#I just have a lot of thoughts about this goalie of ours

[lenacopperleaf]

Georgie I love you!! good saves buddy.

[its-time-to-write]

Omg I would love a Jamie Tartt x reader where the readers ex boyfriend was a footballer maybe a goalie and Jamie has to play against him in a match. I know it’s very vague but I’d love to see what you’d do! No pressure!! :))

I loved this request! Hope I did it justice

would hit him in a heartbeat now

You do not have a thing for footballers you swear. It just happens. You’ve been in exactly three and a half relationships, and only one of them was not a footballer.

He was a coach.

Anyway.

You would describe your type as lovable asshole, but your friends would leave out the lovable. Because of that, none of your splits have been exactly… amicable. Well, that’s not true. Your situationship had been sweet but wrong timing, and though it hurt, there were no hard feelings. 

Really, you were both in your late teens and he was scouted early on, so it was never going to work out. You always keep up with his career though, a part of you secretly cheering him on even if he plays against your boyfriend’s team. From time to time, you think about texting him to see if he has the same number, but the next day you see him splashed in a tabloid, making out with Keeley Jones, so you leave it. 

Six months later, you’re in a relationship with a West Ham goalie named Aleksander.

Seven months after that, he’s broken your heart by telling you you weren’t the right material for a footballer’s girlfriend.

Over text.

While you are at an away game.

Against AFC Richmond.

Eight minutes later you turn off the part of your brain that cares, dig out Jamie Tartt’s old number, and write, hey! not sure if this is still your number, but I’ll be at your game today and wanted to wish you luck. - the original number 9.

Your house number had been 9 when you first met Jamie. He’d write you notes addressed to 9. For example:

9 -

Meet me at our spot at 8?

10 <3

(He called himself a 10/10).

Ten hours later, you are sitting across from Jamie in a pub, laughing about growing up and whatever, all thoughts of Aleksander firmly gone from your head. 

He asks you out after flirting for eleven days.

—

You and Jamie have a certain level of comfortability that comes with knowing someone for so long. Neither of you feel like you have to pretend. You just live with each other, and it is the best. 

You’re on your fifth date, and second one at his house when, as you get up to go, he catches your hand and says, “Stay,” in a voice made gravelly by kisses.

You let him pull you back on the couch, and you do.

You end up staying a lot.

You’re together for a year, when, sitting on that same couch, Jamie says, “Playin’ West Ham next week.”

The marker in your hand slips from where you were coloring his tattoo. “What?”

“We go against West Ham next week. Wanna come?” Jamie asks, oblivious.

You trace the design on his right forearm. “I do, it’s just- Aleksander’s gonna be there. As their goalie. And I’d rather not be there to hear what he has to say to me.” You look up at Jamie. “It’s not because I don’t want to be there for you. It’s that- well, he, he always has things to say about his exes. And it’s not kind. I don’t really think I can handle it right now, you know?”

Jamie looks at you thoughtfully and nods, slipping his hand into yours. 

“D’you want to stay here while I’m gone? ’Stead of hanging around your flatmate. Might be nice to have a break.”

You smile, squeeze his hand and reply, “Sure!” grateful that he’s not pushing it.

Jamie grins back. “Good, I hate coming home to an empty house. Always hearing sounds like there’s ghosts or some shit.”

You laugh and shove his arm playfully. “And here I thought you were being completely selfless.”

—

It’s the day of the West Ham game. You’ve stolen one of Jamie’s jerseys from his closet and are on the couch with the largest bowl of popcorn known to mankind. You’re a little nervous to see Aleksander on the screen, but it’s overshadowed by your excitement to see Jamie play.

A quarter into the game, Jamie starts making his move. The team gets the ball near the goal, he shoots and-

He’s blocked by Aleksander.

Aleksander goes up to Jamie, and from your screen you see him ask a question and then make a lewd gesture.

Jamie’s face goes bright red and in an instant, Colin is holding him back from hitting Aleksander.

You see Jamie be pulled away, then watch him jog over to the coaches. Here’s what you don’t see:

“Permission to be a prick, coach,” Jamie says, still seeing red. How dare that dickhead say something so disgusting about you.

“Fuck no,” Roy says in a tone that says no arguing. 

“Coach,” Jamie says, because he’s never been one for self-preservation, “if you don’t tell me to be a prick, I’m going to be one all by meself, so I really think it’s better if you just give me permission.”

Ted, Beard, and Roy look at each other. Ted nods. “Alright Jamie, if you think that’s best then I guess, uh,” he holds up his middle finger behind his jacket. Roy and Beard follow suit, and Jamie smiles.

The game’s back on and you watch Jamie get going again. He kicks the ball and it hits Aleksander in the worst possible spot.

“Ooh!” You cover your mouth with your hands. That looks like an accident, but you know it’s not. There was a closeup of Jamie, and you can see that glint in his eye. He’s being a little prick.

He goes up to Aleksander to “check on him,” and whispers something in his ear. Aleksander, still doubled over in pain, nods. Jamie slaps him on the back a little too forcefully, then swaggers away, tongue out. 

You’re going to ask him about it when he gets home.

—

Richmond loses, and when Jamie walks into his house you’re on him in a moment. His hands are tangled in your hair and you’re tugging on his shirt and it’s not till three hours later, as you’re laying in bed playing with his hair, that he says, “I don’t regret it.”

It takes you a moment. “What?”

Jamie’s laying on top of you so he pushes himself up a bit to meet your eyes. “I don’t regret kicking that ball into that dickhead’s dick. I just wish I could have kicked him harder.”

“What happened out there, Jaim? You were mad-mad.”

He shakes his head slightly. “What do you think? That fuckin prick asked me a dirty question about you, and I lost it. Didn’t care about the game anymore. Didn’t want him to think he could fuckin get away with it.”

He looks so distraught and sincere that you can’t help it, you have to kiss that look off his face.

“I love you, Jamie Tartt,” you whisper. His face turns devilish.

“Mind showing me just how much?” he asks and you dissolve in a fit of giggles as he begins to pepper kisses along your neck.

[milaisreading]

What if CD!yn gets hit in the the face so hard with a ball she forgets everyone in Blue Lock like the amnesia one with Manager!yn

🌱🩷: Hii! Hope you liked what I came up with! Thank you for the request!

Warnings: Reader is crossdressing as a guy here, so it's a mix between he/him and she/her. Requests are open

⚽️Blue lock belongs to Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura⚽️

The long-awaited and highly anticipated game between Bastard München and PXG had finally started. The spectators, and members of the PIFA board watched the two teams, all eager to see how the match will play out. This was a big thing for the Blue Lock project, and for the 3 specific players as well. Itoshi Rin, who was the current #1 and had the highest bid from PXG. Isagi Yoichi, taking up #2 and who was currently sought after Bastard München. Then, the third player being (L/n) (Y/n), Blue lock's current #3, with the highest bid coming from Spain's Re Al.

'I swear. I better get kicked out of the top10 by the end of this match.' (Y/n) sighed as she watched Rin and Isagi, then looked back at Gagamaru, who looked a little nervous.

"Gagamaru, are you alright? You look really pale?" She asked in worry as the goalie looked back at her, for a moment not looking at the other players.

"I am alright. Just nervous since this is our last game. And it is a big deal." (Y/n) smiled at him in sympathy and was about to to speak up again, only for Hiori and Isagi to scream at her.

"(Y/n), duck!"

"Watch your head!"

"Huh?" She looked back, only for her vision to go black as she felt something collide with her head. Whatever happened after, (Y/n) couldn't really process what was going on. She felt herself lose balance and a pair of arms grab her as something wet started to slide down her face.

"(Y/n)'s head is bleeding!"

"I am killing you, antenna freak!"

"Oh, so now it's my fault that Mr. Golden boy isn't looking?!"

"Shidou, Rin, shut up!"

"Noa-san! We need a medic!"

"Save my midfielder!"

"He isn't yours, gremlin!"

"Oh, shut up, Kaiser and Charles!"

"(Y/n)! Don't fall asleep now!" Hiori's voice was heard, but the girl couldn't see or make out from which direction it was coming from.

"I got some wet towels!"

"(Y/n), look at me! Don't close your eyes!"

"The wound looks bad."

"We need to cut off the match!"

'Kurona... Yukimiya... Kunigami... Isagi... I can hear them, but not see them.' The girl thought in panic as she closed her eyes, going limp in Gagamaru's hold.

"(Y/n) fainted!" Gagamaru yelled in panic as the rest looked on in worry.

While (Y/n) was sent to the medic room, it was announced that the final match will be resumed at a later time when she wakes up and recovers. As much as the JFA protested the idea, not wanting to lose money because of this accident, they had to agree. Ego and Anri arguing that none of the players were in a good condition to play to begin with. And while Anri was doing damage control with the media, Ego was losing his nerves with the manager of Re Al. As the team did put a lot of money into (Y/n), they naturally did worry about her condition in the future.

'Greedy and money hungry, a great combination.' Ego thought sarcastically as he rolled his eyes while the manager kept talking through the phone.

"What do you mean we can't see him?! Who are you to tell me anything?!"

"I am your coach, so yes, I can." Lavinho said as he stood in front of the door, preventing Bachira and Otoya to leave the place.

"But, (Y/n) is our friend, we have a right to see him. He was literally bleeding on the screen." Otoya argued as Bachira nodded his head furiously.

"That's right! We just want to see him and make sure he is alright." The dribbler said, trying to move past Lavinho, but was tugged back by the coach.

"You both are staying here. Noa and Ego both said to not let anyone see (Y/n) while he is asleep. I know and understand that you are worried, but I am not letting you leave. Not even his own teammates can see him right now." Lavinho argued, giving the duo a firm glare.

"This isn't fair..." Otoya sighed.

"Hmph!" Bachira pouted as he stubbornly sat on the ground.

"Barou, listen, I know that you are worried about your friend. But, the doctor said-"

"Screw what he said! I want to see him now! Now!" Barou glared at Snuffy, who gave him a stoic look as Aryu chimed in. The boy was a lot calmer than Barou, but equally worried about the midfielder.

"What Barou wants to say, we really need to see him. We all saw the blood and how he just went unconscious. We are all worried and want to see if we can help." Aryu said calmly as Niko nodded his head, holding back his tears.

"Y-yeah. Maybe he needs blood or something." Niko said as Barou was losing his cool slowly.

"If he needed blood, we would have been told that. Please, all of you sit down and stay here until Ego doesn't give us the green light to see him. The less you all stress out (Y/n), the faster he will recover." Snuffy said calmly as he patted Barou's shoulder.

"No, Nagi, you are not leaving the stratum."

"But, Chris-san, what if (Y/n) would want to see us. Nagi and I, his closest friends."

"Since when are you his closest friends?" Chigiri rolled his eyes, earning offended looks from the duo.

"What? You two were the ones to insult him, weren't you?"

"We already apologized for it. And why are you even being offended over it? It's something between (Y/n) and us." Nagi gritted his teeth, but before Chigiri could argue back, Chris spoke up.

"And this is exactly why you three aren't leaving. (Y/n) needs to recover and not listen to all of you arguing and blaming each other for this."

"But-"

"Reo, no. If you all care so much about him, then you will leave him alone for the time being." With one final glare, the trip shut their mouths, not wanting to anger the blonde more.

"Nope, you are staying here." Loki said, grabbing the ends of Charles' shirt, stopping the boy from leaving for the German stratum.

"I can't! What if (Y/n) wakes up and is scared?! I need to comfort him!" Charles said back, earning an irritated glare from Rin.

"Shut up and stop being so much around him! Are you blind or do you just not see how uncomfortable (Y/n) is around you?!"

"And you shut up-"

"Ok! Ok! That's enough! All of you calm down." Loki clapped, glaring at Tokimitsu and Karasu who were about to leave the room.

"We are all to respect what Ego-san ordered us to do. For now, nobody is seeing him until he wakes up and is able to see all of you."

"But, what if he really needs us?" Tokimitsu protested.

"Or wants to see us?" Karasu added in.

"Then we will be told that. For now, all of you sit down and eat."

Now, while the other stratums were pure messes, the German stratum was uncharacteristically quiet. Noa wasn't really used to Kaiser, Ness, and Isagi not arguing. Kunigami looked even more depressed than usually. Gagamaru kept blaming himself for what had happened, to which Sachs, Gesner, and Grim always had to chime in and tell him it wasn't his fault. Noa noted that Kurona was also less enthusiastic to play, Yukimiya and Hiori just sat to the side, not saying anything. Noa knew that the players were worried, even Kaiser and Ness, which they would never admit to. He also knew that he wasn't making it better by banning them from seeing (Y/n), but for her own sake he had to do it.

Already, a few days had passed since the accident, the pressure from PIFA and the JFA was getting more suffocating on Noa and Ego, but they refused to contthe match without her.

Then, one night while the BM team was eating their dinner, all solemnly, the door opened.

"And this is the dining area. This is where you are mostly with your teammates, aside from the training area." The said team stopped eating as they saw Anri walk in, followed by (Y/n), whose head was still bandaged up.

"Ah... I see..." (Y/n) nodded, looking around the place.

"(Y/n)!!"

"Oh thank God!"

"We were so worried!"

"Why are you walking around like that? You should sit down!"

The girl watched in surprise as Yukimiya, Hiori, Kurona, and Isagi ran up to her, followed by Gagamaru and Kunigami.

"Isagi is right. Please don't walk around like that."

"Do you want some water? Or my food?"

Surprised, and a little scared from the crowd, she hid behind Anri, surprising the team.

"Who... who are all of you?" (Y/n) asked, looking around the room in confusion. Kaiser's spoon slipped from his hand as he heard the question, his eyes widening in terror as he realized what was going on.

"What... what do you mean by that? Nice joke." Ness nervously laughed as Anri cleared her throat.

"(Y/n) has a temporary memory loss. He doesn't remember anyone or the events that happened in Blue Lock. Please, be cautious around him and try to make him remember what had happened. Ok?"

A silence fell among the players as (Y/n) gulped nervously, not liking the attention she was getting.

"Ehmmm... hi, everyone."

To say things were back to normal would be a huge, huge lie. For the next few days the German team tried their best to regain her memories. Isagi, Hiori, and Kurona would give her small tours around the stratum, telling her funny stories that had happened to them, but she just smiled apologetically saying she couldn't remember anything. Yukimiya, Kunigami, and Gagamaru decided to bring her to their monitor room and show her the different matches she played in, hoping that would help. But, that was useless as well. The Blue Lock players were slowly losing their minds, they knew they had to bring back (Y/n)'s memories somehow, or they would lose her in their team. Who would let a player with amnesia play?

Heck, even the German part of the team tried to help her out somehow, but their plans were futile as well. Especially when Kaiser and Ness started teasing and making fun of her. What was usually met with (Y/n) insulting them right back, was now met with the girl crying. That alarmed Noa, so he basically forbade them from talking to her.

Soon enough, the rest of Blue lock heard about (Y/n)'s condition, and they would have rushed to her side if the coaches didn't stop them. They knew it was selfish to overwhelm her now, but the players were just worried and wanted to see her. And they will do that, no matter what.

So, one night after everyone went to sleep, the Blue Lock team, plus Charles, Ness, and Kaiser held a small meeting inside the dining area of the German team.

"Does anyone have an idea what we could do? We tried everything by now?" Isagi asked, looking at the other players.

"How about showing him some pictures? I heard they help in these cases." Otoya raised his hand.

"We tried it with videos already, and that didn't work."

"But, maybe pictures will work, Yukimiya." Kurona protested, not liking the frown on the boy's face.

"Cooking his favorite food, maybe?"

"That's a good idea, Bachira. If there is anything he loves, it's food." Reo nodded in agreement as Nagi showed Isagi his phone.

"Or I show him some video games we used to play. He might not remember me, but he definitely remembers those." Niko could see the sad look on the boy's face, but ignored it as he showed Kunigami his manga stash.

"(Y/n) and I used to read manga together, that might provoke something."

"A nice spa day with me could work as well! We used to do them during the 2nd selection together." Aryu smiled as he remembered that time fondly.

"Or! (Y/n) and I could spend a day watching the anime shows he talked to me about." Tokimitsu smiled at the idea.

"I am still more for Bachira's idea. That boy loves food way too much, I think that will provoke him." Barou said.

"Mhm! Or, we could braid each other's hair. We always used to do that together." Chigiri suggested.

"Rin, do you have any ideas? You are awfully quiet." Karasu commented as the boy sent him a side-glare.

"I am mostly out of ideas. Whatever the majority thinks we should do, I will do it." Rin shrugged his shoulders, trying to hide the anxious feeling he had.

"Charles, Kaiser, Ness, do you three have any ideas?" Gagamaru wondered as the attention was now on them.

"Just let him spend a day with me! I am sure I can help him was better than anyone else can." Charles said while pouting.

"You don't know him that well to claim that!" Reo, Nagi, and Barou yelled.

"I don't care, whatever works, works. I just want him to stop crying whenever Ness or I speak to him."

"It's so annoying." Ness rolled his eyes, ignoring the heartbreak he felt when he remembered all the times (Y/n) cried when they spoke to her.

"You all don't worry, (Y/n) will be his old self again. Right, Isagi?"

The said boy looked over at Hiori, giving him a nervous smile in return.

"Yea... Yeah, of course! He will be back again."

"We should hurry up, then. If we don't get him to regain his memories, his journey here in Blue Lock is over." Karasu spoke up, earning alarmed looks from the others.

"What?! What makes you say that?!"

"This isn't the time for jokes, crow-head."

"You are not funny, Karasu!"

The said boy ignored Rin, Kaiser, and Barou's comments and spoke up again.

"I heard Loki and Snuffy-san talk about it in the hallway today. PIFA and the JFA are tired of waiting. They said if (Y/n) doesn't get her memories back by Friday, it's over. He is getting kicked out." An eerie silence fell among the group as they looked at Karasu in disbelief, but they knew the boy well enough to know he wasn't lying.

"Those money hungry bastards..." Ness clenched his fists as Kaiser and Charles just glared at the ground.

"But.... Isn't Friday tomorrow?" Tokimitsu asked in panic, alarming the rest.

"Don't worry! We still have time!" Kunigami gulped, now even more worried about the oblivious captain.

The next day...

"Hm?" (Y/n) frowned as she put Nagi's phone down.

"Do you remember now?" Nagi asked as Reo, and Chigiri looked at her in excitement.

"No... sorry. I wasted your battery for nothing." The girl said apologetically.

"It's ok! Don't apologize!" Reo said quickly as he took his phone back.

"This isn't good. My method didn't work. Otoya's didn't work, Bachira and Barou's didn't, and now yours failed as well. What now?" Chigiri whispered to Nagi, who for once looked genuinely worried.

"I don't know-"

"(Y/n), there you are!" The girl jumped in surprise as she saw two other players approach her.

"Oh, hi... Niko and Aryu, right?" The girl asked slowly, earning a quick nod from them both.

"That's right. I wanted to ask you to read some mangas with me."

"And I will put on a face mask on you in the meantime."

"Mangas? Face mask? I used to do those things?" The girl blinked in confusion as Aryu and Niko pulled her up.

"Of course! Let's go!"

"Hey, I am coming with you!"

"Me as well!" Charles and Tokimitsu yelled, running after the trio.

"How much time do we have left?" Chigiri asked in worry as he looked back at Reo.

"A good... 3 hours. The JFA president won't be here till 16 o'clock. Karasu, Kurona, and Isagi are keeping an eye out for him." Reo said back as Nagi groaned and laid his head on the table.

"I want (Y/n) back..."

"We all do..."

With (Y/n)...

"So, this is the manga I always read with you?" (Y/n) wondered as she sat with Niko while Aryu had put a face mask on her.

"And I used to put on a face mask as well?" She asked, looking at the two, who quickly nodded their heads.

"Do you remember anything now?" Charles asked, smiling nervously as he gently grabbed her arm.

"Yeah... is this working by any chance?" Tokimitsu gulped nervously. They all looked at (Y/n) as she looked around the place. Truth be told, she did see some foggy memories, but couldn't put a finger onto anything. Nothing was familiar at all.

"No... sorry..." She sighed, looking down at the floor. Charles and Tokimitsu looked at each other in worry as Aryu and Niko started panicking a little. What now?

But, before anyone could say anything, the door had opened and outside was Anri, looking at the 5 players in relief.

"Oh, you are here. Uhm, (Y/n), there is someone who wants to speak with you." Anri said sadly, which caused alarm bells to ring inside the other players' heads.

"And who would that be?" The girl asked, rubbing her head as she got up.

'No... it can't be over...'

'I thought we still had time!'

'This can't be it!' Aryu, Tokimitsu, and Niko thought nervously as Charles had an uncharacteristically stone cold look.

"You know, before that accident a few days ago, you actually had a huge bid on your name from Re Al, a Spanish team, you still do. But, considering we failed to bring back any memories of yours back, your football career might end today. The captain of that team just wanted to speak to you one more time. You are a huge fan of his. Leonardo Luna is his name." Anri explained, trying to hold back her own sadness as the girl numbly nodded her head. Seeing her stoic reaction to the Spanish players names caused the boys to flinch a little. Their are used to seeing her fangirl over him... not act like this!

"Sure! I don't remember really anything, but it sucks that I have to leave."

Alarmed Charles got up from his seat and ran over to the girl, not caring how fast he was going.

"Wait! You can't just leave me like that! This isn't fair! We were supposed to play against each other at the World Cup!"

Without a warning, he ran into (Y/n) and hugged her tightly, which caused her to lose her balance and fall down.

"(Y/n)!"

"Not again! Now he will lose his memories completely!" Tokimitsu yelled as Niko and Aryu ran over to get Charles off of her.

"No! I am not letting you all take hin away from me! No way!" Charles cried out as his hold around (Y/n)'s waist tightened. Seeing the boy cry caused the others to move away a little.

"It isn't fair!" The French boy said as Anri tried to talk some sense into him, but it wasn't working. (Y/n) groaned as she rubbed her head and slowly sat up.

'Now... now I remember!' The girl thought as a rush of memories went through her mind. Everything that had happened prior and during Blue lock, and even everything leading up to today.

"Huh?" She muttered as everyone looked over at her, minus Charles who was busy crying.

"What is going on? And what do you mean I won't play football anymore. I am completely fine! And... and did you say Leonardo Luna is here?! I look like a mess! I can't face him like this!" The girl blushed as she looked at Anri and then down at the clothes she was wearing. Aryu and Tokimitsu's eyes widened in surprise as Anri held in a breath, waiting for what will happen next.

"Do... do you remember everything now?" Niko asked nervously as (Y/n) looked over at him while patting Charles' back. The French boy had stopped crying as he looked at her as well.

"Yeah, now I do. I don't know how, but the memories are back where they should be. You can all stop worrying now." (Y/n) smiled as Charles, Niko, and Tokimitsu tackled her into a hug.

"I will inform the rest!" Aryu said, quickly running out the door as Anri let out a few relieved sobs.

"I will go inform Ego-san and Noa-san!" The woman said as she ran out of the door as well.

[neonfretra]

hockey art tag game!! ^_^ hello @wehaveagathering thank you for the tag!! <3

rules: post your first ever hockey art, your latest hockey art, and your favorite hockey art. then tag three hockey artists

tagging artists first because um. gestures at the keep reading below? im shy hello ^_^

@puckpocketed

@stillfertile

@oensible

any other artists that see this!! please tag me i beg of you i would love to get to know other hockey artists! if you already did it tag me who care. i care! :)

lot of yapping because i love yapping, sticking this under a cut ^_^ did you know tumblr changed their image limit from 10 to 30?

as a forewarning a lot of these images are hella compressed because i pulled them directly from posts, maybe consider peeking at the original linked posts to see them in marginally better quality ^_^

first hockey art

i never posted this one! i thought blackwood and kahkonen looked vaguely kiki and bouba esque respectively which is REALLY funny because the name mackenzie blackwood is more bouba than kaapo kahkonen which is an incredibly kiki name

now that i sound sufficiently deranged.

which of these shapes is be named kiki and which is named bouba?

the kiki/bouba effect was a study about our association with sound and shape, in which people associated "kiki" with a spiky shape and "bouba" with a round shape. (wikipedia, image also comes from wikipedia)

this was from when i was first dipping my toes into hockey and had the hardest time telling players apart! the drawing, not the kiki/bouba effect . you can imagine what two men with similar hair color, eye color, and hair styles on the same team playing the same position was like for me. the biggest part of why i didnt post this was because it was incredibly embarrassing at the time . now i can freely admit i dont know any of the eastern conference and people will think im funny ^_^

first hockey art on this blog

mostly because i think its a fun bit of trivia, the goalie portraits for the teams i started out rooting for! (sharks edition and kraken edition)

i posted these the first game of their corresponding teams after i finished them! the completion order is less straight forward because i was actively jumping between all 4 drawings (3 kraken goalie portraits + 1 portrait of 2 shark goalies) when one of them got too hard :)

i dont remember the exact order beyond grubi being the last i finished LMAO something about drawing him just does not agree with my hands

theyre all a lil ugly to me now but thats the fun of knowing how you started <3

i remember also wanting to draw pwhl minnesotas goalies but not knowing at the time how to find nearlyyy enough references to feel confident to go through with it! (i was looking them up on search engine images HAHAHAHA)

good ol pwhl min ^_^ leave out a fire extinguisher for em will you all, one hell of a trashfire on their hands right now

^ this joke was written BEFORE the whole firing of 3 coaches pwhl min are we okay??????

latest hockey art

...at time of posting mostly because i take a long time to get tag games done...! hello from my drafts everypony ^_^

i lie to myself ft. devin cooley and joey daccord!

a fun fact is that despite animating a bit ive actually never made an animatic before! ^_^

one of the challenges of animating is that you have to draw the same character over and over without making big changes and how to keep doing it consistently

one of the challenges of drawing real people is that you need to figure how to simplify a person to their most basic shapes and proportions . even if you have a realistic style you gotta wrangle the underlying bones to it and it is harddd takin that step back from the human person to make em a cartoon .

so you can imagine the how it goes animating real people

i actually wouldve loved addin more motion and frames but experienced some minor limitations:

i do my drawings in an art program and stitch them together afterwards, which means i dont have a sense of the speed of everything . you can kind of see that problem around the 0:19-0:20 mark because i straight up did not consider time when i wrote a really long winded sign in the background LOL the unused frame for this was also a time issue, i tossed in an establishing shot because i didnt consider the fact that there isnt time for an establishing shot

time and motivation . the longer something takes the less i want to work on it . would you believe well over half of this was taken up by like . being stumped on 2 or 3 frames HAHAHA

doing animation in an art program not made for art is really cumbersome actually. i do most of my work in one layer so you can imagine how it feels to suddenly have to keep track of tens of layers (sprites, backgrounds, foreground elements, captions) , i merged certain layers (white blocks under lineart for readability and closed captions over the lineart are all one layer) so its difficult to actually go back and add anything. or alter anything! closed captions from 0:13-0:15 is inaccurate but i cant alter them without literally erasing it from the layer which is scary

despite the fact that anything involving moving pictures kills me crazy style, im INCREDIBLY proud that this is done and this animatic is like my own child. shout out to the reblogs on the post for pointing out jokes or talkin that they like it, yall inflate my ego <3

at some point i stopped using reference images which is really funny to ME because i actually have the hardest time drawin a devin cooley that LOOKS like a devin cooley . get simplified . theres like. a handful of players i feel comfortable drawing without reference? if you ever want to learn how to draw someone, animate them ^_^

favorite hockey art

frantically scrolling through my art tag... not because i dont like any of my art (my drawings are all awesome would you believe) but because i dont even remember what ive drawn LMAOO

we dont mind more than just one art right ^_^ (like ive not been doing that already LOL

the doodles

i habe something to contribute / i shoot the puck / devin cooley eating joey daccords hair

the most important aspect of my own art is whether or not it makes me giggle . if it doesnt make me cry laugh then is it really goin on the fridge?

something i do feel proud of is balancing expression and likeness ^_^ its way easier knocking that balance with fictional characters as opposed to people with actual physical faces . simplifying them into what is essentially a poorly drawn cat meme is more of a beast than realistic portraits would you believe .

i think my favorite subject to do this with would be buoy actually! theyre a mascot, IDK why it should be a surprise that fae takes easily to being simplified and drawn cartoonishly

i do NOT know what emotion i shoot the puck is supposed to evoke.

really fun observin my freakish little drawings developing more of their own style over time (compare my first gubbi drawing to my latest tomas tatar thursday) (again, latest at the time of writing) and the simplification definitely feels way more intentional ^_^

the funnier half of simplifying is that the simpler it gets the more complex it gets? like more dramatic perspective in barkov and tkachuk in the cup or buoys weird pose with tomas tatar with the dynamo pardubice jersey. id mention shading but i actually have a grudge against shading relative to art advice ("just add shading" is NOT the one size fits all advice we treat it like ITS NOT!!!!)

the nicer stuff

do i hear a break down on individual pieces?

jan rutta picking up mackenzie blackwoods helmet

i think i made it planny clear on the original post but i really truly love the composition of this shot. ruttas hand picking up mackblacks helmet? between the legs? CRAZY.

the refs stance was wild by the way. legs so far apart theyre naming the ice between em an ocean. so on.

i remember the original shot being so striking to me because of the contrast between the cold and warm, the hard and the soft fleshy bits which was something i really wanted to exaggerate with colors

yall can probably tell i dont take my references SUPER literally but for some reason in this one i asked myself if it was deceitful to be messin with colors to get a vibe, to which i asked myself WHAT was i going on about

anyways. intentionally made everything but jan ruttas hand way bluer . i guess mackenzie blackwoods helmet is also warm? but the focus is the hand more than anything hahaha this is also why i did the most complex coloring for it

also another point of interest! included the chromatic aberration (the red/blue 3d effect) mostly because the legs on the right side were blending into each other . but its a really interesting effect to observe in actual recording! :) im not a fan of pressing my face up to a moving picture unfortunately </3

sidney crosby with evgeni malkins helmet

ok ok okay can i be honest . that stray line next to the penguins head has bothered me ever since the day after i posted this. now YOU cant unsee it. no problem ^_^

if you look at the original post, this one has been a wild redraw because i was making up a whole new angle of an existing pose LOL. then again i dont do redraws super often so i guess its not really ridiculous but.

actually now that i think about it i was making up the angle (albeit less) with the bobrovsky stigmata drawing (though its worth noting that i referenced this gifset of the save that was less of a severe change than the original tweet) and ignoring foreground elements for the kiss redraw (theres a big ol hockey stick covering jordan eberles head IIRC?) and the mackenzie blackwood holding his partners head redraws (i was absolutely NOT drawing the audience LMAO)

but the gesture was easy enough to capture but the anatomy had me by the NECK. the THROAT. the SCRUFF!!! it still looks plenty wonky to me but IMO gesture trumps accuracy . someone in the notes tagged it with this:

to which i throw my hands up in celebration and say hallelujah he has been accepted by penguins fans he will survive the winter

kraken goalies as animals

i really like drawing animals . i really like drawing armor .

more detailed breakdown on the post LOL i just really liked this and its super different from the usual stuff i post

i havent even mentioned all my sacrilegious drawings... my art is so awesome and cool its so hard picking a favorite...

and some final notes

if you made it to the end of this one jesus christ um. hello ^_^ even i wasnt writin this in one sittin.

honest to god if this post showed you anythin i love talking about my process and thoughts behind my works and if you wanted to ever ask hi hit me up ? ask box open? dms open? i can buy you dinner or a very shiny fruit from the market?

[aftgficrec]

oh i caught you open! can we get some either andrew & kevin or neil & kevin being best friends and supporting each other? i feel like they're not explored enough and the potential is right there :)

Luckily, Kevin and Andrew’ friendship is a topic the fandom is pretty interested in.  So much so that we’ve split this ask.  In this post we’re concentrating entirely on Andrew and Kevin, Neil & Kevin’s friendship will be will be addressed in another ask. - S

Some previous recs:

Andrew & Kevin’s friendship here

Kevin & Andrew’s relationship here

Kevin as Andrew’s best friend here and here

Kevin’s friendship with Andreil here

‘Where The Wild Things Are’ here

‘I know that you'll come if you want’ here

‘N for nebulous’, ‘And Then There Was One’ and ‘Wear it to Eden's’ here

‘Reckless’ here

‘Trust Me’ here

‘Searchlights’ here

‘fugue in red’ here

splinters beneath our nails by mostly_maudlin [Rated T, 3719 words, complete, 2023]

Andrew hasn’t decided what to do about Kevin Day. A few days ago, he’d have said that Kevin was dead to him. If things had gone differently, that might still be true. Today, he walks up to the car and throws open the door.

Not again by LetThemCuddle [Rated G, 698 words, complete, 2023]

Andrew circled the stony striker when silence answered him. “Hello? Anybody home? The answer is yes, a lot of nobodies, just one is missing. I’ll give you three guesses.” “Pass.” “Never took you for a quitter. This is quite refreshing.” The goalie quipped, lighting a smoke. “Come on, the cars’ still running.” “I’m going to stay here.” Kevin’s quiet voice echoed through the abandoned stadium. Somber, lacking the usual spiteful energy he towed.

right on time by dayurno [Not Rated, 10915 words, complete, Aftg Mixtape Exchange 2023]

"Has your Butcher called back yet?" Oh. “No,” Kevin replies, frowning slightly. “It’s understandable. He is a busy man.” “Kevin Day making excuses,” pulling away, Andrew puts down, “at this rate, you might just write his name on the margins of your books with hearts around it.” “What? No, why would I do that?” “Why wouldn’t you?” Kevin gives him a perplexed look. “Andrew, do you think I like the Butcher of Baltimore?” Alternatively, when the Butcher of Baltimore issues an order for his subordinates to bring him his childhood idol, he forgets what his choice of career entails. Kevin would hold it against him if he didn't find the man so fascinating.

tw: (accidental) kidnapping

Rescue Me by Demiwitchwoodwalker [Rated T, 4564 words, complete, 2022]

“I can protect you, from him and yourself,” Andrew said in a tone Kevin couldn’t quite place after a long moment filled with nothing but the muffled noise of the game playing on Kevin’s laptop. “I can help you stay instead of running further or back.” Kevin stared at him then, finally letting himself actually look at him, and the same feeling from before returned, feeling like a hand clenched itself around his lungs and heart. He pushed his laptop closed, the game’s audio abruptly cutting off, and turned slightly to face Andrew, whose expression had shifted back into the grin that seemed to constantly be present in the day and whose eyes looked almost dead. Kevin’s lips parted, words rising in the back of his throat, but he couldn’t get them past his tongue. How was he supposed to do this? The memory of Andrew the night before floated through his mind again, when he was as close to sober as he could get, more vulnerable than Kevin felt he’d ever seen a person despite the fact that Kevin was the one halfway through a breakdown. "Why?" --- Aka, how Kevin and Andrew make their deal. (Potential triggers are listed in the tags, please be careful!)

tw: self harm, tw: panic attacks, tw: implied/referenced suicidal thoughts

The Tide by zoeellendraws [Rated G, 20473 words, complete, 2022]

Kevin and Andrew participate in a showcase that could make or break their ballet careers and discover a promising new talent in the process.  Or Mysterious Ballet AU

tw: implied/referenced violence

I came for the safety (stayed 'cause you made me feel) by Charcoalll [Rated M, 4621 words, complete, 2021]

“Day? We’re gonna get you out of here okay? Minyard’s gonna make sure you get out of here and down to the bus” Kevin looked over Wymack’s shoulder where he could see the figure of the small blonde man. Kevin nodded, how could he do anything but nod? These people were sticking out their neck for him in a way he couldn’t remember anyone doing before. No words could ever describe his thankfulness.  Or: A little glimpse into Andrew and Kevin's relationship before, during and after AftG.

tw: implied/referenced abuse, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced alcohol abuse

biting down by vincevangothh [Rated T, 2257 words, complete, Aftg Exchange 2017]

kevin learns that in order to understand something, you have to allow yourself to learn, and talks to andrew about neil. '“Did I or did I not tell you that you have asked as many free questions as you are permitted to today?” This time, as Andrew snaps, Kevin hears it. “Free?” he asks around a mouthful of rice, swallowing hastily before he continues. “So if I give you something, I can ask more?” It's a rhetorical question, but Andrew grants him a small nod anyway. “Neil and I have - had - a thing.” Kevin agonisingly anticipates his next words as Andrew scoops up another mouthful of food. Static silence stretches out between them until he swallows again. “Truth for truth. For everything you ask me, I ask you something.” “Deal.”'

Reasons by orphan_account [Rated T, 1895 words, complete, 2016]

“You took me with you when you recruited him,” Andrew muttered, but he knew Kevin was listening. They both knew that it was the closest Andrew could get to a thank you, so they both kept quiet. A list of the times Andrew met Kevin, interwoven with the list of times Andrew met Neil.

Kevin, Andrew and their friendship by @andrews-jort-loving-pipe-dream [tumblr, 2023]

“Why are we here?” “I'm here because it's Josten's birthday next week. You're here because you can't be alone.”

Andrew and Kevin watching a movie together after one of them wakes up from a nightmare. by @foxesbettingpool [tumblr, 2018]

He’d been up the majority of the night, wasting away on a bean bag chair with textbooks, papers, and a mountain of notes surrounding him.

tw: nightmares

Future Andrew & Kevin hc by @thepalmtoptiger [tumblr, 2018]

Andrew and Kevin stay close friends after leaving the Foxes and going pro.

Kevin asks Andrew to be his best man hc by @palmettofoxden [tumblr, 2017]

Kevin asks Andrew to be his best man at his wedding and Andrew just stands up and walks out of the room without answering or even reacting.

Art

andrew & kevin brotp edit by @mint-and-memories

Andrew and Kevin meme art by @foxhole-doodles

[tojisun]

ermmmmmmmmm i don’t know how to explain this ask but what do you think simon would be like like in college??? would he be a frat boy???? did he even go to college????????????? this is so dumb im sorry lmao

omg heyy no dont sweat about this!! this is so cute!! its not dumb at all!!

edit: overhauling my prev post!

!! in a no-military au:

i dunno how active chapters are in UK universities but if they are, then yea i think he joined a fraternity based on a scholarship! (every time i think of fratboy simon, i think about channing tatum in 22 jump street hhhhhhhhasfj [heart eyes])

there are 11 fraternities in my uni and sometimes i happen to be in campus when the recruitments are being announced and it's honestly such a cool, if not a little startling, event. i transferred from a college so it was so shocking to see these because i genuinely thought these were only an american (US) thing

sooo imagining this to be simon's uni life is making me giggle because on one hand i think simon's the type to wanna avoid all that unnecessary events, but then i also imagine him joining exactly because of said events- it opens up lots of opportunities and helps him build intimate connections!! also, i just wanna imagine him having fun :((

the major chapters in my uni are either centric on sports or exclusive for a specific grad school so i dunno if simon's membership is because he's a current undergrad (ergo he's in a varsity) or because he went to grad school.... our powerhouse teams in uni happens to be hockey (and basketball) so now just imagine hockey player simon :(( god im spiralling hhgrhoegh foaming at the mouth!!!

imagine hockey player simon who comes out of practice with flushed cheeks and tussled hair. imagine simon as the goalie OR the centre hhnngh imagine simon pinning up the campus and chapter flag in his room like a dork (beside pictures of you two taken during frat parties). imagine simon lending you his jersey. imagine simon choosing your birth date as his jersey number

...sfksapjfdasf oh i am unwell

!! canon-lenient (ty tomie @tomiesdiet for the callout on my error LMFAOFOED)

i think he joined a fraternity too!! i went ballistic and searched up fraternities and cadet lifestyles, and they act like any other universities too so yea i do think he joined a chapter prior to joining the military!!

i do see him joining it for the same benefits such as scholarship and varied opportunities. but also it's noted that fraternities geared for the military also get service projects which help expand their experiences.

there's also a non-collegiate fraternity for the military!! maybe he'd have been part of that :0

i dunno if there would be repercussions of having been a member of a chapter later on as he gets into spec-ops. otherwise, he probably faked his death so that there won't be any loose connections to trace to him

[tapedsleeves]

(primer anon) Thank you so much!! <3 <3 I write at a snail's pace so no clue when I'll actually output anything but I loved reading your post 😭 if it's not too much trouble I'd love to hear a little more on keegs and adin since they're on your ships list and I don't know much about them (also maybe nic roy since I just found out he's quebecois?? For some reason I thought marchy was the only frenchy)

Or if you can point me in a direction I can go do my own digging and give your inbox a break 😭 I'd love to know if there's any go-to articles/video series/beat reporter or something, or a good blog/tag to dig through. the official social accounts post so much it's hard to find anything when idk what to search for

I always forget that Nic Roy is quebecois until he talks! There's actually another French guy, who probably will sign somewhere else this summer, William Carrier. Nic Roy is very very quiet. But he's got a cat and put that cat in the cup. Nic is is very chill and low key. Lots of guys on VGK are. Not a lot of them are like. Super flashy guys.

Will Carrier, also french, is SO SO SO square. He helped build his own house and while they were in the montreal series in 20-21, someone peed on his front door. He watched it on the security camera.

He often helps people fix things - he's very handy. But otherwise, he's very chill and low key.

Keegan Kolesar:

Danced with Mat Barzal at Ethan Bear's wedding. butt slaps and handshakes with Jack eichel. keegan is just. A really laid back, funny, sweet guy. His biological is absent, and his step (orr adopted) dad died of COVID complications in september of 2020, so he takes his mom on the dad's trips. It's VERY sweet that he does, and everyone makes her feel really really welcome. Annabelle is our Make A Wish signing and they had quite the fight :)) Here's his POV about it. Actually if there's kids, he's going. He goes to all the charity hockey / ball tournaments and ball hockey events that VGK does in the community. Every one has Keegan in there. did post game press with a chicken ceasar wrap (misattributed to a burrito)

why i ship him wiht Jack: after Keegan's goal against the Jets on 4/22/23, Jack did this, which looked like engagement photos to me

also very important to me: him holding the drunkest karly on stage at the parade. he was SO grabby. it was LOVELY.

I think they kissed on the mouth

Here he is kissing teddy blueger

Keegan kissing Nic Hague.

I'm pretty sure he's an affectionate drunk.

Adin Hill

Adin Hill is just very sweet and loves coffee. He makes his own.

Here he is laughing at Karly saying that his hamstring was "not chillin"

he was very drunk at the parade and referenced talladega nights

they did marchy SO dirty. They sent hilly & nic hague. the two tallest guys.

wore a UNLV basketball jersey to the parade, inspiring love from vegas

also took it off

gets fighty here's another shot

absolutely beautiful ok?

His kicky feets

HE'S SO FUNNY

why i ship him with paul cotter

it has less to do with adin and more to do with Paul himself. He's a goalie appreciator.

adin and tommy are REALLY CUTE tho

despite having the same listed height, adin is taller

their hugs are soo so so so tender. I love goalie.

As far as beat reporters: Gary Lawless is our insider guy, Jesse Granger is our beat reporter for the athletic, and Ashali Vise is one of our on-air broadcasters. All of them are pretty good sources of info. All of them I've referenced for stuff. But really I know most of this just because I like. Have been around. I pay attention. You'll note that some of this is sourced from my own blog, so like. Go nuts there too if you want. If you want older stuff, @himbeaux-on-ice has a bunch of good stuff. @vgkmarc also has some really good stuff, along with @golden-knights-of-the-realm , @at-empty-tables & @sevennone . @reneserseya is really good for Jack Eichel content with some Alec Martinez thrown in for fun & @goldenmisfits is as well. @lovethygoalie knows a lot about Nic Roy iirc.

Also I will say, Dave Goucher & Shane Hnidy are a fun follow, even if they're not exactly reporters - they're super involved and also very cute.

[nightshadehasblorbos]

Those are our Desert Night jerseys! We've been using them as our 3rds since mid last season

*frantically googling yotes jerseys*

They're just so good. I love the cactus on the pants. And cactuses on the goalie pads too!!! I think Arizona has my favorite jerseys. They're just so aesthetically pleasing in a non-sport context and they have such fun patterns (and colors). And I love how the neck detailing looks like a beaded necklace on their other jerseys. And even when I'm like "oh that's not a necklace it's the jersey," I still can't get over how well it ties the whole jersey together. I don't know if this makes sense, but the Coyotes' jersey just feel a lot more like art than some of the other jerseys in the league. And like the entire uniform is the art not just the crest. I need other teams to up their game with their regular jerseys.

I just don't see much yotes stuff on my dash. I think I might have seen these jerseys but just the front, probably amongst all the other jersey ads, so I never really looked at them, and I never saw them on players where I could see the design on the pants and the socks too. I honestly need to start looking at more yotes content because I haven't seen much of them in a while.

(Oh and the A is like two cactuses leaning together and the C is a crescent moon. Guys stop you're killing all the other hockey players by being way better dressed than them. You're going too hard; no one can catch up. You're too phenomenal; you may be accused of witchcraft and hunted as sport. NHL owners are calling Gary Bettman right now and trying to get your jerseys added to the specialty jersey ban because they're jealous that their jerseys could never be as good. I never thought I would feel so passionate about jerseys.)

[andydrysdalerogers]

Troublemaker ~ 1 ~ The Exact Moment

He is one of the best goaltenders in the league. He's also hated by his teammates. He didn't mean to be a troublemaker but why not lean into it? There wasn't anyone to stop him.

Until he met her...

A Jeremy Swayman AU x OFC Stella Williams

Story Warnings: excessive drinking, SMUT!, an asshole Jeremy, angst

A/N: Hello and welcome to a spin-off "Cross-Checked" so plenty of characters from that story are crossing over here! If you want a more detailed story of how we ended up here, read the first store HERE Also! The taglist is open. If you want to be added or removed, please let me know!

Please note that I do not give permission for my work to be translated, reposted, or published anywhere other than my Tumblr. Reblogs are most welcome though!

Banners by me! Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Everyone always knows when their life took a turn.  Whether it was for better or for worse, people can tell you when that happened.  

Me? 

It was a couple of points. But maybe I should explain some things first.  

My name is Jeremy Swayman.  I am one of the best goalies in the National Hockey League. My goalie partner and I are considered the best goalie duo in the last decade. With that comes a lot of things. Endorsements, contracts, money and of course, puck bunnies. There is no shortage of bunnies. Every single woman and some not so single ones, are always hopping around, wanting a piece of me, whether it would be street cred or to tie me down.  

I am all for the street cred but I’m not a relationship guy.  

Or at least, I didn’t think I was.  

I guess this would be the first point that changed my life.  

Flashback, December 

“Care to explain?”  

She handed me the article and I sighed. “That was just a friend.” I threw back the rest of my drink and signals for another. She glare at me. Fuck did I not what to do this here.  

“A friend.” She looks at the photos again and I can see what she sees.  She’s blonde, model like. We’re both smiling big smiles as we are wrapped up in each other. “What’s her name?”  

I choked for a moment on my new drink. “Her name is Charlie. The photo... the photo is just after we hugged.  Nothing is going on.”  I’m lying threw my teeth.  Hooking up with Charlie had been the release I needed.  

Dating Leighton Andrews, the sister of my assistant captain Luke Andrews, best friend of my captain, Andy Barber, and our social media director, had been a dream of mine for years. She was smoking hot, long, dark hair and green eyes. Fuck, I had wanted her for such a long time.  And at the beginning of the season, she had broken up with her long time boyfriend.  I swooped in and asked her out.  

What I wasn’t expecting was to find out she was pregnant from the ex. And it threw me for a loop. That led to Charlie.  

“Right,” she scoffs. Shit, I think she might cry.   

“Right,” I repeat. But then my temper took over. She was sitting there, accusing me of stuff without proof. Ok, so she might have had cause but still, it's not like I didn’t notice how close she is to my captain. Alcohol is making me brave, reckless and a little mean. “Like you’re not screwing around with Barber. I know you want him, Leighton.” I sneered the words at her.   

“Andy is just a friend.  A friend that I’m not even speaking to.” She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at me.    

“A friend? Really? That guy has wanted you since the day I joined the team. I’ve seen how you were before with him.  All the hugging and kisses to your forehead or cheek. Just a friend right? Bet he’s the father of your baby too.”   

See that? Right there, I just screwed myself.  I just didn’t know it yet.  

“How dare you! I told you the truth about the baby. You said you would be there. I thought we were in a relationship!” She was pissed and honestly, I couldn’t blame her. I had said those things to her. The waiter comes by and drops off our plates.  

I push the food around.  I was just looking for a good time when it came to Leia. But my mouth got the best of me. “Look, i know we’ve been seeing each other but we never defined what we are.” I shrugged. “I thought it was casual. I mean, you never slept with me so were we really that serious?”  

I saw it that time. The flash of pain, regret in her eyes.  “I guess then maybe, we should just be friends. I mean, why would you want to be with a pregnant chick when you could have all the uncomplicated stuff.” A watched that tear fall. I don’t think she meant for me to ssee it but I did. I needed to save this.   

“Look, Leia, I just don’t think I want to be a father right now. I mean, you’re cool and everything but we were never going to the next level. I don’t know if I could sleep with someone who’s having another man’s baby.  And now I’m going to be taking a hit because you weren’t honest from the beginning.”   

“Oh, so what were you going to just sleep with me and throw me away? Your teammates sister?”  

Oops. Fuck it. I shrugged. “I like you but I don’t do relationships.”   

That was the death blow. And if I knew what I knew now, I wouldn’t have said what I said. I would have just been honest. That I wasn’t ready to be a father and left it at that. But no, big man needed to make sure she knew how much of a jackass I was.   

“I’m sorry for ruining your life. I guess I’ll see you at work.”   

I was shocked. She looked so calm. She stood up from the table, threw some money down.  “Leia...” I tried to call after her. She turned and had a look of utter defeat.  

“Goodbye Jeremy.”   

I drowned my sorrow that night.  She had been the only girl I ever wanted more with. But that didn’t stop me I guess.  

Previously, I said I was one of the best goalies in the league, that my partner Linus Ullmark and I were the best anyone had seen in a decade.  

What I didn’t mention was the fact that I was probably the most hated guy in the locker room. 

If you take a life lesson from this, it should be this: never mess around with your captain’s best friend or your teammate’s sister. Especially when they are both. 

Flashback: the next day 

“yeah, she was banging.” I had decided to call Charlie for another round. I don’t usually double dip but she had been fantasic in bed, sucking me off like it was her job. And I couldn’t help but brag to the boys.  

 “Who was banging?” 

I look up to see my captain staring at me, a particularly hard look in his eyes. He had heard me and looked like he was about to commit murder.  I swallowed then smiled.  “This chick I hooked up with. She was wild in the sack last night.”  

“Oh,” his face blanked but his eyes were still flaming with rage. I’ve known Andy Barber for a few years.  He is not one to lose his temper. He isn’t one to start fights.  He’s a talker and one of the best chirpers in the league. He can get anyone into trouble.  I should have seen this as a sign. “This is after you dumped Leia and after you cheated on her, right? Nice.”  

I swear every single skate stopped to stare at the standoff between me and him. He just blew up my world and didn’t even know it yet. I tried to defend myself. 

“Leia and I weren't a couple. We dated but we weren’t exclusive.”  

“Oh, so telling her that you would be there for her, be with her for the baby, acting like her boyfriend but really what was your motive? Screw her and then dump her? She is one of us!”  

Boom! There went my life.  

“Jeremy, tell me that isn’t true?” Linus says.  

Linus Ullmark is one of the nicest humans in the world. He loves his family, he loves his team. He is my best friend.  

I’ve never heard him more disappointed. 

I don’t have a chance to respond when Andy continues. “It's not only true but I had Leia sobbing all night because of this asshat,” pointing at me. 

One more thing I should mention is that I have a temper. I once got ran over by the opposing team that I couldn’t let it go and punched my way out of the pile.  There is a gif of me smiling like the devil as I stood up. When I get challenged I don’t back down. Linus calls it my “troublemaker setting” And Andy Barber just set it off.  

“Why the fuck do you care, Barber? I had bigger balls than you to ask her out and date her. She was asking to be fucked, acting like a slut.  She was ready to give me everything and then she dropped the truth bomb that she’s pregnant! She is a whore, wanting to sleep with someone else when she has a baby daddy. At least I didn’t fuck her, you should be thankful for that. You won’t have to deal with my sloppy seconds. Or thirds, I guess,” I smirked at him. 

For the record, I understand that I may have crossed the line.  

Barber lunges at me, but a couple of the guys stopped him.  

But then I still got punched from out of nowhere.  

I had forgotten about Lukas Andrews, assistant captain, enforcer of our team. He knows how to throw a punch. He put everything he had in it, I felt my nose crunch, along with the sound and i was flat on my back.  

“You fucking asshole! That is my baby sister you are messing with!” Luke screams. He’s thrashing in the arms of our defensemen while Linus is helping me up. I feel the blood running down my nose and my lip is on fire. Guess when the other party doesn’t have a warning, Andrews can punch like its nobody’s business. But the rage is still simmering in my blood.  

“Fuck you, Andrews.  You told me I could go for it. Blame your-fucking-self!” I try to lunge at him but Linus and Brad, my other assistant captain, hold me back. 

In all fairness, I had that coming. Linus told me to be careful with Leia. He told me that it was a bad idea to try to sleep with her a dump her.  When I explained that I really did like her, he sighed and told me to do what I wanted to be happy.  So I had asked her out, got the truth bomb and now I was paying the price for being a troublemaker. 

As long as I lived up to the nick name, I didn’t want to care then.  

I was out for one game with a broken nose. Since I wear a cage as goalie on my helmet, I just had to wait for the swelling to go down to get back into the game.  So I threw myself into it.  

But losing her to Andy was too much 

Flashback – New Years Eve 

“Oh god, sorry.”  I felt a body hit me from behind. I knew it wasn’t one of my teammates, it was too soft.  So I turned to apologize.  

“My mis... Leia.”  Fuck me. I had seen her come in with Andy and they went right to the table with Andrews, his girlfriend Miranda and Stella, one of our trainers and Leia’s best friend.  

I hadn’t seen Leia in a while. Management had banned her from the ice, so her assistants were with us when they were taking photos.  I had heard that she was also banned from flying.  I wasn’t sure why, I assume that her doctor made that decision. But I try not to care. I can’t care. 

“Hi Jeremy.” She’s uncomfortable and she’s flushed. She looks beautiful, her belly now more pronounced. I can see why they call it a pregnancy glow. “Happy New Year.”  She started to walk away. 

She’s trying but I still can’t let it go. “You move fast.”  

She turned back to me.  Her face is neutral but I can see the fury in her eyes. “Excuse me?” 

I snorted. “Don’t play stupid, Leia. You’re with Andy, aren’t you?” A few of the players heads turn and I see Linus take a couple of steps forward.  To protect me or protect Leia, I wasn’t sure.  

Leia Andrews is not someone who will sugar coat anything. Her jaw tightened. “Why do you care?” she said loudly, her voice creeping up with each sentence. “You didn’t want me, remember?  You slept with someone else, remember? You told me you couldn’t handle my situation and I walked away. Whether or not I’m with someone else is none of your business. You made that painfully clear.”  

“Leia,” Linus said softly, touching her arm. “Please, be calm. For the baby.”   

The baby? What’s wrong with the baby. I move to ask but she doesn’t give me a chance. She shakes off Linus and stares me down. I fear that she will hit me or eviscerate me where I stand.  

 “Now, if you will excuse me, I’m going back to dinner with my family.  The ones who accepted me for who I am and what I am going through and have my back.”  

I watch as she walks straight into Andy's arms. He looks at me with anger. Fuck, I don’t need this. My captain was going to be pissed because I couldn’t be nice to the girl he stole from me.  

“Really, dickwad, you couldn’t just be nice to her.”  Linus hit the back of my head.  

“Fuck, really?” I rub the back of my head.  

“She is a high risk pregnancy, jackass. Stress can be really bad for her.  I get it, you are pissed but she chose the man she loves. Grow up Jeremy.” Linus shoved my shoulder and walked back to his wife.  I looked around and saw my teammates glaring at me.  They all knew about her condition.  And I made it worse. 

I lost the rest of my team that day.  

Its been a week and I’ve had a different girl in my bed every night. But they aren’t her.  

No one could be her.  

So I go back to what I know.  

Being a troublemaker. 

NEXT

Taglist:

@patzammit

@texmexdarling

@slutforchrisjamalevans

@firephotogrl74

@tinkerbelle67

@before-we-get-started

@bunnyforhim

@alexakeyloveloki

@sunnyhummingbee

@whiskeytangofoxtrot555

@peaceinourtime82

@saucy-sassy-sparkly

@kmc1989

@kandis-mom

@lokislady82

@raven-blue3000

[uglygirlstatus]

You played soccer!!!! Cool! What position? How was your team??

I did! For like ten years. I was a goalkeeper and I chose that when I was 11 so that I wouldn’t have to run but turned out I had to do excessive agility drills and throw my body at the ground on command instead. But I do love the glory and the drama of being a keeper at the end of the day and find myself missing it sometimes.

My league team was so much fun and I loved playing on it and we were sort of bad until our final year in gr 12 where halfway through the season we suddenly started winning a lot and for a long time I thought it was the power of friendship until a year later I stumbled across an article on an online local newspaper about our win at the regional semi finals that stated we were actually demoted a division at the same point in the year that we started winning and the coaches just didn’t tell us.

My high school soccer team was an actually good team but one of my least favourite things I’ve ever participated in in my life. I was pressured to play by my dad because he was the coach and everyone liked him better than me. Also one time two girls tried to pants me before warm up at Provincials but I was wearing a full length pair of soccer shorts underneath my goalie pants for some reason and somehow that was more embarrassing than if I just had my normal underwear exposed

[wehaveagathering]

Do you have any offseason predictions? (for the flyers) / what Should happen this offseason

I assume this was a drunk ask last night but i fell asleep. So. You get my wakeful, no less complex and thought-through answer. This may be long; you have been warned.

First of all, the draft. This isn't the draft for big moves. I mean, while I'm definitely hoping for huge upsides for members of the 2024 draft - being lambasted as "not a deep draft" makes them my most beloved underdogs and I hope they all prove themselves - usually scouts who know hockey and watch a ton of young prospects are right about who can do what. And all of the scouts are saying: the 2025 draft has way more talent than 2024. So. If I'm Danny Briere, this is what I do.

In the 2024 1st round, the Flyers have pick 12 and pick 31/32 from the Panthers. Let's say, because the Flyers have famously good luck while drafting, Florida wins the Cup and we get pick 32. Not that it makes THAT much of a difference - we're going to get a prospect with similar skill levels whether we pick at 31 or 32. However, judging by everything I've read, a prospect we like is going to be available at 12. Whether that's Yakemchuk or Helenius or Eiserman (the three that usually get mock-drafted to the Flyers) we're gonna get a guy with good skill, and a pretty bright career ahead of him. And then at 32, some decent dude.

Nah. I'm giving pick 32 to a team that really needs it. Someone like Ottawa, or the Sabres, or the Kraken, someone that is picking early and are hoping for a better upside next year. Maybe they have their eye on someone going later - maybe we throw in a 2nd or 3rd round pick to sweeten the deal. And in return, they give us their 1st rounder for the 2025 draft.

You know, I considered that the Flyers might try to trade up in the 2024 draft, but because of the "lack of depth" I think that you're not gonna get a guy at 12 that's super different from the guy at like, 8, and no one is giving up a pick above that, whether or not the draft is "deep" or not. The Sabres are saying 10th is maybe up for grabs, and the Devils are willing to trade their pick in order to contend next season. I could see us trading a player for 10th, but definitely not picks, and the Devs want a goalie, so. No-go there, as the Flyers have thrown their weight behind Ersson and Fedotov. So I don't think we'll trade any picks for a higher selection in 2024. But I think that it would be smart to get a third pick in 2025. That's the kind of stuff you can really leverage.

Hypothetical scenario. Say the Flyers do a little better next year and get pick 14 in 2025. Say Colorado makes the conference finals and has to give their #30 pick to us. Say we make a deal with the Kraken this year for our 2024 #32, and they have pick #15 in 2025. Why not, in that case, leverage picks 15 and 30 and move up to 10, or even higher? Why not go for gold, maybe give picks 14 and 15 for pick #5? Then you have a highly touted prospect pick at 5, and still 30 in a deep draft. I mean, Vancouver traded all the way up to get two top-five picks in a row to take the Sedins.

(OR you just keep three first rounders in a deep draft, which no one is mad about.)

We could play it real smart just with the draft this offseason. And then there's Michkov.

I think a lot of what the Flyers do this offseason depends on if Michkov comes over. Russia wanted that answer by the end of June, and I'm sure the Flyers do too, so they can draft and trade accordingly. We don't have much cap space if we want to sign him. Local cryptid Ryan Ellis still has until 2027 getting 6.5 mil a year. Rasmus Ristolainen also has a contract until 2027 getting 5 mil a year. Colorado gave us the precious, precious gift of Ryan Johansen who came with 4 million dollars worth of baggage. TDA and Kevin Hayes are costing us approximately $5 mil this upcoming season. We currently have $500,000 worth of cap space and an ELC for Michkov would be $700K annual at minimum, and you know they are NOT gonna give the Mad Fucking Russian minimum NHL wage (the max is $950K.)

If I'm being totally honest, I kind of don't want Michkov over this season. I can't see us trading someone to make cap space for him, and I don't see Barkey or Bonk being ready to play in the NHL this year next to him. (Very excited to see them at the NHL level soon, though.) The Flyers just aren't ready. If we wait another year, Cam Atkinson's contract is up and he retires gracefully, giving us more cap space. We have a year to figure out what to do with Johansen, whose contract is up in 2025 anyway. That frees up 9 mil alone. If we're already getting rid of Staal (god I hope we do) that's 2.5 mil gone. I think it's not a bad idea to let Michkov play more in Russia, keep a good relationship, let the team be kind of middling for another year so we get a decently high pick, or can make a reasonable trade for one - because right now, even the Flyers are saying it: we need high end talent. Someone to match Michkov. I mean, I think Frost would be a good center for him. I think Frost's playmaking would work well with him. A Michkov-Frost-Foerster line would be fun as hell, but that line doesn't live up to what Michkov can do forever. If Michkov comes over, I also don't want him playing on our fuck ass powerplay. You know what I mean? You ever go back and watch the 2012 ECQF and hear the announcers talk about how the Flyers' special teams were their strength? We haven't had that for years. We don't need it right now. But if Michkov is here, we should have something close.

As far as trades go. I wouldn't make too many moves. I don't think the Flyers will make too many moves if Michkov doesn't come over. People are already freaking out over a TK extension - whatever. He has until 2025, I'm not pressed, and both the Flyers and TK want him to stay, so something will get worked out. I can see why people want to trade him, but what the hell do you want in return?? What do you think you're going to get? It's not worth it. Sign him next year for 6-7 years @ 8 mil, fans are happy, players are happy, TK is happy. Fuck off.

I don't think Staal is staying. They're talking about extending EJ – that would be cute, but we already have a number of pretty good defensemen, and we don't need just another "pretty good" defenseman. (Sorry, Big Horny.) I would love to see a similar team next season develop more offensive chemistry and to have a solid goalie tandem rotation, and I think that would be the best outcome of this offseason.

Obviously, there are a few players with contracts that are up this year. Bobby Brink's ELC is up, and for me it's crucial that he stays. This is my number 1 signing that needs to happen this offseason. I think he's an exciting player, and I think that Torts needs to get his head out of his ass and work with him. (This is my number 1 bone to pick with Torts, but whatever.) Zamula also has his contract up, and I know they want to re-sign him. I also hope that they're thinking about Kolosov coming back to the Phantoms this fall, and what they would have to do for him to make him comfortable in Lehigh Valley. When Kolosov came over this spring, no player on the Phantoms spoke Russian, let alone Belarusian, and when he left at the end of the season, citing that he was homesick – I can't imagine that that had nothing to do with it. Ersson talks about how important Felix Sandstrom was for his acclimation to American life as a fellow Swede, and I think that if Kolosov is to return to North America, you want someone there to help him out and help him acclimate. Depends on how everything shakes up next year – that could be Gurianov or Zamula, but both of their contracts ended in 2024. So Kolosov's comfort level in America is a factor I hope they're considering.

Like, this is the thing with Michkov. I want him to come over, but if he does, they need to shake up a lot of shit that I don't think they're ready to shake up. I think him playing for 3 years in Russia factored into their long-term plan, what with the very tight restrictions on cap space we have right now and the makeup of the NHL and AHL teams here. Fedotov will be crucial for Michkov if he stays, and if he doesn't, then Kolosov, Zamula, Gurianov, or any other Russian/Russian speaker on the team needs to have a level of comfort in PA to ensure that Michkov does not struggle with the same culture shock that I assume Kolosov did. He was 22; Michkov will be 21 - if he comes over now, 19. There needs to be a system in place for these players. Creating that system needs to have started yesterday.

Uh, I think that's it. Thanks for the ask!! <3

[coffee-at-annies]

what about your favourite player? :p

Jars Jars Jars Jars Jars.

Not to sound insane but he grinned and everything about him was perfect, and I fell in love instantly.

No but seriously I took one look at the eyebrows and the dimples and the baby face sometime circa 2017-2018 and knew that was it for me. That was the one for me. I always like to have a handful of favorites (my personal tier list) of which an important part is goalie, emotional support depth forward, and defenseman. Of my original 3 loves we traded Shears away twice, sold Big Rig back to Dallas for a corn chip I don’t actually remember I’m just bitter, and shoved Mouse Boy in the minors for like two years. It was a rough time.

In the last year or two I’ve done a lot of navel gazing between retirements (cully hags&horny 😭), trades (Shears, Big Rig, Teddy, Jakenbake 💔), free agency, and our old guys getting older that I can’t obfuscate around the fact that Jars is it for me. I love his stupid face, his curls, his perfect eyebrows, his dedication to saying nothing and pretending there isn’t a thought in his head, the fact that he won’t go shirtless in the locker room. Just all of it. I get cuteness aggression thinking about him. I spent so long thinking we weren’t going to re-sign him this time last year that I literally cried when we did and then again at the start of the season and again at the goalie goal and several other points — look I have a lot of intense emotions about Mouse Boy. Say what you want about his play or his injury history, whatever, I don’t care. You cannot change my mind. Mother, I love him.

There are other players I love — Flower and the Core exist in a niche in my heart I can’t quantify nor rank in terms of favorites. However, if I’ve got to be honest, I would probably sell most of the team to Satan for one corn chip if it meant keeping Jars around. I don’t know if I have it in me to follow him to another team but that’s the limit. Everything else is fair game.

[pessiofficial]

barca vs. real madrid match analysis (10/28/23)

i don't know what to say, overall just a really, really disappointing match especially when we deserved a lot more. all credit to real madrid (specifically jude) because they capitalized on the chances they had, something we obviously need to learn how to do.

i wanna start with the positives:

gavi. absolutely ridiculous player, had bellingham, kroos, and valverde in his pocket for the first half until romeu came in and he moved out of the pivot role. he was imo the best player on the field for both sides today, and if we can't take away the three points from today we can at least sleep a little easy knowing that the rest of the world knows how good he is now!!! i even saw utdtrey compliment him which is a win in my book. he's easily barca's best player this season and if we get a little further in the ucl i think he makes that ballon d'or shortlist easy.

okay next up are the players who i thought had good games. gundo of course with the goal, he's so clutch and was very sharp without it too. cancelo was amazing and araujo had vini (don't even get me started on vini today :/ ) in his pocket the entire time, it was amazing. rock solid defending except for those last 20 minutes, but i think there's a reason for our mistakes that i'll get into in a second. also fermin, christensen, and inigo had good games.

in terms of tactics and coaching, xavi coached a 1-0 or 2-0 win today, we just need to learn how to convert more than 1 of every 6 chances. there's no excuse. lewandowski's first touch is abysmal, i barely saw ferran, and joao felix only had that one chance. we just need more. xavi made a really good point about real madrid when he said that they knew how to convert the chances they took and he's absolutely right. we had a lot of unlucky shots but still, just expected more.

now onto the negatives. lewandowski had a stinker, but he also literally just came back so i'll take it a little easy on him. romeu is just not barcelona quality, he's been decent in the smaller games but he's so vulnerable without de jong next to him, it's almost laughable. the winning goal happened because romeu didn't mark bellingham. we need frenkie back and i'm so serious when i say we're horrible without him in that pivot. i didn't realize fully how important busquets was to this team until i saw a new pivot play.

now, the elephant in the room: ter stegen. i don't know about the second goal because it was from such close range, but that first one? any good goalie doesn't let that in, and on top of that any respectable goalie doesn't get shots like that taken against him very often. players nowadays know that if you shoot from distance against stegen it's going in. i've been a neuer truther for a long time and i've always meant it when i said that ter stegen isn't built for the biggest stage. he does this in ucl nights, he does it in clasicos. he had a good league season last year but he's just not barcelona quality in the bigger ucl/derby games. that shot from bellingham wouldn't have gone in if stegen had saved it instead of trying to parry it away. really, truly embarassing. i hope he can acknowledge and fix this.

last thoughts about the other team: i really don't think anyone from real madrid played particularly amazing except bellingham (who i actually don't think played well he just did what it took when it mattered) and modric, who really changed the tempo of the game when he came in. the refereeing was... fine. yes that was a pen for araujo but honestly we're lucky that ferran didn't get a red for that tackle, there are some refs who would've given that. vini was especially bitchy today, i don't understand why. he's genuinely so unlikeable and there was no need for any of the things he did especially when he had a stinker. this being said if he did suffer any racist abuse (as i've heard) i condemn that as well, never any room for racism.

anyway, we move!!! the season is very long and when pedri, fdj, and kounde are back we'll be better. this was a good lesson for us on finishing our goddamn chances and we'll be better. this game has proven that we can compete at a european level and we will for many years to come.

[tapedsleeves]

(primer anon) Thank youuuu <3 <3 <3 The giant goalie hugs are SO cute 🥹 saved your sources and shall scour them on my next day off! I'd love to hear more on giant Nic hague and the other d-men (saw on cap friendly today that mcnabb and whitecloud have both been knights since season 1!) but you've already gone above and beyond helping me out and i'm sure I can find stuff in the blogs and accounts you linked if you're all worded out <3

Hi!!! sorry this took so long! It's not because it was difficult to do, but because I just had a lot going on today (i slept late and then was out / busy for most of today until now)

So, a couple of players have actually been with VGK since year one that don't get credit for it, some who were drafted by VGK (Nic Hague) and some that weren't ( Keegan Kolesar, Zach Whitecloud).

Keegan Kolesar was drafted by CBJ in 2015, but never played for them & was traded to VGK in june of 2017. He played for the Chicago Wolves (VGK, as I understand it, shared the Wolves as a dev team, since a bunch of VGK-developed guys played for them) and then played for VGK starting in 2020 (he played 1 game in 2019-2020)

Zach Whitecloud was playing for Bemidji State University in 2017-2018 when VGK signed him (he played 1 game for VGK in 2017-2018)

Hague, Kolesar & Whitecloud, despite being with the organization since practically its inception aren't considered "Golden Misfits" like Karlsson, Carrier, Smith, Marchessault, Theodore, & McNabb were (during the cup playoffs last year, Smith was traded over the summer of 2023 to the Penguins) Because they weren't part of the run to the cup final that year in 2018.

Now, that's enough just flat backstory, I think. Let's talk about defensemen. I love ALL of our defensemen.

McNabb is SO quiet? but I love him so much. When people celebrate in OT, most of the guys will go celebrate with the person who scored, but Nabber almost always goes to celebrate with the goalie first. nabber MY BRO. His notes in this video are SO cute. Hip check? Pass to Shea. Nope. SHOTS. I know this isn't much about hockey, but I just think it's really cute that Nabber had these written down. He does SO MANY reverse hipchecks on guys it's lovely to see. And Shea is his going steady d-partner, unless there's a shakeup in the d-core, then they give the baby d-man to Nabber. He's basically a capybara. Even Panda thinks so:

It's Very cute.

During warm ups, they have the lil pyramid of pucks and will carrier knocks them down when he goes out. all except for one, which he stands up on it's side. And then when Brayden comes out next to last (goalies come out last) he knocks it down. It's SUCH a cute lil ritual.

Nic Hague is so tall! His voice is so deep! He seems so Polite! Every guy tries to fight him and for the most part he refuses to engage it is SO funny. He did get kicked out of a game last year in the Dallas Series for giving a sarcastic thumbs up at a dude. He is sooo funny

and hot

he wears??? glasses??

Despite the fact that his face looks like he's never had a thought in his WHOLE LIFE when hes geared up:

He won the OHL Scholastic Player of the year in 2015-2016, the year after Connor McDavid had it on lockdown for 2 years straight.

IDK if anyone has mentioned it to you, but VGK has an emoji line up - everyone has a say in their emoji to an extent, and Haguer's is a giraffe. Well, he's got a giraffe floatie.

he took the stanley cup on it

Now for Zach Whitecloud:

I love him. That's what you have to understand. He's perfect and he's never done a crime in his entire life. His PIMs are a glitch.

He cried when he took a penalty in OT in 2020 and they lost the series to the stars. He cried IN THE BOX. It was his first season.

His defensive partner is Nic Hague. They were roommates in Chicago with the wolves. They were roommates in VGK for a bit (then Dylan Coghlan (now with the Canes) moved in, I think.)

They're SUCH good defensive partners, I LOVE them, but they're also excellent apart.

Zach is colorblind, so he often has very fancifully patterned suits / ties.

he's always holding 2 drinks. Most of the time it's 2 coffees, but this one is a coffee and a water.

An announcer was racist about his name on air, and he got really upset about it but was SO SO gracious about it.

He's from around Manitoba (literally like half the team is, it's bonkers, GMKM, you're obsessed) and he *really really* looked up to Mark Stone. He was really excited to get to play with him.

he decided to who to pick (out of a number of teams) in a bathroom

He's just. I love seeing his face. He's an excellent defenseman, he's a great guy and i love him so so so much.

Zach and Martini have this lil "SUH DUDE" handshake that they do when they win, because they both stand and wait for everyone to get off the ice before they leave, and then they do this cuteass handshake thing where they wiggle their fingers at each other. it's *adorable*

Also i forgot about this Martini mic'd up

And now i'm gonna talk about a random guy you haven't heard about before: Ben Hutton. He's our 7th defensemen who normally is a healthy scratch, but is the 1st call up when someone else is injured. He was the guy in the video where Marty and Petro were affectionately bitching at each other who agreed with Marty.

Everyone loves him. In 2022-2023, not a lot of d-men were hurt, so he didn't get to play a lot, but Bruce said that he had SUCH a good attitude & was SUCH a lovely guy. He stayed and practiced with the guys who were on IR and they joked that "they had to go thru him" to get back to playing hockey again (they were all forwards). Which I think is really really cute.

When Vancouver did a lip sync battle for their gala, he danced to barbie girl. ANd KILLED it

He doesn't really like chocolate "I'm not a big chocolate guy" says he. His birthday is 4/20. Ate like ka whole tub of strawberry lemonade flavored ice cream (he didn't eat lunch). He wasn't sure he was gonna stay in the league, but he trained with deryk engelland (a retired VGK d-man) and improved so much that they gave him a permanent roster spot.

Hutton is another one of those guys who skates to the goalie in OT instead of the guy who scored. It's VERY cute.

agreed, nic hague. that's also how i look at button

I always think it's fun to know which guys stick their tongues out when they're happy?

[buttacake80]

March 2022: I attend first Dallas game here in Seattle. Made eye contact with both Harley and Benn. Benn tries to get my attention post-game.

I send him a DM after the game just wishing him a good rest of the season. I had noticed him trying to get my attention, and I felt bad for ignoring him.

September 2022: I finish my rehabilitation program at the University of Washington. In order to graduate, I had to walk the length of the hospital while walking, talking to my physical therapist, and catching a ball. I graduated.

Because I had been a social worker prior to my brain injury, then went through the rehabilitation process as a brain-injured person, the rehab program psychologist encouraged me to share my story of resiliency.

So, I decided to contact Benn. He had been my favorite player, and I remembered our eye contact, and I knew what was holding him back. I took a chance and sent him a DM. In it, I told him that he was still talented. That he needed to stop questioning himself. And that he need not worry because he was going to have a good season.

I end the DM with an invitation to see him in Seattle.

November 2022: The Bennaissance commences.

December 2022: He gets engaged.

I back off. I don't mess with taken men, so I continue to enencourage his progress, but only on the Dallas Stars account.

February 2022-March 2022: He goes on a scoring run.

During this time, I am sharing a lot of personal information on my public Instagram with only 50 followers.

I survived Childhood Sexual Abuse in addition to a patient assault then I had to relearn to walk and talk properly. I talked a lot about how hockey and baseball were getting me through the recovery process but, as a queer Black and Native crippled woman hockey fan in her 40s, I felt the NHL did not make it a welcoming place for me. I was NOT the ideal demographic.

March 11th-March 13th: Dallas is in Seattle.

March 11: Attend the game. Sit in the front row behind Otter. There are people standing in front of me at the glass before I arrive. A lot of Dallas fans gathered there.

I attended the game to see if Benn recognized me. I wondered if he had seen my DM and had made the connection to his season.

I looked up from my phone, and he was on one knee stretching. Between a gap of Dallas Stars fans, we made eye contact. He picked up a puck and gestured to me, but I only smiled and dropped my eyes back to my phone.

I feel his eyes on me again. He has moved closer. This time, he is bent over with his stick on his knees. He is staring directly at me between a group of Dallas fans trying to get his attention. Again, gestures, but I don't move. In fact, a gentleman arrives and plops down in the empty seat beside me, and we immediately strike up a conversation.

At one time during the game, I laugh at something the dude says. Benn is standing in front of us and he bangs his stick against the glass like he wanted my attention. So the dude and I stopped laughing. At the end of the game, I am conversing with the dude while Benn lingers at the bench before walking off.

March 12th: They had an OFF DAY.

March 13th: I attended the game and sat in the same section, but a few rows higher. I love sitting behind the goalie. During pre-game, Benn and I make eye contact. Less gesturing this time. I smile and nod my head in acknowledgment.

I knew Benn was attracted to me. Figured he had planned to make me hug off-day diversion. But that's an engaged man, so I send him a DM, congratulating him on his comeback, then I promised not to contact him again.

April 2023: Benn makes an inclusive statement about how EVERYONE is welcome in his locker room. This statement was very reminiscent of something I had posted. This was the first time I thought -- is he talking to me?

May 2023: Seattle bumps off the defending Stanley Cup Champions to take on the Stars in the second round.

So, again, we have Dallas in town for 2 games with an off-day in between. I go to two playoff games but arrive late so there wouldn't be awkward eye contact.

There was still awkward eye contact. Actually, he looked furious. I remember, distinctly, during the warm-up that Benn was talking to Domi as they both looked at me.

I make the decision not to go to the last Dallas-Seattle playoff game in Seattle.

June 2022: WCF with Vegas and Benn "trips" on Stone. Gets suspended. I break my promise to myself and send him a DM expressing sorrow on the abrupt end of his comeback season.

July 2022: The NHL ends the Theme Jersey Night, specifically Pride Night. As a queer woman, I took exception to that. This is my first time publicly tagging Benn on a post. I congratulate him for making an inclusive statement despite other players taking very public anti-LGBTQ positions.

He immediately blocks me.

That triggers my troll campaign against the entire NHL.

But I respect the block and keep my distance. I realize that the lad had a crush on me. I also knew he was trying to fuck me while keeping his fiance in the dark, so I purposefully tagged him, assuming he would block me.

I thought it was for the best. Until the 2023-2024 season starts.

September 2023: I DM Pavelski and tell him that the team should focus on building resiliency and sharing the burden of scoring.

October 2023: Benn opens the season with a goal. I feel relieved because I thought his game would fall off.

Between October - December 2023, his game fell off. During this time, I realize the lads don't have a clue as to how to be resilient, so I start DMing players and publicly tagging those who I assessed -- THROUGH MY TRAINED LENS -- as needing encouragement.

Those players were:

Thomas Harley, Jake Oettinger, Wyatt Johnston, Tyler Seguin, Jason Robertson, Logan Stankoven, Sam Steel, and Miro Heiskasen.

I tried to help Roope, but I suspected he has deeper issues related to what's happening in Finland. He is required to serve his military conscription this year, and this will be the first year Finland is part of NATO.

Do you know what war is happening on Finland's border?

However, despite getting those guys going, Benn was still lagging.

I knew he was missing my encouragement. The encouragement I was now giving to others.

Around this time, I start getting messages from a dude named "Dave". Dave was obsessed with my mean attitude.

December 18, 2023: I break my promise and DM Benn. I tell him if he wins against Seattle and he bangs a few of those shits up FOR ME, I will forgive him for blocking me.

I call it. Atonement.

By this time, I started sending them encouragement as Instagram posts. I wasn't sure, but I recalled that when you add an @ to a post, it still ends up in the DM folder. The receiver has the option of accepting (or allowing it to appear publicly), deleting, or blocking.

I am assuming they are reading and then deleting these messages. However, they still remain visible to me, plus I am taking screenshots.

In another post, I go through what happened between late January through the second round of the playoffs. I won't revisit it here.

But I got the receipts to back up my claims.

For two seasons, I helped Jamie Benn and the Dallas Stars compete. Each of those seasons, they made it to back-to-back WCF. Each of those seasons, Benn scored more than 60 points, after going several seasons scoring below 50 pts.

👏 So 👏 like 👏 I 👏 said 👏 Jamie 👏 Benn👏wanted 👏 to 👏 fuck 👏 me👏.

[eusuntgratie]

pens @ blues 10.21.23

some thoughts from the game last night since i was too tired to do anything useful after posting like 3 pics.

jake came out before warmups and sat on the bench for a while and just kinda stared at the ice. he's so skinny seeing him in leggings made me want to feed him.

tanger and ricky both looked kind of...subdued? off? something? through warmups and to a lesser extent through the game too. tanger really didn't seem to have his heart in his weird little stretching and puck gathering rituals. i hope he's not hurt.

po was there for warmups and also looked pretty bummed out, but i guess he knew he wasn't playing.

jarry seemed really happy and animated during warmups. i got some pics of him if any of the jarry girlies (gn) want one.

gravy is so LARGE. beautiful haunted vampire. i am still mourning the loss of my beloved babygirl but i like him.

doc was very sweet. he ended up right in front of my daughter at one point for warmups and after doing some stickhandling he looked right at her and flipped her a puck. i did the worst job i ever have trying to catch it and knocked into the dad next to me, but everyone we were close to last night was super chill and nice so he just gave it to her. the little boy next to her was so excited and kept congratulating her for getting a puck and telling her how cool it was.

kappy had a great game. the dudebros behind me were bragging on him. him and kris were very scrappy... he shoved kris into the boards hard on our end.

i know it wasn't his best game but jars made some great saves that even the blues fans (we were surrounded no pens fans near us sadly) had to give credit for.

cookie was definitely talking some shit to binnington and a few of the other blues but seemed to be happy and good spirited.

i know i've already posted about this but geno's goal was the highlight of our night. he's my girl's favorite penguin and she was in his jersey. as soon as he got sent to the box she told me he'd score coming out... AND THEN HE DID. we were on the opposite end so we had a delayed reaction but we were so excited. seeing geno on his hot girl shit in person was incredible. would've been great if anybody else had been on that level but...experience penguins hockey etc etc

i sadly coudn't see daddy i mean sully yelling at everyone bc where we were sitting but i can certainly imagine it

cannot overstate how comical tanger crashing into the net was. just right in there, nothing jars could do but get taken out like bowling pin. tanger checks on him a LOT throughout the game... my man is dedicated to his goalie.

kris's post game sweaty hair flip almost took me out. the man is too hot he must be stopped.

shoutout to whoever made the dubas sign and ek's #1 fan we hung out with at warmups <3

i'm sure i'm forgetting things but it was a fun night! always happy to see my boys in person.

if anybody wants pics of anybody in particular lmk and i'll see what i've got. i took a ton during warmups. i know i have a bunch of tanger gravy and jars.