitting up and looking at Dad.

“Oh my God Sidney Patrick. You’re taking your daughter to Canada to drink for her 18th birthday?” Taylor says, looking over at Dad with a smirk on her face. 

“Taylor Jane, you’d better cut it out or you’re not going anymore.” He says, shaking his finger at her. Carter and I laugh and Taylor rolls her eyes.

“She’s responsible enough to handle this. You two are the ones I have to worry about.” Dad says, pointing at Carter and Aunt Taylor. 

“Tanger and Geno are going too? Oh this is going to be a blast!” Taylor says, rubbing her hands together and grinning evilly. Dad’s head drops into his hands and the 3 of us burst out laughing. Carter and I spend the rest of the evening planning our trip out while Dad and Aunt Taylor watch the St. Cloud game. The week leading up to our trip to Toronto flies by, but my excitement for the game only builds. It’s not the first time I’ve been to a Leafs game, nor is it the first time I’ve gotten to watch my favorite player play. But it’s happening on my 18th birthday and that makes it even more exciting. 

Thursday morning, two days before my birthday, Carter wakes me up by bouncing on my bed. 

“We’re leaving today!” She sings, bouncing more. I roll over and groan. 

“Carter James, it’s too early!” I say, shoving her. She laughs at me and I sit up.

“Come on, we’re going to dinner with the love of your life tonight!” She says. I jump out of bed and look at her, eyes wide. I’m 100% a Mitch Marner fan girl. Carter thinks it’s hilarious but she’s the exact same way for Patrick Kane. We ran into him at the Stanley Cup Finals one year and she was speechless. 

“What are you talking about? Dinner with who?” I ask. Dad walks in and is now standing in my doorway.

“I called in a few favors and we’re going to dinner with Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly tonight. How does that sound?” He says, as my mouth drops open.

“Oh my God thank you thank you Daddy!” I say, running over to hug him. He smiles and Carter laughs. 

“She’s gonna faint as soon as she sees him. Total freak out.” Carter says, crossing her arms and laughing. 

“I am not! I’ll be perfectly fine. It’s just another hockey player. Not like I’m in love with him or anything.” I say, pointing at her. She rolls her eyes and we both laugh.

“Where my favorite birthday girl?” I hear a deep voice call from downstairs.

“Geno, it’s too early for you to be this loud. Shut up.” I hear Taylor say.

“I take it G and Tanger just got here?” Dad calls and Taylor groans in response. 

“Alright girls get ready and we’ll leave in a little over an hour. Go down and say hi to everyone first though.” I nod and follow Dad downstairs, Carter tagging along behind me. 

“Hi Uncle Geno, Uncle Kris!” I say, running to hug both of them as they stand up from where they were sitting on the couch. Taylor is taking up the other end of the couch, facedown in a pillow. “Are you excited for your birthday trip?” Kris asks, patting my back as he hugs me.

“I’m so excited. Do you know what my surprise is? Dad still won’t tell me.” Geno laughs, still too loud for Taylor apparently because a pillow goes flying across the room and just misses his head.

“Tay, go drink some coffee please, you’re being a brat right now.” Dad says, patting her head.

“I know surprise. You like a lot.” Geno says, crossing his arms and looking down at me. I raise an eyebrow. I’ve been the victim of one of Dad’s surprises before and let’s just say he doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to surprises. 

“Is it bad that I’ve been your best friend for 12 years and I still can’t understand what he’s saying?” Carter asks, leaning over to me. I laugh and Geno looks between the two of us.

“Who you? You Ava’s best friend?” Carter rolls her eyes and nudges Geno, who laughs again and hugs her. “Alright, Little Crosby, let’s get this show on the road.” Kris says, pointing towards the stairs. I smile and rush upstairs to get dressed and grab my bags. I pick out a pair of black leggings and a peach colored Adidas sweatshirt. I change into the clothes and put my pajamas in the dirty clothes. I put on mascara quickly, finishing everything off with some lip gloss. I grab my Birkenstocks and slip them on. 

“Okay, I’m ready!” I call as I drag my bag down the stairs behind me. I again attempt not to die on my way down the stairs. But yet again, I fail.

 “Oh God, Little Crosby.” Kris says, somehow managing to catch me as I trip down the last 3 steps. 

“Your daughter is a human wrecking ball. You know that, right Sid?” Dad laughs and nods.

“I haven’t killed myself yet. So far, we’re safe.” Everyone laughs and I smile. All these people filling this house are my entire family. They’ve raised me and I wouldn’t be who I am without all of them. 

“Okay, let’s get going! Our flight leaves in 45 minutes!” Dad calls, attempting to herd us all towards the door. Taylor has finally had her coffee and returned to the world of the living. 

“Toronto here we come!” She calls as we all get out the door and into the two cars we’re taking. Dad locks the door behind us and turns to look at me.

“You excited, Ava Grace?” I nod and he hugs me to his side.“I hope this lives up to your idea of the perfect 18th birthday.” I laugh and nod again as we head to his car. 

The drive to the airport and the flight to Toronto are pretty boring but Kris and Taylor keep everyone entertained the whole trip. Carter finally crashed after the Red Bulls she had while we were waiting for our flight to get called in the airport, leaving me to my own thoughts pretty much the entire flight. When we land in Toronto, everyone is pretty excited for the next two weeks. 

“Little Crosby surprise time!” Geno calls from the back of our group.

“Geno, we’re still in an airport. Keep it down a little please?” Carter says, patting his arm. Dad scoffs and looks between me and Carter.

“He’s right though, your surprise is right through those doors.” Dad says, pointing towards the exit of the airport. I see Taylor pull her phone out of her pocket and start recording me. I hand my bag to Kris and look over at Geno who motions me towards the door. I walk towards the doors, which slide open. I glanced around then back at Dad and Taylor who followed me out.   

“Little Crosby!” I hear a very familiar voice yell over the buzz of the airport.

“Oh my God! Uncle Flower!” I shout, rushing towards my uncle Marc and hugging him.

“Surprise!” Dad calls, smiling as I hug Marc.

 “So you were my surprise?” I say, stepping back and looking at him.

“Yep, I was the big wonderful surprise. Hope you weren’t too disappointed.” He says, smiling as his arm rests around my shoulders.

“I figured you’d want all of your uncles here for your big 18th birthday. So we worked it out and got him here for you.” I smile, quickly hugging Dad before returning to hug Marc again. 

“Alright well, it’s time to get heading to the hotel. We’re going to dinner at 6:30 tonight. Geno, Flower and Kris are taking Tay to something that I know nothing about. And you’re okay with Carter going with us?” I nod as Marc leads us and the rest of our group to the waiting van. 

“I’m taking a nap when we get to the hotel. You woke me up too early this morning.” I say, nudging Carter as she slides into the van next to me. 

“Sounds like a plan. The Red Bull ran out.” She says, laying her head on my shoulder. The two of us manage to fall asleep on the 20 minute drive to the hotel. Geno shakes us both awake when we get to the hotel. We sleepily wander into the hotel and wait in the lobby while Dad and Tay get everything figured out. The adults herd us all over to the elevator and into it, somehow managing to get us all to the conjoined rooms we have for the next two weeks. As soon as we make it into the rooms, Carter and I collapse onto the bed we’ll be sharing and fall asleep. 

About 2 and a half hours later, Dad comes in and wakes us up.

“Girls, we have about an hour before we have to leave for dinner. Go ahead and start getting ready.” He calls as he closes the door behind him. I sit up and stretch, the excitement building in my chest all over again.

“Okay, I think I’m gonna curl my hair and wear that frilly, layered red skirt with the white sweater and my little brown boots. What about you, Carter?” I ask, looking back at her who is still laying in bed. 

“So I have to dress nice right? I think the army green pants romper thing with my jean jacket, Vans and straight hair. Sound good?” She asks, finally sitting up. I nod and get started curling my hair. She gets started on doing her makeup while I work on my hair. Somehow, we both end up being done with plenty of time left to spare. So we do what typical teenagers do and spend the extra 15 minutes we have, on our phones. Dad comes in and the two of us follow him down to the elevator and out to the car. It’s some super nice, fancy car; just like the one that lives in our garage except on home game days. Dad lets Carter play music which automatically, I can tell, he regrets as Cotton Eye Joe plays for the third time. Carter is having the time of her life and I can’t help but laugh along with her. When we get to the restaurant, it’s one Dad and I came to, back when we came to Toronto for some charity event a few years ago.

“Alright, how excited are you?” Dad asks, as he parks the car and we climb out. I squeal a little and Carter laughs. Dad smiles, draping his arm around my shoulders as I link arms with Carter. The 3 of us waltz into the restaurant and walk up to the hostess.

“Hello, Mr. Crosby. Your two guests are already seated.” I squeeze Carter’s arm and we squeal a little together. As we follow the hostess to our table, back in the back, we pass a table with two teenage boys. One looks Carter up and down, obviously checking her out, while the other locks eyes with me. I smile, forcing myself to look away as we disappear into the back, private room Dad reserved for us. 

“Holy crap, did you see those guys?” Carter whisper-yells into my ear. I nod, trying to focus on the fact that Mitch Marner is standing a few feet away from me, a grin on his face, instead of the guy I just saw.

“Hey Sid. This must be Ava and Carter. Nice to meet you girls.” Mitch says, reaching his hand out. I shake it, the smile on my face impossibly large. Morgan Rielly stands next to him and shakes our hands as well. As we all sit down, I happen to glance around the room and see that both of the boys are looking into the room. As much as I want to pay attention to what Mitch, Mo and Dad are talking about, I can’t. I’m too distracted by the boy I saw. Carter, apparently can’t either. 

“Ava, they were literally so hot. Can I please go get their numbers?” She asks, nudging me when she catches me staring again.

 “No! Dad will kill me if he catches me talking to a boy!” I whisper-yell, glancing up at Dad and Mitch. 

“Ava Grace, that could be your freaking soulmate and you’ll never know because you won’t let me go get their numbers!” I roll my eyes and glance over my shoulder at the boys’ table. Sadly, they’re gone and I sigh, looking over at Carter.

“They’re gone anyway. Not like we’re ever gonna see them again anyways.” I say, glumly, resting my chin on my hand. She shakes her head. “There went your soulmate.” I sigh, knowing she won’t let me live this down. Dad clears his throat, pulling Carter and I back to the conversation happening at the table.

“So Ava, I hear you’re a pretty big fan of mine.” Mitch says, leaning on his elbows against the table. I smile, taking in all of his features.

“Yeah, you’ve been my favorite since you came into the league. Dad’s always a little disappointed when I don’t tell people he’s my favorite player.” Mitch and Mo laugh. The rest of the evening, conversation flows easily and Carter and I both have a blast. As I glance at my Apple watch and see the time, Carter nudges me again. 

“Your dad is looking at you funny.” She says, nodding her head towards Dad. I look up, my eyes meeting my dad’s gaze.

“It’s getting late, are you girls ready to head back to the hotel? Your aunt and uncles should be getting back soon too.” Carter and I nod and I turn to look at Mitch.

“I’ll be wearing your jersey on Saturday night. Don’t disappoint me. Also it’s my birthday so a goal or two would be nice.” Mitch and Mo laugh as Dad smiles down at me. 

“I will try my hardest. Glad we could spend the evening with you lovely ladies. See you on Saturday after the game? There’ll be passes for your whole group at the ticket desk.” My face lights up and I know Carter’s does too.“Okay great! See you then! Good luck!” I say, standing and hugging Mitch. Mo shakes Dad’s hand and then the two of them head out. 

“You two seemed very distracted all during dinner. Was everything okay?” Dad asks as the 3 of us head back out to the car after he pays.“Yeah everything was fine. Dinner was super good and fun. Carter just saw some cute boy and wouldn’t shut up about him.” Dad laughs and rolls his eyes.

“Hey, in my defense, your daughter was looking too so it wasn’t just me.” Carter says, crossing her arms. Dad’s head whips around as we climb in the car.

“A boy? What?” I groan internally and elbow Carter. I’ve never been that into boys. I mean, I’ve thought plenty of boys were cute and had quite a few guy friends but I’ve never had the time or the effort that comes with having a relationship. So it’s never been a topic of conversation for Dad and I. 

“Nothing, it was nothing. Don’t worry about it, Dad.” I say, trying to avoid the topic. 

“It’s interesting though. I was just talking to your uncle Kris about how you’ve never had a boyfriend or anything like that. Which is fine with me because I know what boys are like.” Dad says as we drive back to the hotel. Carter is dying sitting next to me, her hand pressed against her mouth to avoid laughing out loud.

“I-I know...I’ve just never had the time or wanted one.” I say, burying my head in my hands. 

“Well you don’t need one. You have all the guys you need in your life. Me, your Uncle Geno, Uncle Kris, Uncle Marc, and Grandpa.” Carter finally bursts out laughing and Dad looks in the rearview mirror at me. 

“I’m serious, Ava Grace. Why do you need a boyfriend?” Dad has never really been the overprotective dad. He’s protective for sure but he kind of lets me do my own thing most of the time. He knows if I need to, I’ll come to him or one of the other main adults in my life. But he lets me make my own decisions and figure life out by myself. This whole ‘no boyfriend’ thing that he’s doing right now is new. 

“I guess I don’t. You’re right.” I say, putting an end to the conversation by turning and looking out the window. Thankfully, Dad doesn’t push any farther. The 3 of us ride in silence, the radio off, the rest of the way back to the hotel. Once we get into the hotel and up to our rooms, I tell Dad goodnight, give him a hug and a kiss then follow Carter into our room. Carter distracts me from the disaster of a conversation that was with Dad and forces me to watch some cheesy rom-com with her. I fall asleep midway through and sleep in late the next day. Taylor takes Carter and I out shopping all day on Friday while my dad and the uncles do who knows what. The topic of boys is avoided all day, All night at dinner on Friday, we catch up with everyone. I fill Marc in on what Dad’s latest old person moment was, even though he’s only 33. Everything seems so perfect and happy but I keep replaying the conversation with Dad over and over again in my head. 

Saturday morning, my birthday morning, Carter wakes me up with cake in bed. It’s a tradition we started when we were 12. Every year on our birthday, the other girl brings the birthday girl cake in bed. It’s one of my favorite birthday traditions. 

“Happy birthday Little Crosby! You are adult now!” Geno calls, leading the rest of my family into my room. Dad brings up the end of the line and walks over to the bed. He hugs me, pressing a kiss to my forehead.“Happy birthday my sweet girl.” He says, smoothing my hair down and getting all teary-eyed. 

“I can’t believe the young lady you’ve grown into. You are beautiful, strong, independent and so responsible. I...I didn’t think things would end up this way, especially with your mom not being in the picture. But I look around you and I see all these people who helped raise you and I know, you’ve turned out more than okay. I love you Ava Grace and will always love you. Happy birthday.” Dad says. I take another bite of the cake Carter brought me and smile up at him.

“I love you so much, Daddy. Thank you for everything. Thank you everyone for everything you’ve done for me. I love all of you.” They all share a sappy smile and I keep eating my cake. The rest of the day, we hang out at the hotel, lounging around before the game tonight at 7. Marc and Geno see how many pieces of pizza they can eat while Dad keeps score. Taylor paints Carter’s nails and I pick at mine. Kris sneaks out to buy me ice cream and comes back with at least 10 different kinds, all of them my favorite in one way or another. 

Carter and I start getting ready around 4:30 so we’re ready to leave by 5. I straighten my hair and do just light makeup. I dig my Mitch Marner jersey out of my bag and put it on with some black leggings. Carter wears the jersey of the only Leaf she likes, Frederik Andersen. She opted for black ripped jeans instead of leggings. Everyone else is just dressed casual. Marc did wear a Leafs hat just to please me. The drive to the arena, Carter gets to play music again. She plays our ‘Hockey Game Hype Up’ playlist, something we made a few years ago. Even though I’m the music person, she’s much better at putting playlists together. I’m only really good at finding one or two songs I love and just playing them over and over again. As the songs ‘Auston Matthews’ by Svdvm and ‘Toronto Maple Leafs Anthem’ by JDME play back to back, we pull into the arena parking lot. No matter how many times I’ve been to Scotiabank Arena, it never ceases to amaze me. I think I’ve been here a grand total of like 15 times in the last 10 years, solidifying it as my favorite arena. 

“Come on Ava, let’s go watch your boy play.” Carter says, linking her arm through mine. She leads me and the rest of our group into the arena. Everyone else heads to the box but I decide to stay down in the main area and wander around a bit, making sure I get the full experience again. All around me, Leafs fans are hurrying to one place or another. I take everything, wanting to remember this for the rest of my life. As I’m walking down a small set of stairs, I collide with a pretty solid body. And of course, with my human wrecking ball abilities, I manage to take both of us down, all the way to the ground. “Shit! I’m so sorry, are you okay?” I ask, sitting up and looking at the boy I collided with. He sits up, looks at me, down at the ground, then back up at me. His eyes are huge.

“I-Oh my God. Yeah-Yeah I’m okay! Are you?” He asks, jumping to his feet and reaching his hand out to help me up. I take his hand and he pulls me to my feet. “Yeah I’m all good. Sorry for taking you out. I’m known for being clumsy. Like the jersey by the way.” I say, pointing to where the number 16 is stitched into the arm of his jersey. The same number sprawled across my back.

“Hey, I like yours too. Marner your favorite player?” I nod, pushing my hair back out of my face.

“Yeah, I grew up a Penguins fan because of my dad but the Leafs are my favorite team.” He smiles and nods. He looks so familiar but I can’t place where I know him from. Talking to him comes so naturally and it seems like the world just goes on around us while we stand there and talk. Before I know it, they’re starting the lineup announcements.

“Oh shoot, I gotta get going. Enjoy the game!” I call over my shoulder as I run back towards the box we’re all sitting in. Of course, I trip up the steps and almost fall. As I glance over my shoulder, I see the boy with a smirk on his face. I blush and mentally kick myself for first off accidentally tackling a cute boy then tripping and almost falling in front of him. As I rush back into the box, Dad eyes me with a raised eyebrow. I huff and flop into my seat next to Marc and Carter. Carter glances at me out of the corner of her eye and smirks.

“Why are you all red and bothered about?” I bite my lip and Marc looks over at me.“I accidentally tackled a cute boy…” I say, burying my head in my hands. Carter and Marc laugh and Marc pats my back.

“There there, Little Crosby. I did much worse to your aunt Véronique.” I laugh and lean my head on his shoulder. Geno and Kris are behind us, teasing Taylor as Dad watches what’s going on down on the ice. His hand is resting on my shoulder, absentmindedly squeezing and releasing in a protective way. As I sit there, watching the game, all I can think about is the boy. But as I do, I think about the conversation Dad and I had last night in the car. Did he really mean what he said? Would he really get upset if I did ever decide to have a boyfriend?

[himbeaux-on-ice]

love when I’ve got the game on in the next room and I come racing back bc I hear “OH MY GOD! MARC-ANDRÉ FLEURY!!” like okay what wizardy has he pulled out of his shiny gold hat now

[palaugranetes]

FC Barcelona 2 - 1 Dynamo Kyiv

⚽️ Lionel Messi 6' (penalty)

⚽️ Gerard Pique 65' (🅰️ Ansu Fati)

-----------

⚽️ Viktor Tsygankov 75'

Before anything.. allow me to say

🙌🏻🙌🏻MARC-ANDRÉ TER STEGEN! WELCOME BACK SUNSHINE 🙌🏻🙌🏻

Okay, now that I am calmer and I can process what happened yesterday, here we go..

When you face a team that is basically shook by a pandemic, playing with ONLY 13 PLAYERS, and you play the way you did tonight... It really is embarrassing, with all due respect to Dynamo Kyiv, they actually played better. And yes they deserved more. Hard luck to them.

AND THEY COULD HAVE GOTTEN MORE WERE IT NOT FOR MARC!

YOU ARE COMPETING AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS. You cannot miss that many chances! If you miss, 8 times out of 10 you will concede. This is how it works.

You cannot allow this many chances to be conceded ffs, from a team who is, on paper, not on the same level, when in fact actually they were better than you expected, and you allowed them to be. You should rise up to that challenge. If they want it, you should want it even more!

This was the perfect opportunity for radical changes. YES this was a match where experimentation was expected. PLAYING THE SAME PLAYERS EVERY MATCH IS NOT GOING TO HELP ANYONE. We are fortunate to have an actual good squad.. Why not try to play all of them.. see what they do. Create competition for the "fixed" starters. Rest the older players, give an opportunity for younger players to get their feet wet.

Also, fluidity... where is it?

Our game has not known fluidity in so many seasons, it is becoming sad to watch. Scratch that.. it has become sad to watch.

When a system is not working or glitching it probably most likely definitely needs an update! YOU. FIX. IT.

The problem here is not that complicated to solve. The talent is there. You just gotta manage it competently. That way you can avoid having to play someone you decided not to risk prior to the match, only to put him on anyways and probably risk losing him, just because the whole system is not working, which, and I say this for the umpteenth time, has not been. Resulting in being left with ONE natural player for that position (yes... you guessed it F Arcelona.. No CBs just suffering)

Okay.. some positives

The first minutes were full of attacking moments, the majority of the first half. Sure we missed most of them.. but still... Chances.

Marc. André. Ter. Stegen.

THE comeback we have all been waiting for. If we had any ANY other GK in goal last night, we would have lost for sure. This is a double edges sword. One on hand having a sure fire GK in goal gives us some peace of mind. On the other hand, the amount of times he was left alone to deal with the danger.. NO.

Aside from saving our behinds, Marc's comeback also means a better build up to plays, since our game starts from the back.

Yes, it is still november.

Yes, it is still early on in the season.

Yes, there is still plenty of time to work.

This should be the time to find the perfect combination, have the team gel, find that chemistry. If that means changing the system, mixing up the lineup, be creative.

Right now, there is no chemistry. The system is not working that well. The individual efforts are the ones getting the goals 80% the time. Players are tired.

Our playing is predictable. Teams clearly know how to stop us. And they have for a while now. And yet, there is still no change. We have to have a back-up. Being stubborn and grasping onto ONE thing, that a lot of the time, is not functioning well, is not good for anyone.

But hey, what do I know, I'm just rambling. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[manuelmueller]

steno + 8 from ‘anger'

ANGER 8: “You aren’t the boss of me.”

–––––

It was nothing.

Yeah, so Bernd had fallen on his hand yesterday, so what. It was fine, the doctors had said so. Sure, they’d also advised him to take it it easy, and rest it should it worse. But it hadn’t been an order per se, so, if he was feeling fine, there was no reason to cut back in training.

And he was. Feeling fine, that is. Honestly.

Okay, sometimes there was the ever so slight twinge, a tiny sting as if someone had, only for a few seconds, jammed a needle into the back of his hand, but Marc-André ter Stegen didn’t know that. So why that prick was constantly going on about being more careful, Bernd had no idea.

Surely Marc of all people should know that that wasn’t an option. Not when Jogi had, for the first time in forever, very tentatively, suggested that there was a chance he might start him for the next friendly. Not when Bernd was so painfully clearly the number three and this might be one of the only chances he’d get on a country level in the next few months, if not years.

Of course, Marc, second-in-line and direct competitor to the throne, the almost-usurper was not aware of how much this meant to Bernd.

Prick.

Bernd got ready to jump, catching the ball Andi sent at him with easy, gritting his teeth when the sting came and went, lowering his eyes quickly when he noticed Marc staring in his direction again.

He was fine.

Except then, lunch break came, and as they were all under the shower, Marc didn’t stop sending him these annoyingly concerned looks. Bernd pointedly ignored him, and instead picked up a conversation with Julian, catching up with him, which he honestly hadn’t done in way too long. He missed his younger friend quite a bit sometimes. It wasn’t like his teammates in London weren’t nice, but it still was different from the close friends he’d found at Leverkusen, where everything had been on a smaller scale, felt more familiar.

There was always a nostalgia to returning to the National Team and meeting up with people he had been used to seeing every other day. At Arsenal, there was no other German International anymore, and sometimes he missed it.

Julian laughed at something Kai said, and Bernd grinned along as he rubbed his hair dry with a towel, being mindful that he used his other, non-injured hand.

At first, it didn’t even really register when Marc caught him by the elbow as he walked back into the dressing room.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

Marc’s eyebrows were drawn tightly together, and lines had appeared on his forehead. 

Bernd taxed him with a glare, but to his credit, Marc didn’t retreat one bit. In moments like these, Bernd missed the times where they were so wary of each other that a touch like this, soft and gentle and so overly concerned wouldn’t happen in the first place.

He was fine.

“Fine,” he grunted, yanking his elbow free.

The creases on Marc’s forehead deepened.

“You clearly aren’t, Bernd. Why are you being so stubborn? I’ll go tell Andi you’ll take the afternoon session off. It would be better if you spent it in the gym instead of overtaxing your hand.”

Oh, that little bitch–

“You aren’t the boss of me!”

Okay, maybe his voice was a little too harsh, and suddenly, Bernd hated the way Marc flinched at his words, then slowly retreated, turned around and walked away.

Immediately and suddenly, Bernd felt a crack running through his heart. 

Fuck.

He’d done this all wrong, hadn’t he.

Things were complicated at the moment, they both knew this. They weren’t enemies anymore, yet they were still professional rivals. They’ve long been past honeymoon phase of their relationship, past the times where they hardly could keep their hands off each other, and keeping their love aflame took work, many hours of call, and a baseline of respect for each other that had, in the end, taken years to build after an entire youth of seething mutual animosity.

Sometimes, far away from each other, it grew hard to remember that Marc actually cared.

Marc’s actions hadn’t been the doing of his rival, trying to get him to pause so that Bernd would fall behind in training – Bernd had shoved him away, both physically and verbally, when Marc had simply tried to be a good boyfriend.

Fuck.

Bernd clenched his fists at his side. When he looked up, almost everyone was looking at him. Perfect. As if it wasn’t enough that he’d hurt Marc, he’d also aired their relationship drama to the entire dressing room. 

A few feet away, Manuel lifted an eyebrow at him.

“You better go fix that,” he said, his captain voice so different from the almost shy guy he was off the pitch, and Bernd ducked his head between his shoulders, nodding. He couldn’t look him in the eyes as he shouldered past, breaking into a run as soon as he was through the door.

Ahead, he could just see Marc’s figure slipping through the big doors to the cafeteria.

“Marc,” he yelled, “wait for me!”

He didn’t. Bernd couldn’t fault him, so he increased his pace, reaching the doors just as Marc reached the buffet. He came to a halt next to him seconds later, panting. Luckily, Marc didn’t shove him away. Instead, he smiled at the barista who just passed him his coffee, before walking over to one of the tables.

Somehow, Bernd had a feeling that he was okay with him joining him, so, he hastily sat down, before glancing over his shoulders as he reached out, engulfing Marc’s free hand in between his own.

“Hey. I’m. I’m sorry, okay. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I was irritated by the hand, and I didn’t…” he chewed on his bottom lip. He rarely felt this reluctant, but he was afraid that Marc would now hold a grudge against him – and rightfully so.

“Words, Bernd. Use them.” Marc’s tone was almost completely flat, but Bernd could see the corner of his mouth twitching fondly.

“You just wanted to help. I’m sorry I didn’t realize. You’re – you were right, I should probably take the afternoon off.”

Now, the smile on Marc’s lips blossomed fully, and with a motion that was so familiar, so heart-achingly comforting, he linked their fingers together, thumbing over the back of Bernd’s hand.

“Apology accepted. I know it’s difficult when we’re working, but I’m your boyfriend long before I’m your rival. Especially in moments like this. Always.”

And damn that idiot for being so damn sappy. No, Bernd wasn’t holding back a happy tear. Not at all.

(He totally was.)

emotional prompts – closed!

[colemccassidy]

Here I am, back on my hockey players as Sims bullshit!

Today, I’ve made Jonathan Bernier and Marc-André Fleury. Someone sent me an ask to request Fleury and I misinterpreted an ask from my sister about Bernier, leading to me agreeing to make him.

For Fleury, I managed to get the accent on his name!! I had to Google what the keyboard code was to be able to do it but it was worth it, as I feel having the accent is important; it’s there for a reason, so I’ll respect that. I’ve given him the traits and aspiration that I have because he’s so sickeningly sweet with Veronique and the girls how could I not??

As for Bernier, he should technically have tattoos visible on his left arm right at the collar bone. However, the skin overlay I used is a meanie and doesn’t allow the tattoos to show up over the top of it. I hope that’s forgivable...? As for his traits and aspiration, I’ve given them to him because I remember from his time in Toronto that he mentioned how hard he fell for Martine when they met. I’ve given him the family-oriented trait because of Tyler (him being named after Bozak is a hill I will damn well die on).

As per the other two posts, don’t be afraid to use my ask box to request any player you’d like to see as a Sim! NWHL/CWHL players, AHL players, or any other league is okay too! Whoever your favourite player is; I’ll happily do them. It would also be beneficial if you could include a few trait/aspiration options that you feel would fit the player; you probably know the player better than I do and it would make my job a little easier.

Enough rambling! I hope you enjoy these Sims!

[idontgiveaflyinggrayson69]

Okay so I NEVER see any imagines without hockey boys with a reader that also plays. So can you maybe think of doing an imagine with Barrett Hayton (baby boy) where he’s dating or likes a girl who plays hockey? I’m a goalie and I’m sad there’s no imagines representing the hockey gals :(((( Have a wonderful day or night!!💞

Totally!! I actually have a couple hockey player!Reader x hockey player imagines coming up (not with Barrett). But I totally agree! I never see them either so I’m trying to supply some! Right now I only have this one (below) but I’m working on expanding!

See also: Making History (Marc-André x Sister!Reader)

But I would be happy to write a Barrett x hockey player!Reader! Can you be more specific about a plot?

Going to one of her games?

Just chilling after a game?

Or maybe “Barret Hayton Dating A Hockey Player Would Include”

Please let me know!! xx

[a-chlolix-blog]

Person A does not want to be alone right now, but they’re struggling with telling Person B that.

Chloé had lots of fun with Alix Nathaniel Marc Mylène and Ivan at the movies.

After the movies, Alix walked Chloé to Le Grand Paris.

The two joked as they got closer and closer to the hotel.

As they stopped in front of the hotel, Chloé realized that she would be alone in the hotel since Zoé André and Audrey would be busy.

"Chloé, you okay?"

Alix's question snaps Chloé out of her thoughts.

"Well... I was wondering if..."

Instead of asking Alix to come inside with her like she wanted to, Chloé asks something different.

"If we could do this again sometime? You and your friends are surprising fun to hang out with!"

This causes Alix to laugh and playfully elbow Chloé.

"Absolutely! See you tomorrow."

And with that, Chloé watched as Alix lefted her in front of Le Grand Paris.

When she goes inside the hotel and up to her room, she falls to her knees and cries.