#(bc it had Pictures of where the trainers are)

[ornithic]

the hoenn region having a whole section that's mostly water is!!!!!!!!!! RLLY COOL and i just got the ability to dive, which is even cooler, and hearing the song for it and the scuba diver trainers,

i have used more repels than i normally would Though,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[crosbyism]

"but then again this is the guy who’s publically known for loving to eat ass so"

I'm sorry, I thought Nate eating ass was fanon. Are you telling me this is an actual canon fact??

god i love when people don’t realise how much “fanon” around sid and nate is actually canon. it’s like heroin to me. also bc it’s like. 90% of the stuff in fics (which is probably why people assume it’s fanon but. oh boy it’s not. there’s shockingly little fanon around these two, mostly because canon is so abundant).

yes, nathan mackinnon is a known ass-eater. let me direct you to this post, anon. you’re welcome.

other nate (and sid) facts you might not have realised are canon:

nate is a known advocate for therapy. he’s been seeing a sports therapist since 2017

they wear matching clothing all the fucking time, sid has said publicly that he started wearing white sneakers and updated his wardrobe due to nate’s influence (iirc nate might’ve even bought him his first pair of white sneakers? either that or it was a “he told me i need to so i did” situation). they share a tailor. unfortunately i now have to bring your attention to the fact that since they have an alarming amount of matching clothes that they’ve bought for each other, that means that they in fact have to know each other’s clothing sizes off by heart. they also low-key share clothing btw

their families celebrate canada day together and their dads are best friends. in-law behaviour goes crazy

nate did in fact stalk his way into sid’s heart (got the same personal trainer and agent at age 13; built his house next door in 2017; they’ve been spending every day in the summers together since at least 2015. sid cooks for them daily, or at least did pre-pandemic. sid refuses to use nate’s gym tho so they always use sid’s).

nate used to have a fan twitter account more or less where he rooted for the pens. it was active until 2017.

sid and nate regularly go to summer weddings together as each other’s dates. they have done this since, once again, at least 2015

nate has confirmed that he used to have a poster of sid on his wall as a teenager (he didn’t confirm he used to jerk off to it but frankly. i think that’d be saying the quiet part out loud)

when sid won the cup in 2009 and held the parade in cole harbour, nate stood by the side of the road watching it. he was about to turn 14, he was already working with sid’s trainer and agent, and he was about to start attending shattuck (sid’s junior high). due to old pics we also know that this was RIGHT before nate had his first growth spurt and hit puberty. i’m not saying seeing sid with the cup kickstarted nate’s puberty and gave him his first boner but i’m not NOT saying it

nate dated vanessa morgan of riverdale fame in his rookie year. she’s now good friends with elias petersson from the vancouver canucks (this means nothing but i do think it’s a very funny coincidence).

nate schmidt, formerly of the VGK, once failed a drug test (it turned out to be a testing-fuck-up); when nhl players were asked about it natemack iconically said “i don’t think he was sticking a needle up his ass” (i just like this one)

when he was a kid, the one other thing sid wanted to be was a hairdresser. nate, on the other hand, “didn’t have a plan B”

nate is canonically possessive of sid (see: the asg 2024) and sid is canonically delighted by this and into it

they go on so many lunch dates in the summer my dude. they go grocery shopping together. like there’s so many pics of them in grocery stores or out having coffee or weird green shakes

oh i almost forgot, they went on a roadtrip through ireland last year. they’ve been on holiday together multiple times over the years though. done some eurotripping together and stuff. in 2015 they spent three months together, three weeks of which were spent living in sid’s santa monica condo together just the two of them

sid has put up a picture of every stanley cup winning captain in his basement since 2008, when the pens lost in the scf to DET. apparently this serves as motivation for him to win the cup. he notoriously does not watch the playoffs after the pens are out

however, he partied so hard at nate’s cup party he actually closed down the party with his dad. nate is the only non-teammate sid’s ever been seen supporting for a cup run (he’s also never been to his teammates’ cup parties afaik so. there’s that)

also they talked on the phone daily and between periods during nate’s cup run. they also canonically have almost weekly phone dates that can run multiple hours. quote nate “i can’t talk to anyone else the way i can talk to him”

they each have pictures of the two of them together framed in each other’s houses

there’s rumours they’re building adjoining houses on neighbouring properties in cape breton next to a golf course bc apparently being neighbours in halifax isn’t enough or something. this one is as yet unconfirmed by reputable sources though

[raceweek]

hello. alexalblondo's rude anon coming here to humbly and politely beg for galex primer because i dont understand their history. george said he lived at alex's family's house at one point? how - weren't they already racing? sorry thank you humble thank you 🙏🙏

hello!!! thanks chris for the referral FKFJDKD

i have overwhelmed my alex and george tags so much that i fear i could never capture all of it but my galex key moment anthology is under the cut!!

karting/early single seaters

Alex thinks they met in 2011 but the footage in georges flip phone says he knew alex back in 2009.

Their first actual interaction (so far as they've told the world) was when alex was world champion with the intrepid karting team and bc he was their reference driver he was asked to help pick the drivers who were quick to replace him when he moved up and he picked george (and charles) so they were then part of that same intrepid driver programme for a while. Interestingly, alex was always at least one year above him bc of their ages and george says the fact they didn't really race directly against each other before 2016 was probably why they became such good friends.

They did a deep dive of their camera rolls from this time on twitch a couple years back and talked about the oldest pictures they have of each other in their camera rolls (1:25:36) which was cute.

2017

2017 is the year george basically lived with alex. They were also sharing a trainer whilst alex was competing in gp2 and george was in gp3. George was doing mercedes sim work at their factory so rented a flat in milton keynes near where alex lived but according to alex that rent was wasted money bc george had more meals at alexs' house than he did that year. Also as detailed in those links, the Great Mountain Biking Incident of 2017 occurred at this time so we have the fun mental image of george literally wheeling alex into a&e on a wheelchair bc that is an actual event that happened.

2018

George and alex both in f2 fighting for the title year wooooo!! They never really fought on track but we did get fun tidbits like when alex pipped george to the win at silverstone bc george had a slow pit stop and giggled about it in parc ferme (5:42) & these post session interviews.

also some incredible photoshoots.

2019

Promotion to f1!!! We started the year at winter testing and this nugget that they have both accepted that they are actually tied together by the strings of fate. They're doing fun media stuff like karting and bullying each other over percentage of apexs hit at the skypad (video). 2019 also the start of the umbrella sharing. They were just together a lot… more skypad analysis!!!

2019 also has MY personal favourite galex moment which was hockenheim 2019 and the 45 minute phone call galex had on the way home after george missed out on scoring what would have been his first point in f1 and only point of the season.

There was also the summer break and enjoying a training camp together, exchanging infections etc. Alex also took george to meet lily for the first time, bc that’s a normal thing to do.

There was also the rookie of the year vid, and the rookie season review vid at the end of the year. Much was happening.

2020

The year started with f1 trying to race during a global pandemic. Fun! On the singular media day before everyone realised just how stupid that was they were being annoying. The lockdowns did give us the twitch streams. George was initially so bad at virtual racing he had to secretly consult alex's brother for help behind alexs back. George was also actively seeking alex out like a missile at any given opportunity and at one point felt necessary to declare that he wasn't alexs boyfriend when someone asked if alex was going to be streaming that day. Anyway my lockdown twitchscapades tag has a post with a playlist of all the streams that haven't been lost or deleted if you want to feel joy and have a spare million hours.

Racing resumed in July with the covid team bubbles and within two races and one qualifying session george was defending alexs honour to sky sports and the world in a truly remarkable fashion.

At the end of the year alex was unemployed....even more tragic than this loss was that alexs career difficulties were so extreme he started ghosting george, which devastated him to the extent he needed to publicly drag him for it.

There was also george asking lily to post alexs n*des on instagram and lily responding with if anyone has them it would be you which was perhaps the last time george had access to his own social media password.

Despite george not liking it they celebrated alexs first podium by going golfing! and reverse! George was also gifted an alex albon signed autograph card for christmas and said that he'll put it somewhere special x

2021

The beginning of 2021 was during lockdown and there was more fun virtual gps except the only two drivers doing it were george and alex so they were just bitching and gossiping and threatening to steal strategies and abu dhabi 2016 each other. Particular shoutout to the time they had a virtual race on valentines day and alex put a suit on for it and george was baffled. Immediately after valentines day was georges birthday which lily used to thank george for letting her borrow his boyfriend from time to time.

Then the season started with george enduring the season alexless and not letting anyone forget about it. Alex was turning up to races after being locked in the simulator until the early hours posting stuff like this on instagram and otherwise stumbling over his words after getting whipped on the ass.

Perhaps the defining moment of the galex 2021 season was george pushing the williams board to sign alex so heavily that they had to actively shut him out of proceedings. Also at this time there was this cute congrats from alexs family and one from alex to georgie about the mercedes seat.

anyway here's some more random 2021 nuggets:

i've seen him topless a few times

george getting alex a good deal on a merc x

yet More golf

the handover

georges driver room

2022

They truly lost every inch of personal space in 2022 like. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. The back signing Hello.

2022 had alex having his appendix out, nearly dying and alexs family updating george whilst alex was in the icu and then when alex returned for the next race in signapore a couple weeks later (insane behaviour) george was like mmm audacious of him to be here.

Elsewhere alex discovered georges photoshoot and was making screensavers about it. Alex also discovered hair dye and george was making instagram stories about it.

other random 2022 nuggets:

george is alexs fave f1 driver excluding himself

this skit williams did of lily finding a huge picture of george in alexs driver room

whatever this image is of lily george and alex

private plane carpool

double date

2023

@onadarklingplain covers the whole year for you much MUCH better than i ever could here!!!!!

and that brings us to present where they're just as weird and freaky with each other as ever!!!

[tranzjen]

🖤💙 4 days until my Surgery 💙🖤

(Picture taken Dec 9th, 2023)

I'm very very excited for my surgery (it's my second gender affirming surgery but this one is more significant to me since it'll be top and bottom surgery) and I'm obviously counting the days until it and I thought some people might be interested in my trans journey 🏳️‍⚧️ So see part 7 below the cut.

Part 1 here

As the summer was ending, I got really lucky! A lesbian hairstylist (who helped organize the drag show I went in the last update) gave my name to this sales lady who sold accounting work to like companies and she needed help with researching CEO and CFO types. And she paid me out of pocket and honestly it was pretty easy internet research using Google. I felt like a little rat scurrying across the Internet 🐀 So, thank you lesbians 🙏🙏

(Picture taken Nov 6th, 2022)

Apparently I really impressed her so she got me hired full time as a sales admin for her company (I wouldn't have gotten with my lack of a college degree without her) and I've had that job since! And a lot of my transition wouldn't be possible without the pay and benefits of this job. Also this is my first job where I get gendered correctly and I'm slowly getting less anxious about going to the bathroom at work 🥰

She honestly mom'd up on me and bought me a bunch of new business casual clothes for the job. And here's an example of one of my new work outfits 😁

(Picture taken Nov 14, 2022)

Bc of the new job I was able to afford a lot more things for transitioning! Like voice training. I remember when I first cracked I tried to just teach myself using videos but I wasn't good at it 😅 Also a friend during the summer of 2022 helped me and I did make some progress with her help. But, I started making a lot more progress once I started seeing a speech therapist. But, there was a barrier since I could tell she hadn't worked too much with trans people. I went to a speech therapist bc it was covered by my insurance but she moved and then I couldn't find anyone for insurance covered speech therapy. So, I eventually just paid for lessons Your Lessons Now. And, honestly it's going a lot better! It's really nice to be able to talk about my frustrations with voice training with another transfem. The biggest thing I'm learning from here is how to break the bad habit of pitching up my voice by squeezing my vocal chords.

(Picture taken Sept 8th, 2023)

I had also switched to injections and I highly recommend it! A friend even made my first two vials into earrings 🔥

I also got a lot lazier with makeup 😅 I do eyeliner wings, mascara, and blush for when I go into the office. Which for a bunch of accountants means I do about as much makeup that is normal for the women in the office 🤷‍♀️

(Pictures taken October 31st and December 2nd of 2022)

These were two notable exceptions. I really love the makeup I did for the Halloween of 2022 bc I decided to go as a ghost-type trainer. And the one on the right is when I learned how to use concealer to cover my 'raccoon eyes' as my dad liked to call them 🦝

Also this would be a good time to mention something I probably should've mentioned earlier 😅 I never learned how to use foundation. I know it's easy but I have a weird mental block around it 🤷‍♀️ But, in the summer of 2021 I started doing twice daily skincare routine for my face. Which took me from a very acne heavy face to people being surprised I'm not wearing foundation. Also the routine is really nice. Would recommend to those who want to get rid of their acne (send an ask if you want to know specifics).

(Picture taken Aug 20, 2023)

Romance update since I've been doing that lol: Well, things ended with all the girlfriends I had so I am down to 1 partner. And I got caught in a romance scam for a few months 😭 However, I can't really complain because I got engaged!!! It was so sweet in cute. My partner and I had this date the night before Valentine's Day under a statue outside of a local art museum. We read sapphic poetry by candle light and then they popped the question 🥰🥰

But, I say another big part of this era was I made a lot more local trans friends. Went to a good amount of house parties which would've surprised pre-transition me! And I really love my community of queer people I've been building 🥺🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️💕

(Picture taken July 21st, 2023)

Oh yeah!! I also started laser hair removal at the beginning of 2021 as well. Which was before this era but time is a lie. But the new job definitely made it easier to afford.

The biggest step for my transition was getting my surgeries set up!! And my FFS (facial feminization surgery) marks the end of this era. Below was the last picture I took before my FFS.

(Picture taken Feb 17th, 2024)

So, in my next update, I'll be showing my post-op pictures once most of the swelling went down. See you tomorrow!! 😁✌️

Next Part Here

[dittaturamonegasca]

I think there should bé a fic where anyone from the grid would be third wheeling Landoscar, like, have you seen how these two interact.

So, I lack the ability and the time of f1writingbyme and LestappenForever to make this idea into a proper work like they did for "How (Not) To Third Wheel Lestappen" (check it out on Ao3 if you haven't already, definitely worth it) BUT BUT BUT, I can tell you how I think most of the grid would react in third wheeling Landoscar!

1) I feel like we should spare Checo, cause honestly this man has had enough as third wheel of Maxiel and Lestappen, I don't wanna give him extra traumas, SO –

2) Logan Sargeant: this one I really feel guilty about. Cause I like the narrative of him and Oscah being besties and still I cry over the sad edits of Logan just left behind. I think Landoscar with Logan has the most space for improvement?? I forgive Oscar even tho he definitely ghosted the poor Logan for the whole honeymoon phase with Lando (it's been almost two years, Osc, get a grip). I have a feeling Logan will speak up at some point and this would shake Oscar a little, so maybe he would be the more aware and more involved third wheel, possibly? They'll end up doing triple video-games championships with Lando and Logan mocking Oscar's gaming skills, mark my words.

3) Carlos Sainz: my man how does it feel to know you've wasted your chance (multiple chances, lets be real) for good? I have mixed ideas about this one, cause I think it would probably being more like Lando struggling to keep them both as close as possible resulting in Oscar being rightfully jealous 👀👀 so the third wheeling situation would be like Lando trying to involve a very annoyed and confused Carlos in their things (safe for work, ofc). I don't really see a way out of it.

4) Daniel Ricciardo: I mention him but I can't really explain cause honestly my idea of Daniel third-wheeling Landoscar is either him babysit them around Australia and bonding with Oscar over weird aussie habits OR OR OR something very NOT SAFE WORK so ( ... )

5) Max Verstappen: I love to think he'll remain an unbothered king, you know? Like he's well aware and a bit upset that his crepes companion invited someone else (beside from Daniel) to their dessert dates and that the two of them acts like lovebirds even without an actual physical contact. He'll probably send SOS texts to Charles and Daniel until a topic of (his) interest comes out and honestly at that point the power of maxplaining will win over pretty much everything and everyone. At the end of the day Landoscar turn out to be the real victims.

6) George Russell: poor thing was originally invited for a golf morning from Carlos (Landoscar were already supposed to attend), but Chili called off last minute so Georgie ended up with just the others two. LET ME TELL YOU he jumped off the golf cart cause he saw Lando placing a hand on Oscar's thigh and feared for his life. It took several minutes for them to notice he was aggressively walking behind. He was also hit by a golf ball because Oscar distracted Lando for a second too long, I guess you can figure out the rest.

7) Special mention to the PR and the McLaren team in general who's main job rn is having them to SIMPLY F O C U S outside the pit for like interviews and debriefings. I can picture Lando losing it after hearing a single compliment like "SO YOU THINK I'M PRETTY", cause ✨babygirl✨ energy hitting here and there, even tho he has tried to be somehow a model for Oscar, at least for what concerns work. Indeed I pity trainers and strategists bc ofc Oscar listens at them, but image them trying to explain a concept to him just for Lando to get there and rephrase it in the dumbest way possible and Oscar going like OHHHHH NOW I GOT IT, COULDN'T YOU EXPLAIN IT THAT WAY?

8) This is mostly a guilty pleasure but do we all agree they torture the entire f1 group chat with their subtle flirting?

IDK if this was what you had in mind but I really REALLY had fun writing it.

So let me know what you think in the comments down below, if you agree or if you want me to make it longer and/or more detailed or just to focus on a specific one in particular?

Again, my dms and box section are open to discussions, requests and any sort of (respectful) thing!

PEACE OUT 🤌🏻❤️

[babybluebex]

PLEASE i would die for italy!joe learning how to be with you in London, meeting Lily, having her freak the fuck out bc how the fuck did you not KNOW who he was ???? love you love italy calling pls do little blurbs i neeeeeeeed him (emergency) (pls)

(psst @icallhimjoey you dropped this) (i hope this helps fix the emergency) italy calling masterlist

“Joe should be here any minute,” you told Lily. “He had a meeting across town.”

“Oh, no worries!” Lily said. “I still can’t believe that you actually managed to track him down!” 

“Well, he tracked me down,” you reminded her. “But yeah, what luck that we’re both from London. I can hardly believe it.” 

“Are you sure he’s not a stalker and moved to London just to be with you?” Lily giggled, and you huffed out a laugh. 

“No, he’s got a London accent,” you said. “And his mum lives here, and so does his dad, and—”

“You’ve met his parents?” Lily asked. “Moving fast!” 

“Oi!” you chuckled. “It wasn’t a big deal, it was just coffee with his mum, and his dad popped ‘round while I was at his flat one day and it sorta happened, we didn’t make an event out of it or anything.” 

“That’s cute, though,” Lily said. She sat down on the couch beside you and swirled her wine in her glass, and she said, “Any last minute things I should know about your man before I meet him?”

“No,” you shrugged. “He’s fine, he just… When he comes home from work, it takes him a while to unwind, so he’ll be really high energy for a few minutes when he first shows up. But just as long as you’re prepared for that…”

“A high energy man?” Lily scoffed. “That’s the least of the problems he could have. Bad breath? A weird cowlick? Nothing?”

“He sometimes smells of cigarettes,” you considered. “But I think it’s sorta sexy.” 

“That’s not bad!” Lily said, lightly hitting your shoulder. “Does he have any flaws?”

You chewed your lip as you thought. “He’s a little messy sometimes,” you said. “But not, like, gross or anything. A little disorganized. But he’s always jetting around and he’s pretty much living out of his suitcase right now, so I get it.” 

“He travels a lot for work?” Lily asked, and you nodded. 

Just then, the keys rattled in the doorknob, and Joe bustled in. He looked handsome, leather jacket and t-shirt with his sunglasses nestled in his dark curls, and he smiled at you when he saw you. “Hey, you,” he said cheerfully, setting his bag on the dining table and coming to you. He settled a firm kiss on your forehead as he passed by you to the kitchen, and, as he retreated, he called, “How was your day?”

“Fine,” you called back. “Lil and I opened a bottle of chard, if you want some.” 

“Mmm, can’t,” Joe hummed. “I met with my trainer for Gladiator today, and he’s started me a strict diet, and that includes no alcohol.” 

“Really?” you frowned. “Not even a pint?” 

“Not even a bleeding pint,” Joe sighed. He came back to the living room, shrugging off his jacket, and he wrinkled up his eyebrows at the sight of Lily on the couch. “God, I’m sorry, where are my manners? I’m Joe, you must be Lily.” 

Lily was uncharacteristically quiet as she shook your boyfriend’s hand, and she took a healthy drink of her wine before she spoke. “This is the guy you met in Italy?” she asked, eyeing Joe down as he hung up his jacket by the door, then retrieved his bag. 

“One and the same,” you said. You recognized the look on her face— it was the same look that you had seen before, on people’s faces before they asked Joe for a picture on the street. She was thoroughly starstruck, and it made you smile. 

“Babe!” Lily said quickly. “You could have told me you were dating Eddie Munson!”

Joe did his loud, boisterous chortle, deep from his chest, and he flopped down next to you on the couch, throwing his arm around you. “To be fair!” you started over Joe’s laughter. “To be fair, I didn’t even recognize him when I met him, so how could I have told you when I didn’t even know?” 

“But you could have told me when you realized,” Lily said. “And how did you not recognize him? I mean, he’s everywhere!”

“His face was familiar,” you started. “And I knew his name, I just didn’t know where I knew it from. Honestly, I— I really thought he was one of your ex’s from uni, and that’s how I knew his name.”

“I wish!” Lily said. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Joe.” 

“Nice to meet you too,” Joe said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.” 

“Have you?” Lily asked. “Good things?”

“Only the best,” Joe said. 

“I’ve heard good things about you too,” Lily said. Then, she looked at you, confused, and she asked, “Wait, this is the guy that you told me about, how he’s really good at giving—”

“Lily!” you started quickly, cutting her off, and Joe sputtered out a laugh. “Some things are said in confidence, not to be repeated!”

“Aw, darling,” Joe started teasingly. “Did you tell your bestie that I give good head? That’s adorable.” 

“No, I didn’t, I told her nothing,” you said, rolling your eyes. “Even if I had told her that… I mean, shut up, you know it’s true, you don’t need that ego boost.” 

“You’re going to make my head get big,” Joe said. “I won’t be able to fit my wig anymore.” 

“Wig?” Lily repeated. “Like, your Eddie wig?” She gasped, and she said, “Wait, does that mean Eddie’s coming back?” 

“Oh, dear,” Joe said softly, his dark eyes widening. “I’ve done it now.” 

[10hourshift]

Bon and Bonnie + bonus of Bonnie and Fox in their casual clothes

Ok so I'll admit it, the whole Fox thing is bc of Bonnie (if I do something know I'll always find a way to make it about Bonnie lol)

I made Bonnie a dragon gym trainer for two reasons: the first one, bc I liked the idea of Bonnie being a dragon type trainer (more on that later)*, and the second, bc the uniform fits the color scheme I gave him (know that the pkmn designs are leaning more towards my hc versions of the characters), so from that I made a whole story where Bonnie is a galarian trainer who wants to be very best (or at least the best dragon type trainer).

* the reason I think Bonnie as a dragon type is bc it's like a translation of him being a guitarist in the series, as guitarists are generally considered "cool" and the equivalent in the pkmn universe would be being a dragon type trainer.

Some other things about Bonnie would be that he and Fox are friends bc they traveled together when they did the gym challenge, and stayed friends since that. They are both terrible losers but have to hide it in "official" context, that's why there's another set of reaction in the last drawing :v. Also of them both, Bonnie is the only one who can dynamax his pokemon.

Now to Bon (yay). He's an aspiring musician from Paldea, and as such, he doesn't give much interest in pkmn battles. He's a jolly silly guy who wanders around the world looking for inspiration for his art. He gets lost very frequently and very badly, though he never learns his lesson and says it's "a part of the experience".

Pokemon explanation:

Bon: mainly a plant type

Kricketune: bug that plays music what can I even add. (This one comes from a scrapped idea I had of Bon playing the violin instead of the guitar ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯)

Maractus: bc the image of Bon playing the guitar and the maractus dancing along around him at the beat is really cute.

Sunflora: biased bc i like sunkern a lot, and it's a very silly critter that fits Bon vibe imo.

Applin: idk. Some rando gave it to him in one of his trips with no explanation, and he decided to keep it.

Bonnie: dragon type

Fraxure: midway Evo of a big dragon, one of those grinder pseudo legendary. Of course he would want one to show off his skills as a trainer.

Vibrava: midway Evo of flygon. I think flygon is a really great aesthetic match with Bonnie. I even kinda wanted to give the glasses some goggles shape, but the idea is better translated in a picture ig.

Noivern: dragon that fits the aesthetic :p

Goomy: some rando asked him to take care of the lil critter, who then got attached to Bonnie. Bonnie doesn't like that he has to be more careful with goomy than his other pokemon.

[lovemyromance]

Sometimes I genuinely question the sanity of this fandom. Like I think some people have gone so extreme in one direction ... they've landed right in the same spot again, if that makes sense.

I'm sure regardless of who your favorite character is - we all read these same books so we all love a strong, powerful FMC. We love the chosen one long lost princess who kicks ass, has a bit of a mouth on her, and goes toe to toe with some "my job is sword" Ken.

We love it. Eat that shit up.

But I think the frequency - and bear with me bc imma make this word up - and tropefication of this romantasy genre has really made people lose their grounding, forget our roots and common sense, so to speak.

For example, let's take the enemies to lovers trope. Of course there's something so hot and exciting about two enemies who hate each other but fall in love. I love it. That's arguably my favorite.

But I think people are forgetting that despite the over saturation of this trope in the current market - It doesn't make any "non" enemies to lovers books any less romantic, any less exciting. Love is expressed and can be written in many different ways. Love can and will be written in the way that is most honest to people, and that extends to even fictional characters.

People are just so caught up in what has become the new norm that they are forgetting everything about real life, real people. They've adapted a "if it's not like this - I don't want it" attitude that might be doing more harm than good.

And I say that because I just witnessed all the drama that was Elain week when people were defending fictional abusers with their entire lives instead of just respecting a boundary set by a real person to respect others.

And I say that because I still see the stupid "pliable bones arguement"

And I say that because I mentioned once that I'd rather wait for Gwyn to show interest in someone romantically before claiming all these theories about her since she has very recent SA trauma - and then instead of people saying that makes sense, I had all these people saying I was anti-feminist and disrespectful to SA victims.

In what world is giving someone the time and space they need to recover from SA suddenly a bad thing? It doesn't even have to do with ships - it has to do with a character clearly being not ready to go out into the real world at the end of the book and deciding that maybe she needs more time to heal. Nobody's out here saying SA victims in general can never be in romantic relationships - all I've said is that specific character does not seem ready. When she shows interest in someone, I will take it as she is ready. I personally do not feel comfortable shipping someone with such recent trauma with someone-especially someone who is supposed to be her trainer and someone safe - unless they show me something that signifies actual interest.

And I understand the whole "empowering women" argument. But I want to ask - is that what we're doing?

Are you really empowering women? Or are you being disrespectful and a faux-activist under the guise of "women's empowerment?"

I don't care that these are fictional characters. The minute people start disrespecting real people over these fictional characters means that these characters mean more to those folks than actual people. And therein lies the problem.

These are real people that are getting called such ugly, rude names. And for what? To defend someone's "rights" to draw pictures of abusers? To defend someone's womanhood by disregarding her SA trauma?

It's tasteless. It's not just "fandom behavior". Fandom is not some lawless land where you can be a heinous human being and interact with real people disrespectfully. I've never seen it this bad and I'm genuinely shocked at what it's become.

[nightfall-1409]

pretty simple scenario for why hunter's senses weren't at the forefront of this ep

There's a big difference in dealing with droids and people, and further between dealing with people in a crowded space (teth has a good handful of people at it! someone walking around is to be expected and is normal) vs a droid. Batcher on the other hand is just a dog, they do bark and growl and complain about Person new me no like im going to growl because you're interrupting my Meal, my dogs growl at ME when i just walk around at night and they don't see fully.

Hunter can't do that (i mean he could it'd be funny) but he probably wouldn't. The mundane reason why someones running around on base is bc they work there and there's something they're running to go do. And/or, they're not something that would even register to him depending on his senses. An extra human body in a human base prolly wouldn't trigger alarms, a droid body when they're invading a seppie base does. Hunter's senses that we see rely on them either being in rural scenarios (there are humanoids/animals when there shouldn't be) or droids (there are droids and we r here to kill them).

Now the more conspiratorial mindset is the reason why hunter didn't react is because the person running around was someone he knew... someone he would have trusted in another scenario, perhaps?

on the other hand im now picturing a scenario where his trainer had to like. water gun him out of growling at people doing weird stuff around him that had mundane explanations.

[soshiharin]

eunjung

phone contact: hahm eunjung/harinnie

hyomin, sunny and yuri were on invincible youth together. one day, the three were hanging out and got drunk so they called their members (hyomin called eunjung, sunri called harin). eunjung arrived first and hyomin told the two snsd members that eunjung had been wanting to get close to harin, so naturally sunny told her to just slap harin’s butt (this was when her butt hitting era was at its peak and she was piss drunk). eunjung obvi was like “girl no that’s just crazy” but yuri was like “girl trust us and you’ll be harin’s bestie after this” and hyomin was nodding in agreement. then harin arrived and was teasing her members about their drunken states when eunjung slapped her butt and she was very 🤨🤨🤨, but then eunjung apologised and said that sunny told her to do it and a beautiful friendship was born

they’ve kept a very close friendship with each other and do their best to hang out at least once a month. their friendship is very well-known and people joke that they’re basically married with how sweetly they talk to/about each other

jin seoyeon

phone contact: jin seoyeon/jang harin

they met when they worked on love 911 and, since their characters were best friend, they spent a lot of time together. they naturally got close to each other and continued to hang out after. seoyeon has an affectionate personality and harin has a tsundere personality so they clicked pretty quickly.

to harin, seoyeon is a cool, reliable older sister. seoyeon gives harin a lot of advice, especially about relationships. they meet up mostly when they need to work out for a role, usually with sooyoung. harin sang at seoyeon’s wedding, and seoyeon helped harin the most when she was dealing with her heartbreak

kim bum

phone contact: lee rang/nam jiah

they were introduced by dongwook as the two men are very close with each other and dongwook thinks that bum doesn’t have enough friends. at first, they mostly hung out as the three of them (dongwook, harin, bum) but then bum and harin started hanging out without dongwook. since they’re the same age, they have a very brother-sister relationship and tease each other a lot

when they stared in tale of the nine tailed together, they would constantly joke about how sick of each other they are. dongwook regrets introducing them to each other whenever they gang up on him. the two of them go months without texting each other, though, and only hear about how the other is doing through dongwook

minho

phone contact: choi minho/harin noona.

they’re besties ur honour! they met as trainees and slowly got close. after harin was chosen for the lineup for girls’ generation, she, along with all of her members, was put on a diet. she got pretty sick of it pretty fast so she devised a system with minho and jonghyun. she would give them her school bag and some money to buy fried chicken from a shop around the block from the sm building. next to the chicken shop was a library. she’d then tell the trainers that she was going to study for a test or something and go to the library, where she would find minho (or jonghyun) sitting in the back with the chicken and they’d eat it together then return to the building. to repay their kindness, harin did the same for them when they were preparing for debut

their friendship is very much so brother-sister, but that hasn’t stopped a few people from shipping them together (which disgusts them). they’ve been in various dating scandals bcs of the usual things that prompt dating scandals — similar clothes, taking pictures in the same place (even if the same place is the company), and using similar emojis. most of the time, the rumours didn’t get that much fanfare or anything, but now minho and harin joke about ‘how long theyve been dating’. in recent years, people have realised that they’re literally just friends and there’s nothing more to it (like key and taeyeon) so they’re able to be besties without people accusing them of being on a date

seulgi

phone contact: kang seulgi/harin unnie

they met after red velvet debuted with happiness. seulgi looked up to harin because of her amazing dance skills and told her as such; harin basically took seulgi under her wing

harin told seulgi she could talk to her if she had anything on her mind and they slowly got close like that. harin is a very reliable sunbae and unnie to seulgi

©️ jang harin

[racingliners]

Euro 2020 pics Part 2!

So as mentioned in the prev post, I had six different shifts across six of the eight matches Wembley hosted (ngl I got so lucky with my shift selection).

MD1 - Group Stage: England v Scotland

My first shift was for ingress (event organiser terminology for the spectators arriving at the stadium) at Scotland v England which... was an experience. Not gonna lie I was really relieved when it was announced that there was going to be a limit on spectators as part of the covid protocols bc I don't think I would have survived dealing with 90,000 Scotland and England fans at once 😭

(Also the irony of me being half-English/half-Scottish and getting Scotland v England as my first shift... the football gods clearly love me.)

I was fully expecting the journey to the stadium to be awful but bc I have to be there hours before kick-off it was fine, though I still saw some Scotland fans on the tube and they clocked my uniform and asked me about what I was doing and wished me luck for the day which was actually really sweet.

For my first shift manicure I did my nails a pastel lime green to match the accent colours on my uniform, going super super neutral (as volunteers representing UEFA we had to be neutral anyway, but for me even more so).

Genuinely I don't think I had ever seen so many people wearing kilts on one place (a couple of people were in formal highland dress, the rest were just in football shits, kilts and trainers, sadly there wasn't many bagpipes where I was)

The one thing I remember from the day was that were my group was stationed towards the back of the stadium was so windy. It was literally early June and I was having to do star jumps to keep myself warm (either I took my hoodie as a just in case or my Sister-in-Law told me to take it, either way I was so glad I had it on under my raincoat)

As I wasn't on shift for egress (the bit where everyone leaves the stadium) I left just after kick-off with my packed lunch dinner and hot footed it back to my relatives place to avoid any carnage, pretty sure I was the only person in the whole city thrilled with a 0-0 draw dvhsjdvhdfjzhj

MD2 - Group Stage: Czech Republic v England

Besties for my second shift I came prepared. I had so much stuff in my backpack it was a good thing I was on shift for both Ingress and Egress as I struggled to fit my food bag into it before going home.

This shift was really fun as it was pretty minimal stakes, England were pretty much guaranteed to be through into the knockout stages so the spectators were mostly fine. For this shift I was based on Wembley way so I spent 90% of the time taking pictures of people with the stadium in the background. For my nails I went with a bright orange (it's my favourite colour so I had to fit it in at some point)

We were all stood down just before kick-off and were sent to the volunteer centre to have our meal, which was a sandwich, packet of crisps, fruit, chocolate, and at either this match or the next one we got some hot soup as well. The eating area was literally in the middle of Wembley arena (as in the bit where the concerts happen), which was wild but with social distancing they needed plenty of space. It was actually quite fun getting to decompress and chat with everyone.

Egress was super simple, just smiling and waving goodbye but some of us had light sticks which led to a bunch of us pretending we were in Star Wars, naturally. (I had a criminal amount of fun, sadly I had to hand the light stick back before I left).

MD3 - Round of 16: Italy v Austria

So for this shift I got given a megaphone :D

It was so much fun, obviously I used it for Serious and Official Volunteering Messages, but I did have a bit of fun by saying Buona Sera to any Italian fans which... their costumes were so good. We had Mario and Luigi and some people dressed up as pizza slices. They brough such a great vibe and were just living their best lives and were really nice to all of us. The entrance I was posted at was at the Italian end so there wasn't that many Austria fans, but I did see one lady wearing a really pretty dirndl which I complemented her on.

This match started the recurring theme all of us had of "please don't go to extra time I want to get home before midnight"... none of them listened which was very rude and bc I was a bit weary of travelling round London super late at night I asked to leave early since my London based fam live on the other side of the city to Wembley and I got back safely!

For this match I did my nails bright pink, and if you ever want a good picture of your manicure take pictures on the tube bc the lighting will never let you down (especially if they're shimmery of sparkly)

[lopsided-whiskey-grin]

hi i just read your ghost/soap flashbang fic and I LOVED IT thanks for sharing!! you said we could suggest things and i'd love to see it written by you: a fic set at the first time soap saw ghost shirtless, and lost his SHIT about ghost's pecs. he goes bonkers about them honkers, yk?

Anon, I wanna personally thank you for this prompt bc my mind went wild with the possibilities lmao plus picturing Soap going absolutely feral for Ghost's knockers blessed my entire life. Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! ( ˘³˘)♡

***************************

"On your feet, MacTavish. We're going to the gym."

Soap paused the game he'd been playing and pulled up one side of his headphones. He looked over at Ghost standing beside the couch. "You what?"

Ghost was zipping up a black hoodie over a black Under Armour shirt stretched across his broad chest. He was wearing dark gray sweats and a worn-in pair of trainers, all-in-all looking quite delicious. Soap swallowed hard. 

"I said I'm getting you out of this fucking house, Johnny. You've been holed up in 'ere for weeks." He put on his skull jaw face mask that covered his nose and chin.

Soap sat back against the couch. He turned his attention to the TV. "Nah, I'm good." 

After Chicago, he and Ghost had gotten a flat in London and were laying low, waiting until Laswell instructed them on their next move against Makarov. Dealing with Las Almas and Hassan had left him exhausted, mentally and physically and he told himself he only needed a break for just a few days to recuperate. But then a few days had turned into longer than that, with Soap barely ever leaving the apartment for the last two and a half weeks. He couldn't seem to get out of the rut he found himself in. 

Ghost shook his head. "I wasn't asking," he said. 

He grabbed Soap up off the couch none too gently and all but shoved him toward his bedroom, completely ignoring the string of Scottish curses Soap lobbed at him along the way. 

"You have five minutes to get dressed, Sergeant or I'm throwing you over my shoulder and carrying you there in whatever you've got on right now." 

Soap turned at the threshold of his door, hand on the doorknob. "Is that a promise L.t?" he asked with a cheeky grin tugging up the side of his mouth. 

Ghost growled and started toward him, one hand balled in a fist. Soap laughed and shut the door. 

He made it back out of the room by Ghost's five minute deadline, dressed in his workout clothes, but still not happy about being forced out of the house. He voiced as much to Ghost their entire ten minute walk to the gym. Ghost only sighed.

For as much griping as he did though, once he was actually at the gym he actually kind of enjoyed himself. He logged three miles on the treadmill, did a few 100 kilo deadlift reps, and spent some time with the battle rope. It felt good to be working his body, to be working up a sweat.

He caught Ghost's eye a couple times as they moved around each other to the different machines and each time felt his heart rate speed up. He knew it had nothing to do with the exercises. Spending the last two weeks in that small flat with Ghost in such close quarters was almost agonizing, seeing but not touching — not knowing if Ghost wished he could touch him too. 

After about an hour and a half, drenched in perspiration and a little sore but in a good way, he started making his way to the locker room, looking forward to a hot shower to soothe his muscles. He was halfway across the room when Ghost called his name.

"Johnny, come spot me. I'm almost done." 

Soap wandered over to where Ghost was laying back on the weight bench, his hands already on the bar over his head. Soap dutifully braced his legs apart and held his hands at the ready even though Ghost lifted the weights easily. He let his eyes roam over Ghost's body as he went through his reps, hungrily drinking in the sight of Ghost's massively broad chest flexing with each pump. He felt his cock jump in his gym shorts and quickly looked down to Ghost's face to see if he had noticed. 

Ghost was staring straight up at him. Of course he fucking was. 

Two bright spots of red bloomed on his cheeks and he swiftly looked away. "That's four," he said. His voice was a little hoarse and he coughed to cover it up. 

Ghost racked the weights with Soap's help and he sat up, shaking his hands out. "Thanks, mate." 

"Anytime," Soap replied with a half-hearted smile. Without waiting for Ghost to say anything else, he made a bee-line toward the locker room, grabbing a bottle of water from the vending machine in the hall on his way. 

Soap cracked open the bottle and drank down half of it before he even sat on the bench next to his locker. Shit. Even after everything they'd been through in Mexico and Chicago, Soap still had a hard time showing Ghost how he felt about him — an impossible time, in fact. Fucking Christ, why was it so difficult to just say "Hey Ghost, I think you're hot as hell and I'd love to fuck your brains out one of these lovely afternoons if you're not too busy."?

Soap snorted out a soft laugh and took another pull of water. Yeah, that'd go over swimmingly. 

The locker room door opening shook him from his thoughts and he looked over in time to see Ghost stalking into the room. His presence was so commanding that Soap couldn't help but stare. 

Ghost went to his locker that was directly across from where Soap sat, turning his back to him to dig inside it. "Thanks for coming with me today, Johnny." 

Soap shrugged, trying to be nonchalant but failing miserably. "I didn't really have a choice, did I?" 

Ghost chuckled. "I think it was good for you," he replied gruffly, still not facing Soap. He unzipped his hoodie and tossed it in his duffle bag. Then pulled his t-shirt off. 

Soap's gaze roamed over the large swatch of the bare skin of Ghost's back; it was the first time he'd seen him without a shirt on. Scars marred the flesh, some old and faded, others obtained more recently, but all of them utterly fascinating. And there was a small tattoo on his left shoulder, he noticed. Soap couldn't quite make it out. He squinted, trying to bring it into better focus. 

But before he could try to read it, Ghost turned around to face him. Soap was in the middle of taking a sip of water when his brain short-circuited completely. He sputtered and choked while Ghost looked on with his shirt held loosely in his hands. 

Soap's eyes were wide as fucking saucers as he took in the sight before him. It wasn't just Ghost's broad-as-a-barrel chest that floored him. It was his. Fucking. Pecs. They were massive. How he hid them under his shirt everyday without ripping it from seam to seam was a mystery to Soap.

 They looked so fucking lusciously squeezable. But firm at the same time, somehow? Ghost's nipples were dusky pink and hardened into little pebbles from the cool air of the room. And it all made Soap's jaw drop — quite unattractively in all honesty. 

Closing his gaping mouth with a click, Soap slowly set his water bottle at his side with a shaky hand. He rose on unsteady legs and walked around the bench between them, entranced.

"Ghost, I — I uh, what the…" The words fell off without Soap even registering that he'd quit talking. 

He stopped before Ghost, unable to look him in the eyes. A kink Soap didn't even know he even fucking had was drawing all of his available attention straight to Ghost's chest. He needed to touch, needed to feel, needed to bury his face right fucking there. 

He reached a trembling hand up, then hesitated with his fingertips hovering just above Ghost's skin. Ghost's dark gaze followed his movements closely, his eyes wide. It sounded like Ghost himself was out of breath but Soap wasn't sure — his brain was going fucking haywire and he couldn't concentrate. 

 Looking up at Ghost, he rasped, "Can I?"

Ghost seemed surprised by the question, but nodded. Soap released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. He brought both hands up, laying his palms flat on Ghost's massive pecs.

"Sweet screaming Jesus," he whispered reverently, kneading the muscles. 

Ghost groaned and Soap's cock throbbed in response. He bent forward and took one of those perfect nipples into his mouth. The taste of sweat and the promise of a long night of fucking bloomed across his tongue. Ghost jerked at the contact. 

"Fuck, Johnny. If I had known you'd be so turned on by my tits, I'd have taken my shirt off in front of you weeks ago." 

Soap drew Ghost's nipple between his teeth, biting down gently. Ghost hissed and grabbed onto Soap's hips. "If I had known you were hiding these fucking knockers under your clothes this whole time, I'd have ripped your shirt off myself," he murmured around Ghost's nipple still in his mouth, "Bloody hell, Ghost."

A chuckle rumbled through Ghost's chest. 

"You realize I'm not going let you wear a stitch of clothing around the flat now, right?" He punctuated the words with rough squeezes of his hands. 

"That so?" Ghost rasped behind his mask, sounding amused. 

Before Soap could reply or say anything further, though, the locker room door opened. Soap backed off immediately, but Ghost held him in place with his hands still on Soap's hips. 

The man who had interrupted them backed out the door slowly under Ghost's intense glare. When they were alone again, Soap massaged Ghost's chest once more. He canted his head up to meet Ghost's gaze. 

"Shall we continue this conversation back at home, Johnny?" Ghost asked. He tugged Soap's hips forward until they were flush against each other. 

Soap was pretty sure Ghost already knew the answer to that. "Oh, hell yes." 

[eurydicees]

Idk if anyone has asked this before on tumblr or if you made a post about it, but what are your favorite hq fics? (Or fics that stuck with you)

MY FAVORITE TOPIC* !!!! so i have a #fic rec tag that i collect fics in like a dragon hoarding gold, but here are some special favorites from my ao3 bookmarks**! sorted by ship/theme, but otherwise not in any particular order (under the cut bc this got WAY too long). if you've already read all these you should ask for more recs. i have them. i have so many.

*my other favorite topic is talking about MY fics. here is a link to my ao3. shameless self promo and all that <3

**i read a, um, concerning amount of iwaoi, so this is an iwaoi heavy list. sorry but also not really because there's a LOT of good fics abt them.

getting together fics <333333

my heart is where it's always been by foreverautumn (iwaoi, 21113 words)

Iwaizumi knows he shouldn’t care who Oikawa might have feelings for, but within the span of three days, it’s somehow the only thing he can think about.

State of Grace by lahdolphin (kuroshou, 6985 words)

Kuroo's relationship with Daishou had never been simple. Kissing him didn't make up for the many years Kuroo spent agonizing over him, but it was a very good start.

all that i see by princessofthebugs (iwaoi, 649 words)

Iwaizumi confesses to him on his birthday, as he sits on his floor, shredding paper into tiny bits. "I used to like you."

the strange music of your heart by caniculeo (bokuaka, 18446 words)

in which akaashi falls for bokuto first.

i was tired and you were standing in the best light by keishn (iwaoi, 7148 words)

It's the time of year that the sun starts setting when they get out of practice. Looking at Oikawa with the pink-orange light reflected in his eyes and shining off his hair is not something Hajime thinks he can survive.

open doors and plastic stars by ikeru (iwaoi, 22708 words)

Loving Oikawa has never been exclusive to Iwaizumi—not when Oikawa is a magnet, an incandescent star that pulls and pulls until you can’t help but watch him, love him. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but his heart breaks all the same.

life is chances that are taken by bohemianraspberries (iwaoi, 3970 words)

He isn’t afraid that Oikawa won’t want to be his friend anymore, because neither of them are like that and besides, he’s fairly sure by now that Oikawa likes boys too – it’s the fear that nothing will change. He might tell Oikawa that he thinks he’s not a hundred per cent straight, Oikawa might tell him the same, and they might continue to stay best friends forever, and Iwaizumi isn’t so sure that’s all he wants anymore. Because he’s pretty certain that it’s not just boys he’s into – it’s Oikawa.

the rest of your life by Queen_Dragon_Lightning_Castle (iwaoi, 2983 words)

When Hanamaki asks him what type of girl he’d go for, Hajime shrugs. ”Dunno. As long as she’s chill.” Thereupon, Tooru tries too hard when he doesn't need to try at all.

Underneath the Mistletoe by orphan_account (kuroken, 3811 words)

While Kenma and Kuroo are out together to see the local Christmas lights, they find a special display for taking festive pictures. If only they had paid closer attention to all of the decorations...

shut up (make me) by love_yourself_1358 (iwaoi, 11557 words)

alternatively: how Oikawa is the most oblivious person ever. But that's okay. Iwaizumi will still be his happy ending.

canon-to-me character studies

An Opponent Is Announced by agletbaby (genfic, 13141 words)

In which Sakusa is trying to prepare for the Olympics, but Oikawa Tooru's backstory keeps getting in the way.

don't talk to me or any of my fourteen children ever again by meregalaxiesandgods (ukai & karasuno vbc, 39963 words)

Ukai Keishin was not—and had no interest in becoming—a father. He’d somehow become responsible for fourteen children regardless.

most people never even get a single high school rival by sulfate (iwaoi, 5217 words)

Team Argentina gets to know Iwaizumi Hajime (27) Athletic Trainer.

Through a Mother's Eyes by aunnoo (iwaoi, 2427 words)

You might've only given birth to one, but you get to watch two grow. They are your boys. (If there's anything you'd wish upon them, it'd be happiness.)

silver fork by ratboyrussell (seijoh genfic, 2774 words)

Teammates, friends, family: those who help out when needed.

AUs

The Whole Of The Moon by IetjeSiobhan (kuroken, 9253 words)

Tetsurou has never thought about it before, but right now, he is absolutely and thoroughly terrified. Because he’s so, so in love, and he’s always known that Kenma is it for him, but what if he’s not it for Kenma?

just hear me out by loveclouds (iwaoi, 7679 words)

Iwaizumi's beeper has been going off for Oikawa since they've been kids. Oikawa's has only ever been silent.

other favorites

"Blankets" - Feb 2020 Prompts by hightopboots (kuroshou, 1472 words)

There's a blizzard, Kuroo and Daishou are stuck in a cabin together.

bad days and stomach pains by kittykawas (iwaizuumi & matsukawa genfic, 3705 words)

Iwaizumi isn’t one for dramatics, generally. He tends to be straight forward and pragmatic and he doesn’t like to catastrophize - not when Oikawa is right there catastrophizing enough for a small country - but sometimes, life gets the better of him. He has bad days. And today is a terrible, horrible, fucking bullshit day.

Comfortable by queerjab (bokuroo, 3108 words)

“Dude,” Kuroo covered his eyes with one hand, feeling how red his face was getting. “I promise you cannot help with this.” “Well how would I know? You won’t tell me!” “I started my fucking period!” Kuroo exclaimed, instantly regretting the admission. “Fuck,” he mumbled, keeping his eyes covered to avoid any further embarrassment. He’d never wanted so badly to sink into the floor. “Oh,” Bokuto breathed, and Kuroo considered slapping him. “Is that all?”

can we always be this close (forever and ever?) by lunarumbra (sakuatsu/osasuna, 3128 words)

Or: Sakusa visits Onigiri Miya one night to talk about weddings and rings.

The years shall run like rabbits by ladyoflalaland (ushiten, 7292 words)

Or, Ushijima Akemi watches her son’s relationship with Tendou change over the years and finds herself changing with it.  

[annieqattheperipheral]

Why the Maple Leafs went off the board to select "Cowboy" Easton Cowan

Treliving was working the phones & did try to trade down bc they knew they were picking this projected 2nd-rounder high but no bites. But i suppose in turn it puts a nice spotlight on a swell fella we should get to know

the cowboys've got The Passion™️

farmboy, loves naz, AND ✨stylin✨ has more than got the goods to fit right in w mitchy & auston

full article about cowboy:

___

Moments after he first met Dale Hunter, the longtime Knights head coach gave Easton Cowan a nickname that stuck.

“Cowboy.”

Born in Strathroy, Ont., Cowan comes from a farm in nearby Mount Brydges where his family farms cash crops like wheat, corn and soybeans. When the pandemic hit in 2020 and Cowan’s time in high school classes became limited, he began working on the farm from 6:30 in the morning till 9 at night during the busy farming seasons of spring and fall, driving a tractor beside the massive combine his father Chris uses to transfer crops.

“It’s the time you have to put in to succeed in the cash crop business of farming,” Chris told The Athletic.

That time on the farm helped instill a work ethic, as well as good ol’ farm strength, that Cowan has made his hallmark as a Knight. Ahead of the draft, Clark was clear: The Leafs wanted players who had intelligence, competitiveness and who could “influence winning hockey.”

Clark and the team’s scouting staff appear to have found a player who ticks those boxes.

“It’s a great picture of what (Cowan) could be in the NHL,” Knights associate general manager Rob Simpson said. “His motor and his engine on the ice, he is relentless and never stops working. And he’s the type of player that if you want him to play higher in your lineup with skilled guys and bring competitiveness and forechecking and skill, he can do that. If you want him to play a defensive game and play the penalty kill, he can do those things.”

That versatility was evident as the Knights went to the OHL final this season. During that playoff run that Simpson called “impactful,” Cowan’s game shone. The Leafs valued how he played in the playoffs, lapping up the spotlight and the pressure while leading all OHL rookies in playoff scoring with 21 points in 20 games.

It was his hockey sense, which shined with quick passing in the offensive zone, that popped in the playoffs. That hints at his potential for producing offence as he continues to develop.

Even though his smallish frame may remind some of past Leafs picks, it’s the fact that he’s become known as a “puck hound” according to Simpson that might well separate him from those picks. His competitiveness is well-established.

Cowan grew up a Leafs fan and said he models his game after Nazem Kadri.

Simpsons remembers games this year where Cowan would pinball from one defenceman to the other on the forecheck. He wouldn’t stop there. He chased after the puck wherever it went.

“He’s just relentless all over the ice at trying to get the puck and when he has it, he doesn’t want to give it up,” Simpson said.

He also appears pretty comfortable in his own skin.

“How’s it goin’?” Cowan, wearing black suede shoes with no socks, said as he took a seat in front of more cameras and reporters he’s likely ever faced.

Cowan beamed when he described FaceTiming with Mitch Marner.

“Happy you’re part of the Buds,” was what Cowan remembered hearing from Marner.

“That was pretty cool,” Cowan said. “(Marner) competes all over the ice. He’s a great player and a great guy. You look up to that.”

Cowan listed Knights equipment managers and trainers as people who helped propel him being an unlikely first-round pick.

Before leaving a table at the end of his media availability, he asked politely if he could take a box of Biosteel sitting in front of him.

“He’s so kind to everyone around him,” Cowan’s father said. “Not a lot of people know that about him.”

The long-term projection:

Cowan can play both centre and the wing but the Leafs likely see him more as a wing in the pros. While it’s remarkably early to start forecasting where Cowan might fit in an NHL lineup, it is fair to say the Leafs valued his sharp progression this past season and believe that he may just be scratching the surface of what type of player he can be.

His standout playoff performance especially, fueled by that tenacity, may have really struck a chord.

“The biggest thing that’s going to translate the best is his motor, his engine and competitiveness,” Simpson said. “You look at the NHL playoffs, you have to have players like that to be able to win these days.”

Cowan, who just turned 18 in May, will likely begin his time in the Leafs organization at the team’s development camp, set to begin July 3. It feels likely that Cowan will return to the Knights, not just next season, but for multiple seasons. He’s already intent on adding the kind of strength to his frame that will be necessary for him to one day join the Leafs in the NHL. That and improving his shot.

The Leafs appear comfortable making Cowan a long-term play for the organization.

“We’re trying to take the best player available, not today or tomorrow, we’re looking at the long run,” Clark said ahead of the draft.

But what Cowan could become in the long run is intriguing enough for the Leafs to have made perhaps the most surprising pick on day one of the draft.

[puckthedrama]

https://www.tumblr.com/puckthedrama/760294176286998528/dd-and-vd-have-been-kinda-suspiciously-quiet

He posted her on his story for her birthday, but alot of people are speculating that she made him do it. The picture was of her posing with cup of wine or whatever to her lips. Allegedly, she posted the same photo on her Instagram feed but later took it down.

And as for her mom, he’s been following her for quite a while now!

They’re probs quite HOPEFULLY bc Dunn is training for hockey since the new season is near.

Uhhhhh all the other things I can think of off the top of my head is the follower/following count going up and down on his finsta. Allegedly DD followed it. I think this was before he posted her on his story for her birthday. People are saying he only posted her bc she caught him acting up but like…she knows he been doing it so 😗😗😗 it’s confusing lol.

He followed some model with his main before unfollowing her/she followed his finsta (idk if she does anymore). People are saying he did this to prove to the girl that his finsta is legit.

Idk where the blonde thing came from thing, still tryna figure it out lmao. I watched all his friends’ instagram stories when they had that whole birthday outing thing and I did not once see him with a blonde so 🤷🏻‍♀️

DD posted a tiktok which admittedly was kinda cute where he was making fun of her doing the tiktok dance. But then I remind myself they’re shitty people and every feeling disappears

Let’s see what else is there…

There’s this thing that happened like a day or two ago involving his trainer. I think he held some sort of competition or something, and a lot of top players he trained were there but Dunn wasn’t. Forgive me on how dense this one is, I don’t know much about the details.

Actually, forgive me on how dense all of these are lol. But yeah, some spotty updates for you guys. Also, welcome back 🫶

👆🏻on vince and daniella!

you came THROUGH anon omg.

thank you thank you & thank you!!

[amiharana]

RiTO doing that Silence of Idol game and Revali actually falls asleep because he works himself too much

i'm gonna be honest i had no idea what this game was until i searched it up and watched (1) a string of tiktoks about treasure and up10tion doing the game and (2) the entire episode of lesserafim on the game KDJHFHKJDSJH but i got the gist. i've been so out of the kpop loop lately

(for anyone else who may be unfamiliar with 'silence of idol' and have 15 minutes to spare, lesserafim was very entertaining to watch on the show LOL but it's essentially like a challenge simulation of kpop idols being in their trainees days and having to practice or something late at night while attempting to not get caught by their manager/trainer)

RiTO doing this game would be so silly 😹 kass and MAYBE mimo would be the only ones who would have fun with it, bc teba, harth, and revali would be so serious about it. kass and mimo trying to convince their manager to get in on the fun with their takeout fried chicken vs. teba, harth, and revali all panicking and getting ready to accept their punishment for getting caught even though it's literally just a game 😭

i can totally imagine revali genuinely falling asleep during the game 🥺 the youngest of the group pushes himself to be the best idol out there, always saying that his training isn't enough, that he needs to be more accurate in his dance moves and hitting notes, and push himself past his own limits. teba is constantly chastising revali for late nights training because revali insists on waking up with the sun too, so he's always running of <4 hours of sleep (which actually is the reality of most kpop trainees & idols anyway, but let's pretend that the loz kpop au isn't as bad 🥹).

maybe before they're scheduled to film the silence of idol, revali pulled an all-nighter practicing for their next music show performance and thus is extremely sleep-deprived. during the segment of the game where they genuinely are supposed to fall asleep, it's only supposed to be a light sleep which most of the members achieve, easily woken up by the lights turning on and the sound of the door opening. but revali, the lightest sleep of them all, doesn't budge, doesn't even react at all.

"hey, revali, wake up," mimo says, gently shaking revali's shoulder in an attempt to rouse him. "it's time to start practice." nothing.

teba and harth come up on revali's other side, crouching beside him on the floor. "don't play games, kid, we're supposed to start practicing in a few minutes," harth says gruffly, poking revali in the forehead. the second youngest of the group is as serious about keeping up the act as he is about playing the game.

teba swats his hand away from revali's face. "don't do that," he says, before refocusing back onto their youngest. "revali, are you really sleeping?" still no response.

I'M . IMAGINING THIS SCENE THE WAY THEY WOULD SAY AND EDIT IT THE WAY ACTUAL KPOP IDOLS WOULD so in my head it's like a close-up of revali snoozing and curled up in the blankets and there's a caption that reads something like "RiTO maknae Revali is so peaceful when he sleeps~ 🌸" and "doing his job as the maknae flawlessly; he sleeps like a baby! 👶 [baby laughter sound that all the kpop idol editors use]". teba standing up to rub at the back of his head and chuckling awkwardly; "i guess revali really did fall asleep..."

they end up pausing filming as the members sit by their youngest, the managers talking with the film crew, as revali continues slumbering on. kass and mimo are taking pictures of revali and giggling to themselves about how cute and peaceful he looks fast asleep, meanwhile teba is worrying about how revali has been working too hard lately and is probably why he fell asleep and didn't wake easily as he usually would.

"should we cut down practice sessions?" teba says to harth.

the second youngest just shrugs. "he already practices extra in addition to our regular sessions. you're not gonna be able to stop him from practicing more unless you physically restrain him." teba sighs; harth is right.

the managers decide that they're just going to take revali back to the dorms to keep sleeping and have a check-up to make sure he's healthy and not overdoing it. the rest of RiTO can continue filming for the comeback promotions, and they're fine with it albeit worried for their youngest. that's when revali begins to stir, mumbling and shifting around in the blankets, the rest of RiTO beginning to crowd around him again. (the cameras are still rolling KJDFKJDSF)

"hello, our lovely maknae~" kass greets him softly. "did you sleep well?"

"slept?" revali mumbles, blinking sleepily back up at the second oldest. "wha... only closed my eyes for a little... didn't even sleep that long..." and kass has to hold back a laugh, pursing his lips.

"that's right, revali," mimo whispers, also trying to keep in a laugh. "but it's still too early for practice, so you can go back to sleep for a little bit until it's time. we'll wake you up, okay?"

revali nods slowly, eyes falling shut as he curls back up into the pillow and blankets. "okay, hyung" he yawns. "you better... wake me up..." and falls right back asleep 🥹

the rest of RiTO and their managers are all trying not to laugh, taking a video of their sleepy maknae curling back up so cutely to sleep. the normally sharp-mouthed youngest is so sweet and cute when he's sleepy, why can't he be like this all the time? 😹