#basically there was 2 minutes left in the game and my team was winning by one

[zegrasdrysdale]

[ slip of the tongue ] n. hischier

paring : Nico Hischier x fem!reader

summary : after a Devils win, Nico gets interviewed in the locker room after scoring his first NHL hatty. he slips up in front of the cameras and mentions his girlfriend for the first time. it doesn't stop her from showing Nico how proud she is of him though ...

warning(s) : smut ! p in v protected sex, oral (m receiving), pet names during sex, language throughout. possibly wrongly translated german (i'm learning)

author’s note : this plot has been in my head for a while so here i am. pls just indulge me w this bc i was having a moment while writing it

18+ below the cut ! MINORS DNI

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(Y/N) swears she won't have a voice come the morning.

As soon as the puck went into the net and the goal horn went off for the third time, she's been screaming in the suite with the other Devils wives and girlfriends. Her boyfriend just scored his first NHL hat trick and she couldn't be prouder of him. They're now up 5-2 on the Sabres with less than a minute left in the game.

Jack and Dawson have a goal each along with Nico's three goals. It's a four-point night for her captain boyfriend since he got an assist on Jack's power play goal. She remains standing until the final horn that signals the game is over. The Rock is buzzing as the Devils give Vitek some goalie hugs.

She records when Nico is announced as the first star of the game for his four-point night. The crowd cheers as loud as they did when Nico scored the hat trick. Her lips hurt from smiling for nearly ten minutes straight.

As soon as Nico skates off the ice, (Y/N) makes her way down to the players' lounge room that the wives and girlfriends usually hang out in before and after the game. She hangs out with Vitek and Erik's wives as she waits for the players to come in after they've changed and showered.

Notifications start coming through about a half hour after going to the players' lounge. A lot of notifications. New followers, lots of likes and comments on Instagram. A lot of mentions on Twitter. She has no idea what's going on.

(Y/N) reads one tweet that's in her mentions that has a clip attached to it.

vina @/hischiers i knew there were rumors but nico hard launching his relationship after the game was not something i expected to happen today of all days

She clicks on the clip of Nico in his postgame interview and watches it.

Amanda Stein asks off camera, "Did you have any friends or family present for the game today to witness your first NHL hat trick?"

Nico doesn't hesitate to reply, "My girlfriend came to her first Devils home game today." He smiles and bites his bottom lip. "Yeah, she, uh, this game was really special for me because she's here and she got to witness my first hat trick in person." He blushes and doesn't stop smiling in the clip.

"Oh my God," (Y/N) gasps as the clip restarts.

They never talked about going public with their relationship. They've been dating for about seven months. Nico is one of hockey's most popular players, and (Y/N) has seen how loved he is among the fans. She's basically a no one from Newark dating the captain of a hockey team in the NHL.

The players begin to make their way into the lounge area. They make their way to their wife or girlfriend or really whoever they invited to the game. Her eyes are on the door as she waits for Nico to come in.

Jack and Luke walk into the room with Nico five minutes after the rest of the team does. They're deep in conversation but she can't help but run over to her boyfriend and basically jump into his arms.

Both Hughes boys both laugh as Nico catches her and she wraps herself around him completely. He wraps his arms around her torso so she doesn't fall.

"Congratulations, baby," she says against his hair. It's still damp so he recently showered. "I'm so proud of you."

"Guess you're my good luck charm," he laughs in reply. (Y/N) pulls back so she can see his face and he looks genuinely happy. "I play a lot better when you're in attendance."

She shakes her head and smiles. "I think that's bullshit," she tells him. "There's a reason you're one of the league's best players since you came back from your injury. It's not because of me."

"I think you should come to more games anyway," Nico says. "Clearly I like when you come to games."

(Y/N) laughs and rests her hands where Nico's shoulders meet his neck. "I'll come to games whenever you want," she replies. "You like to show off when I come."

He smiles and nods. "I gotta show off for my girlfriend," he retorts. "Especially when she looks so good in my jersey."

"Flatterer," she laughs before she leans down and captures his lips in a soft kiss. Nico laughs into the next kiss before she pulls back and looks at him. "By the way, did you know you told the entire league and it's fans that you have a girlfriend during your postgame interview?"

"You saw?"

"It's all over social media, Nico. People are saying you hard launched our relationship."

She lets her legs drop and Nico lowers her to the ground. "There were rumors anyway," he replies. "It was bound to come out. Did it bother you? It just kind of came out when I was asked and I wasn't really thinking about the fact that we never talked about it."

"I just would've liked a little heads up," she tells him with a smile on her face. "Are you ready to go?"

He nods and begins to make the rounds to say goodbye to the Devils. She never lets go of his hand as he says goodbye to his teammates. It's his job as captain to tell the team how good they did so he doesn't forget about that. He congratulates Jack and Dawson on their goals before they finally head to the parking lot.

Nico drove them to the Prudential Center in his car so she sits in the passenger seat of the car so Nico can drive them to whoever's place is closest. Which is Nico's apartment.

As they leave the parking lot, Nico stops and says hi to some fans. Pictures are taken where (Y/N) is definitely in the background but at this point, she doesn't care. Nico already told the entire world that he had a girlfriend that was at the game.

He signs some jerseys and pucks, takes some pictures, and gets more than a few congratulations on his hat trick before Nico finally pulls out of the parking lot. He looks over at (Y/N), who gives him a small smile as they stop at a red light.

"You played really well tonight," she tells him. "I'm not just saying that because you had a four-point night but you played really well. I'm so proud of you for getting your first hat trick tonight. I can't believe that I was able to watch it happen in person."

Nico laughs and says, "I told you that you're my good luck charm. The first game you come to after we start dating and I score my first NHL hat trick. It's not a coincidence."

She shakes her head with a smile on her face and looks out the window until they get to Nico's. She plays with her thumbs under the sleeves of her too big jersey that Nico gave to her a few weeks ago.

Fifteen minutes after leaving the arena, Nico pulls into his apartment building parking lot and parks in his usual spot. Her car is parked next to his. They get out and begin the trip up to the top floor of the building where Nico lives.

The building is ten stories tall so it takes a minute for the elevator to get up to the tenth floor from the first floor. Their fingers are laced together the entire time.

(Y/N) follows close behind as Nico unlocks the front door to his penthouse apartment. She wraps her arms around his torso as he unlocks the door and presses her front to his back. "You can't wait until we get inside?" Nico asks as the stupid door finally unlocks.

"Nope," she replies, popping the "p". "I wanna show you how proud of you I am."

He laughs before he pushes the door open. (Y/N) stumbles inside after her boyfriend. She closes the door behind her and Nico presses her against it with his hands on her waist. She stares up at him like she’s challenging him to do something.

Nico looks her up and down. “I wasn’t lying earlier when I said you looked good in my jersey,” he tells her. His voice is deeper and accent thicker than it normally is. “I love seeing my name and number on your back. Knowing you’re mine. It’s so hot. You're so beautiful.”

“Do something about it.” Her voice almost comes out as a whisper. She is absolutely challenging him at this point.

He leans down and captures her lips in a searing kiss. Her heart leaps in her chest when their lips touch. Her back hits the door with the force of the kiss and her fingers grasp at the collar of the jacket Nico is wearing. (Y/N) pulls him as close to her as she can get him.

He presses himself completely against her and slots a thigh between her legs. She has to resist the urge to grind up against his thigh to give herself some relief from the pressure that's building between her legs.

"Off," she mumbles as she pushes Nico's jacket off his shoulders. He helps her out and shrugs the fabric off. He kicks it to the side when it hits the floor and grabs her by the waist.

She pushes her waist off the door and they stumble toward the master bedroom where Nico sleeps. Their shoes are kicked off by the door and Nico's jacket is abandoned on the floor. He loses his tie in the living room and his button-up is lost in the hallway.

When Nico falls onto his back on the mattress, all he's wearing is his suit pants. Even they're unbuttoned and the belt is on the floor. (Y/N) looks down at her boyfriend on the bed and gnaws on her bottom lip.

Sometimes she doesn't know how she got so lucky. She fell in love with the most beautiful and loyal guy. He's captain of a NHL team but still manages to find time to see her whenever he can. He's a talented hockey player that fell in love with her.

She can't believe this is her life. Being able to fall in love with Nico has been the best thing that's ever happened to her. Being able to be loved by Nico is an honor.

"You okay?" Nico asks as he sits up. His hands run up and down the back of her thighs. "You look deep in thought."

"Just thinking," she tells him as she crawls onto his lap. She straddles his waist. "I don't know how I got so lucky to love and be loved by you. You could've fallen in love with anyone but you fell in love with me."

Nico smiles up at her and wraps his arms around her waist. "I fell in love with you because you are the most incredible and beautiful woman I have ever known," he replies. "You're so supportive of me despite my crazy schedule. I don't know how I got so lucky."

Her face gets hot as she smiles. "I'm proud of you, Nico," she says. "I am so happy that I get to see you grow as a person and a player." She leans down and presses a quick kiss to his lips. "Gonna show you how proud of you I am."

She slides down to her knees on the floor at the foot of the bed. Her fingers work on unzipping his pants. She pulls Nico's pants and boxers off in one pull. His hard dick pops out of its prison and stands against Nico's stomach. (Y/N) throws them to the floor and kisses up the inside of his leg from his knee.

After placing a soft kiss to his hip bone, she takes him in her hand and gives him a few slow pumps. Nico grabs a pillow and uses it to prop his head up so he can see her without straining his neck. She smiles up at him before she takes him in her mouth.

"Oh, fuck me," Nico breathes out as (Y/N) moves her head up and down on him. "That mouth of yours feels so good, liebling."

(Y/N) loves it when Nico uses German nicknames on her, especially when they're in bed. They sound ten times hotter when her mouth is on him or when he's inside of her. There have been times when (Y/N) has been in control and Nico has been reduced to speaking his native language.

She'll never get enough of it.

One of her hands makes up for what can't fit in her mouth while the under snakes into the leggings she's wearing under the jersey. Her own fingers run through her folds and work her toward her orgasm. She lets out an occasional hum, which drives Nico crazy. She knows it drives Nico crazy by the way he squirms under her touch every time she does it.

Then she does the one thing she knows gets Nico to come almost as soon as she does it. She hollows out her cheeks and sucks before she swirls her tongue around the fire red tip.

"(Y/N), baby," Nico pants. "Gonna come in about two seconds if you keep doing that."

With a pop, she pulls off his leaking dick. She uses her tongue to get a bead of precum that was on the corner of her mouth. "We wouldn't want that to happen so soon now would we?" she asks as she stands up.

Nico's eyes widen as she begins to undress. The leggings come off first. She reaches down to pull the jersey over her head and Nico sits up quickly. "Uh uh," he says. "Jersey stays on."

"If you come on it, you better get me a new one," she tells him as he slides back on the bed. "I'm not walking into games wearing a jersey you came on." He laughs as he reaches into his bedside drawer and pulls out a foil package.

She finishes getting undressed but leaves the jersey on. Nico slides the rubber contents of the packages onto himself as (Y/N) straddles his thighs. He sits back against the pillow and headboard. She leans down and captures Nico's swollen lips in a tender kiss. He matches her pace and slowly kisses her back. He puts a hand on the back of her neck. His fingers curl into her hair.

All of her emotions are poured into this kiss. Her hands are on his jaw so he can't go anywhere. Not that he could go anywhere since she is sitting on his lap.

(Y/N) begins to move her hips slowly. She hums as Nico's dick slides through her folds and against her clit. A soft moan falls from her lips into the kisses she exchanges with Nico.

One of her hands leaves Nico's jaw and she positions him at her entrance. She presses a long kiss to his lips and leaves them connected as she slowly sinks down onto him. A whimper comes from her as the familiar pressure fills her. Nico takes the opportunity to lick into her mouth before he pulls back to look at her.

"You feel so good, schatzi," Nico tells her. "So good for me. You take me so well, you know that?" She replies with a soft hum as he completely fills her.

She allows herself a moment to adjust before she begins to roll her hips. Nico's hands fly to her thighs before sliding under the jersey to her waist. "Fuck, Nico," she breathes out as he moves in and out of her while she rolls her hips. Her hands are on his torso to keep her balance.

Slowly, she begins to pick up her pace. Moans fall from her lips the faster she moves.

One of the best things about being with Nico is how intimate these moments are. It feels amazing to be physically connected to him like they are one person. She wouldn't trade this for the world.

They fit together like two puzzle pieces. His hands fit perfectly on her waist. Their lips mold together every time they touch. The way his nose fits perfectly above hers when their foreheads touch is her favorite thing. She molds against his body every time they lay in bed together.

It's like they were made for each other.

"(Y/N), liebling," Nico breathes out. His eyes are on her as she rides him. "Ich liebe dich so sehr."

This is what she means. It's like he's forgotten how to speak English when they're in bed together. She loves it.

"I love you too," she pants because she's slowly been learning simple phrases and knows what Nico said. He tells her he loves her all the time in German. "I love you so much. I'm so proud of you. Fuck. You're amazing."

One of Nico's hands slide to the back of her neck and he pulls her down so their foreheads rest against each other. Her nose brushes his every time she moves. Her eyes close and Nico's thumbs brush her cheeks. "Open your eyes, baby," Nico tells her. "I want to see them. Please."

Her eyes open back up and meet Nico's big brown eyes. He smiles and she leans down to kiss him. She breathes hard into the kisses that are exchanged between them.

Nico takes advantage of the distraction and rolls them over so he's hovering over her. She smiles up at him until he begins to thrust hard and deep inside of her. A pornographic moan passes her lips and she arches her back to get closer to Nico.

He reaches between them and his fingers find her sensitive clit. She gasps when he touches the bud then whines when he begins to rub her closer to her pending orgasm. "Holy fuck, Nico," she cries out. "Keep going. Fuck."

Nico throws her legs over his shoulder so he can get a new angle and move even deeper into her. She has to bite her lip to keep from screaming his name as he begins to slam into her g-spot over and over again.

"Let me hear you, liebling," Nico says. "Don't hold back."

His pace quickens and she has to grab on to something. She chooses his hair when her hands slide up into his locks and her fingers curl. "I'm gonna come, Nico," she warns him. "Fuck, I'm close."

He keeps the same pace and uses his fingers to bring her over the edge. She comes so hard she sees stars. Her vision goes almost white and Nico's name passes her lips along with a string of curses. Her legs shake as they hang on his shoulders and she cries out as she has one of the most intense climaxes of her life.

Only Nico could ever get her to come like that. No one has ever made her come like that. No one besides Nico will ever get her to come like that.

There's a weight on her chest as she comes to and she realizes that Nico is lying on her chest. They're both panting messes as Nico gets off of her after resting for who knows how long. He ties off the used condom and tosses it into the trash can by the bed.

(Y/N) pulls off the jersey and takes off the bra she's wearing because she's sweating before she crawls under the blankets to cover her naked and spent body. Nico joins her and she rests her chin on his chest. Her eyes are on his the whole time. She traces little shapes on his belly.

"I think I got a little carried away," Nico admits. "I blame the jersey."

She laughs and shakes her head. "Good to know you have a thing for me wearing your jersey," she replies. "I'll have to remember that when you're having a bad day or you have a rough game."

Nico smiles and brushes a piece of hair out of her eyes. "I really do love you a lot," he tells her. "Thank you for coming to the game tonight. It meant a lot to me that you were there to watch me score my first hat trick."

"Thank you for inviting me," she says. "I had a lot of fun watching you score your first hat trick. It was incredible."

He leans down and presses a soft kiss to her lips.

Their night is nowhere close to being over. Nico has a day off so she is going to make sure she takes care of him and gives him whatever he wants for the rest of the night. All because of that hat trick.

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MASTERLIST

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[1lenii]

Fuck them kids

Miles (G) Morales x F!Reader

⚠️⚠️⚠️THE SONG IS FOR SATIRE PURPOSES⚠️⚠️⚠️

The classic, don’t underestimate me cs I’m a girl

As you know, bonding time with miles as he proves “Fuck these kids, that’s 4ever the moto” - Kali

⚠️cursing, degrading means against children, bullying if you wanna call it that, mentions of violence(only for the game and physical irl)

For the sake of decency these middle schoolers are in 8th grade and miles and (Y/N) are sophomores

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“Fuck you and your dead rat dumbass, where your mom at”

(Y/N) peeps her head from the crack of her boyfriends room, as he yelling more than normal at his game.

“Oh yea?? What you gonna do go cry about it?”

(Y/N) heard murmuring from the other side of the headset that’s seemed to respond in a more ruder tone then last time,

through the headset that rested atop of Miles head leaving a dent in the half that had his Afro and sitting perfectly on the side that had 2 braids

(Basically half out and other half braided; with a hair pick from more visual representation)

‘Seems he got distracted while doing his hair again’ (Y/N) mentally notes, and imaginary sweat drop forming next to her eye brow

“Uh Miles..”

“What.”

“Are those the same middle schoolers from down the block?”

“No..”

The uncertainty of Miles tone gave it away, (Y/N) open the door even more allowing her body access to the room, positioning her self behind Miles gaming chair

“Don’t you think you should be nicer?”

“Nice? When was that a option for you” Miles side eyes you before returning back to the aggressive violation that is shooting

(Y/N) slightly gasps, putting a hand to her chest for effect while pouting

“I’m nice”

“When you want to be”

“I guess, you should still be nicer to them, there only in middle school after all”

“Nu uh ma, fuck these kids” Miles says through the headset noise, violently pressing at his controller

“Papi you can’t be violating kids because they shooting better or whatever it they’re doing” (Y/N) says not being able to contain her laugh

“Como esto es un chiste, why don’t you come play” he’s say taking off his headset and gesturing it towards you, raising a eyebrow in the process

(Y/N) takes the invitation taking the headset and adjusting the muffs to fit her head, Miles pulls her by the waist adjusting her so she sit right on his lap, passing her the controller

“AiI Ma I taught you the basics not to long ago, do your best”

“You talking knowing damn well I’m better then you”

“Not true”

“Keep dreaming pretty boy”

*initiate operating: the mic is now on*

(For my sake a yours I’ll change of the writing style)

Kid 3: Yooo miles you back? I was getting tired of cooking you

(Y/N): oh were you really?

Kid 2: whoa.. who you?

(Y/N): his girlfriend ya kids clueless

Kid 1: booo I got a girl for a teammate wtf

Kid 2: must suck LMAO

Kid 3: don’t worry girly I’ll make sure you the one ending up clueless

(Y/N) just laughs along with Miles who whispers ‘watch yaself’ into the mic

Few minutes into the game and (Y/N) already gotten 20 points for her team

Kid 1: woah I didn’t know your that good

Kid 2: don’t praise her the game ain’t over dickhead

*the game has now ended, with a score of 15 to 62 Miles/Kid1 Wins*

The In game announcer announces as (Y/N) cracks her fingers, “and that’s how’s it’s done little boys, before ya go assuming ya better then a girl, humble yourself maybe you’ll get a girl after”

Kid 3 gf: uhhh who are you talking about little girl watch who you talk to

This random girl appears on the mic, sounding sassy like almost irking (Y/N)

“Don’t test me, who you calling little girl” (Y/N) says with a sadistic smile

“You, what are you deaf, it’s on sight when I see you, don’t talk to my man again”

And with that the girl left the call for kid 3

“Can’t wait to see how that pans out” Miles laughs into your back hugging at your waist

“That little bitch trying” (Y/N) says with the same smile

“It’s fuck them kids right?”

(Y/N) sighs leaving the conversation open for further and future elaborations

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

It’s been three days since that game, (Y/N)

Has been chilling knowing she would get touched ‘obviously their empty threats’ (Y/N) deadpanned

While walking the block she catches up with Miles who HAS FINALLY DONE HIS HAIR, was in front of 2 kids around his height and girl

“Ohoho look who decided to show up”

(Y/N) analyzes all of them, “who are you?”

“Better remember me little girl”

“I’m not so little if you looking up to me😭 it’s was on sight, right? I’m waiting and make this quick” (Y/N) dropping her bag food over to Miles, who was literally un phased knowing how this was about play out

“Oh fo’real? Ii girl if you says so” the girl from the match 3 days ago, rolls up her sleeves already swinging

(Y/N) dodge dragging Miles by the hand leaving them behind

The girl fell flat on her face with her bf attending to her

While the other kids said ‘hey!’ And a bunch of other things to retaliate too

(Making this cliche bare with me)

(Y/N) and Miles walk further and deeper into the street into the fading color of the sunset hitting the streets and the buildings with in

“Miles, fuck them kids”

Miles chuckles leaning in to kiss the top of her head, smiling shortly after

“Fuck them kids”

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[destinygoldenstar]

☀️Reality TV’s Stupidest Alliance☀️ - Total Drama Viewer Reacts to Disventure Camp Season 1 Episode 2 “Logged & Loaded”

What am I predicting for eliminations?

Uh… how many people are here? 14?

So I’d say… 7 mergers?

Pre-Merge boots I’m guessing… I said Alec last post cause of Fiore. And I said Lilly cause she’s good at the game so they’d want to get rid of her. So… others…?

Will, Drew (forgot him in the last post), Dan, and Grett. I can see Grett being a Pre-Merge villain and getting booted right before the merge.

And… one more… I guess Miriam. Idk why, but if I had to choose out of the ones left.

I think the alliance of 4 is gonna lose half its members. I see Nick getting character development. I see Fiore being an antagonist. And Ashley… she’s nice. I just like her and hope she goes far. Jake & Tom have a thing going on that the opening spoiled so they’re both merging. Then Gabby is being set up for character development as well.

I forgot Ellie. I forgot she was on the purple team… she’s gonna be the teams swing vote, isn’t she? That sucks.

This is what the dynamic between her and Gabby are alluding to? They’re both on opposite teams but they both have major setbacks and disadvantages to their game. Gabby cause no one likes her and she’s allied with Grett, and Ellie cause she’s stuck in the middle of her team and will be screwed if she doesn’t play… less than pure, I guess. But they become besties and it trumps those issues.

That’s what I’m predicting anyway.

So… let’s start this episode.

I got the SAME AD AGAIN. WTF?!

"Is that recycled paper?"

How does he write that fast? That's impressive. Gimme that skill.

"I want to talk to her but she scares me a little."

What did she do to you?

"She reminds me a little of my grandmother. How she walks, how she talks... I miss her."

"She's been sick for months and she can't have visitors."

Oh my god...

Is that why he's competing? Medical bills to help her?

Well geez, keep that up and I might actually root for you to win.

"Yeah, she was often cranky, but she was the only one that really understood me."

You on the spectrum?

"Jake... I don't know what to say, but if you need to talk to someone, I'm always here."

D'aaaaawwww 💗

That face.

He was eyeing Tom all of last episode too and I just didn't bring it up.

YOU ARE NOT SUBTLE, SIR

So we have how many characters with motives and reasons to be here now? Fiore got dumped by her parents, Nick wants to prove himself, Jake wants to help his grandma.

I'm really liking that they're giving these characters REASONS to be on the show and why they want to win.

Cause in Total Drama we don't get a lot of their backgrounds outside of the game, and only a handful explained their motives for winning. I think of Gen 1 the only one that really had a motive aside from 'I want to be rich' is Alejandro.

I like what they're doing here.

"If our team fails, you'd be the one to blame."

Pretty sure that's not how that works.

Mostly it's a social challenge. If they think you're the one at fault for the loss, just say "Whoa whoa whoa! You don't want to vote me! You want to vote that guy!"

I obviously would suck at Survival.

So... actually I like Grett's game move here. Be on good terms with the leader, and... do what I said basically.

"WHOA WHOA GUYS! You don't want to vote Tom! Let's vote that glasses guy instead! That's a much better game move! TRUST ME."

Oh these two...

They're like "Oh shit. We're the outliers here, aren't we?"

"What makes you think you'll get far? Have you seen how fast the others are getting close to each other?"

"I've noticed. That's a problem."

Oh they're actually addressing it. Cool. They're not stupid.

"You're not going to walk thirty minutes over there."

"Sure I can. I love to walk."

She just like me fr

"That fat girl made you look stupid."

Huh?

...what???

"I love your coat my the way! I own a similar one!"

Do you have a split personality?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

She was talking to herself...

And it was such a massive fourth wall break that it gave me an ad on body spray. XD

"Today's reward will be a complete fishing kit. That will make it easier to find food."

I guess... but you can also make cages or nets to catch fish. I know that's something that's possible.

There's not any wildlife they're killing, is there?

"An immunity totem has been hidden somewhere in the forest."

OH. ALREADY?!?!

We got an idol in play!

I wish Total Drama used Immunity Idols more. It's such a cool game mechanic in Survivor. (At least, in the clips I've seen of people playing them)

Yeah I know the Reboot did in Season 2. We don't talk about that.

"That totem could save me from the unfavorable position I find myself in."

Yes. Yes it would.

Actually, no, let me predict for a sec. Either him or Ellie find that idol, and they save themselves with it, causing a member from the 4 alliance to get the boot. And that's how that alliance breaks.

I mean, you're not gonna get them any other way I feel.

Awwww, look at Ashley carrying the demon child. 💗

"I heard how Grett spoke to you. You shouldn't let her talk to you like that."

Boy, I agree with you and I get you're nice. Grett is in hearing range and WILL gun for you.

My case and my point. Grett gunned you.

Cause it looks to me like otherwise, you tripped on NOTHING.

"I'm really curious what you look like without it."

...

EXCUSE ME?!?! O_O

BOY. YOU JUST MET.

"I'm a little scared to have to slide down from up here."

Oh for the love of drama-

Pull a Leshawna. THROW HIM OFF.

"Ellie, Alec, you go on that one. Nick, Ashley, and I can take the next one."

*does the math*

Hey wait so you're gonna leave him with the child after he JUST confessed to being scared?!

Listen to your alliance teammates! You're in hearing range, right?!

Why can't Lilly go with Fiore? Wouldn't that make more sense cause she's the one cutting?

OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH.

Grett's gonna steal that from Gabby, isn't she?

But either way, Gabby's immune, LET'S GO!

"By the way, have you started streaming the episodes yet?"

YOU THINK YOU'RE SOOOOOOO SMUG, HUH?!?! I SEE YOU.

"Remember to cut any scenes I'm in."

*Stares intensely at him*

...okay.

"What if we fall?!"

That's kinda the point.

IT'S A HILL.

*chokes on breath*

YOU GO KID. BITCH SLAP HIM.

A six year old is bitch slapping a grown man, this is not a drill.

"What was that?"

I mean, let's be honest... she just said facts.

Yeah the slap was wrong, but it's not as bad as it could've been. She just told the truth.

"You're costing us this challenge and everyone will know it."

Yes but he has something you don't. NUMBERS.

Well your point just went down the drain, cause that's YOUR fault.

WHY DIDN'T YOU GRAB TWO?!?!

The 'yay' card, aww that's so cute... 😄

"She does have a point, yeah? She's got the flags and Will's got no."

Okay, that's stupid.

1) You guys can SEE the top of the hill, right?! If you couldn't, that wasn't established.

2) You saw the position of the two on the log. Fiore was standing on top of him! OF COURSE HE COULDN'T GET A FLAG

3) Would you guys seriously DITCH your alliance?! It WILL cause you the entire long game and you know it! DON'T BLOW THAT

Oh and 4 as a bonus) You never even listened to your ally! You KNEW he was scared, and yet you left him with a KID

"Maybe this was all a misunderstanding."

Ashley. I get it's hard to not side with a child. Use your brain.

"I wish I could believe you, but I know a little girl would never do those things."

Oh my god, you've never seen a child for more than two seconds your entire life. Not every kid is a saint! Toddlers are bratty as shit! They do that to get it out of their system!

(From this point on, I will put a 'Keep Reading' mark on the Tribal Council segments so I don't spoil the eliminations for my followers)

Oh we actually SEE who votes who!

YES!! THANK YOU! I WANTED THIS!!!

This is like Survivor much more, cause they flip these cards over to share the names, and you can see what the numbers were.

I always imagine what the eliminations in Total Drama would look like if they did that as well.

Okay Lilly's being smart.

WAIT CAUSE ASHLEY THREW HER VOTE WILL'S GONNA LEAVE, OH GOD...

YOU DIDN'T TALK TO YOUR ALLIANCE ABOUT THIS?!?! YOU COULD'VE VOTED OUT ALEC TOGETHER, AND YOU'D BE FINE.

That's Ashley's vote

That's not Lilly's handwriting. Is that Will or Nick?

That's Lilly's.

Not Alec's writing... Fiore's?

Alec, Fiore... Ellie?

And that's it.

RIP

NICK IS THE TRAITOR. OMG

YOU ARE REALITY TV'S STUPIDIEST ALLIANCE

(Unless Will voted himself)

I mean I don't really care about his character, but that could've so easily been avoided.

Tom, what ninja stuff are you getting into??

If you guys want me to continue these reactions, be sure to let me know.

[gh0stdyn]

Just a simple one shot I guess?

English is not my first language, first time writing a one shot

Excuse my grammar or anything else ❤️

There’s a lot of grammar mistakes

On your match day

Warning : none I think?

A bit of angst (i think,sorry 😭) , fluff ending

Please leave a note about this one shot . Pleaseeee thank you and i love you people who read this😭❤️

Your final netball match vs Australia team. And Jude said he cant came to your match.

“ But I really need you there for me next week…” Y/N said while cleaning the dishes. “You are my lucky charm , Jude.” You said with a pouted face and puppy eyes as begging him to come to your game.

“ I’m really sorry love, I can’t come to your game because we have a friendly match with Man City at the same day ,babe” Jude said while finishing his meals and clean up the table. “ But I wish you all the best to your team, and come on love , who’s the captain and the best goal attacker !?? You innit? I know and believe you can win the match!” Jude comfort her with hugs and kisses.

Y/N defeated and melted by his compliment. “Alright alright, but I really wish you can come tho” “ You know, everything came out from those lips have always melted my heart and this is why I loved you so much!” You said and Jude grinning like a kid gets new toys. You guys keeping up with each other about the day and cuddling.

As always, Jude is the first one who fall asleep as you were telling about the gossip. Jude love cuddling and he apparently love to be the small spoon because he feels protected when he’s asleep and you didn’t mind at all.

( The final match day )

You and the team woke up early to do some last traning for the match this evening. All of your teammates were getting ready in their jersey and went for traning. Then, the teams having a great lunch and rest as much and prepared for the final game this evening.

( The match )

All the basic things before every game were done . All of your teammates and coaches were nervous as hell and excited to win the final. You also feel the same but also a bit of sadness because Jude can’t come to your game. But you have to overcome and not to overthinking about Jude not coming to the last game and keep calm so you could win the game.

Your team were losing to Australia by a few points . All the fans and your teammates were frustrated and worried about the game . Coach had a little briefing while we’re on the time break. “ Come on , girls ! We have to win this, We have to make a comeback. I know you all are tired right now but you have to pushed just a bit more. We are just behind them by 2 points. I do believe in you to win this game. Especially you, Y/N” Coach said with a hopeful face and you nodded.

All your teammates know that Jude can’t come to your game but they assured you that his luck always be with all the time. As the time breaks were almost over ,

suddenly a very familiar loud voice for the seating shouted , “ COME ON MY Y/N! YOU CAN DO IT BABE!” . You looked up to the seating and you see Jude, Haaland and his girlfriend aka one of your best friend were there supporting you and the team. Jude were smiling from ears to ears when he sees your eyes light up with hope and love when you saw and mouthed ‘ I fucking love you’ to Jude. As the referee blows the whistle, the second half were began.

Now , your teams are tied to Australia. There’s only 2 minutes before the game end. Jude and the supporter are anxious about the timing and everything. As you are about to jump and catches the ball, suddenly the GD are body contacts in the D circle . Jude now at the nearest seating to the court and hoping that your teams gets the ball.

There’s only one minute left and you get to shoot the ball. The scenic are quite and anxious at the same . You calm your self to shoot the ball, as the ball went into the net, both of the referees blows the whistle as the times are up. All your teammates and the coaches run towards and hugs you as a congratulations. Jude waiting for you at the seating with a big proud smile craves on his face. You come up to him and kissed those perfect lips and all of people and the cameraman in the court were cheering for the couple and taking videos and pictures of the moment.

“ I thought you couldn’t make it, Jude!” You said and lightly punched his chest. “ Well, actually love, I lied to you” Jude said with a big grin. “ You what?! You dirty little liar! You lied to me about the friendly match?” You are gobs smack and laughing at him. “ Well actually the friendly were yesterday and I decided to suprise you here” “ and I am so proud of you for winning the game and you deserve it , my love “ . He said and pecked the corner of your lips.

“ So you were here all time? I mean form the start?” You couldn’t believe you didn’t see him in the crowds. Jude replied, “ Yeah about that I can said I was a bit late like 5 minutes because Haaland didn’t find his phone” you laughed. “ And turns out he was holding the phone for the whole time!” Jude complaint to you as you were laughing at the situation. “ But , I’m sorry that I couldn’t make it on time, my love” . He said with a disappointment face and you said it’s okay.

“As long as you here support and watch me win, I’m more grateful than ever. I love you , my Jude.” “I love you too, my Y/N.”

The End🫶🏽🫶🏽

Okay so how what’s?? Good or bad?? Please leave your response about this one shot .. Thanksss and luv all the Bellingham fans

[quackle]

So what’s your final opinion of Disventure Camp All-Star now that it comes to a end?

Also regarding winner, you are right! They didn’t go with “Who deserved to win” and tons of fans are piss off.

and so we have made it to the end. dcas is officially over... sobbing a lil at that fact. now. finale rambles under the cut (tldr: 7/10 season):

i think dcas was pretty nice for what it gave. i know a lot of people think it's shit, and i do nod my head at most concerns i've seen through posts on here and elsewhere. but idk. i had a relatively good time these past couple of months while watching!

let's start with...

Things I Liked:

The Main Premise (and in extension, Riya's Story) — this season showed that it truly wasn't about who deserved to win, it was about who wanted it most. and riya wanted it badly, to the point where it changed her for the worst whenever a camera was around. it took me until ally's elimination to see the direction this season was going (so... basically near the end LOL), but once it clicked, i was like. wowie. this is a bold choice of a winner. and interesting as fuckkkk, despite it not being hinted at as much as i hoped it would near the beginning. i don't think i've ever seen someone who is deemed as a villain be the only winner of a show like this. no alt endings or anything, just a villain win that sort of translates into a loss when you really think about how nobody is in riya's corner anymore. i know people (mostly riya fans) were disappointed with how sad and slightly open ended riya's conclusion arc was, but i personally can't be that upset at it. rosa maria's message during her elimination in season 2 really hit here. riya let the game change her, and though she won three million dollars, she has absolutely nobody (except potentially her sister eesha, but even still, that's not the best way for things to end for her). tis the way the cookie crumbles. i'm glad the writing team decided to go with this instead of the jake ending like thank GOODNESS for the proofreaders omg this is what proofreaders are for!!! (also. i'm clearly biased to the 'faking in front of cameras/others just to become a realer version of oneself once that's tested' characters in particular. look at my icon rn. i think you can understand why i'm such a big fan of this)

Allyson Amber— obligatory ally mention LOL. i think i already rambled enough on why i love ally so so so much as a character, so i will avoid. today. just know that opinion still stands.

Voice Acting— i am not a voice actor, just a voice actor enthusiast, so idk how much my words truly mean here. but i absolutely loveeeee the vocal direction this season went. best vocal performance in the whole series thus far. i can tell each actor + anybody on the voicing team worked hard to deliver! each character's voice really fit and everyone is so talented. hashtag i love connecting voices to characters. i'm excited for s4 voices ahhhh <3

The Grett + Gabby Friendship— we had her for like a good two eps and it still solo'd. going from what had happened in season 1 to what happened in season 3 was chef's kiss. it showed that both grett and gabby grew as characters throughout their whole journey on dc. idk i just love their bond so much, hashtag thank you for adding that.

and now...

Things I have Mixed Feelings About:

Gabby and Ally's Elimination— am i that mad that they ultimately left? eh not really, especially after i learned what type of story onc was aiming to tell this season. but am i mad about how they left? absolutely. because it was bullshitttttt omg. last minute, out of nowhere changes that cause eliminations of characters will never fail to piss me off. personally. even if real life is unfair like this too. (i'm only human LOL let me live)

TomJake Plot-Line— the good news (?) is that i don't find it absolutely mind-numbingly awful anymore. jake's cool. tom's okay. so overall, now i just think the plot is thee definition of mid. improvement! but still mid! i think certain ships in media are not for me, and this is one of em. sorry tomjakers, they should have had a meaningful conversation a long ass time ago. (also why tf they the finale thumbnail like MOVEEEEE with yall yaoi moment /lh)

Connor's Marriage— not that big of a deal, props to connor for finallyyyyyyy retiring from his savior complex (like i genuinely clapped for him cause that was a LONGGGGGG time coming), but a record scratch DID go off in my head when i saw that lol wedding pic. like OH... okay! congrats? i guess? (idek why i had this reaction or why i'm even writing about it lol, connor is Just Okay to me so)

Certain Lack of Character Interactions— i know this is a parody of reality TV and the show can only do so much, especially for characters that got eliminated early on. and i know i can quite literally go on something like ao3 and either find some fic that caters to my tastes or create it myself. but i frowned a lil when i realized certain characters wouldn't talk that much canonically. the curse of an all stars season is that they're bringing back some of the best characters this series has to offer. so when i don't get to see them interact, i go "aww. fair. but aww." (biggest examples here would be grett and hunter during the returnee challenge (because they can serve as interesting parallels (why would they finally make me gaf about hunter just to make him have like 30 seconds of lines ugh onc i am GLARING)), and jake and tess in general (the slightly healed meets the destructive work in progress. the difference in mental health journeys and how they can reflect within gameplay + outside convos. we coulda squeezed a lil somethin here. for me.))

Ellie's Plot-Line— one of the main reasons why i found ellie so compelling as a character is because the choices she made, both good and bad, all connected with her need for money due to being a college student who's not that well off. so to see that written off at the end was... well. eh? like cool, she's got gabby and grett, and they do matter the most, and i loveeeee their bond, but like. girly is a student in nyc and losing all that money is fucking huge. (i think it's mostly the bad pacing here, so i'm not giving it too much critique)

Grett's Plot-Line— onc introduced that whole tree scene (one of my fav scenes btw), and i thought that was so inspiring. "oh my gosh, i can't wait to see grett shine after she was constantly disrespected by some fucker that should have gotten his ass beat a long ass time ago!" i exclaimed. and then, she was eliminated. look. i get the whole premise of this season. i like it, too. so even though i think grett deserved to win the most, i can understand why the writers didn't have her win. BUT i think they should have written her arc with way more care and attention. if anything, i remember more harmful moments than good. grett deserved better than that. to me.

Huntally Plot-Line— i like huntally. and i wish it was written a bit better. it felt... rushed in comparison to other things we've seen here. granted, they couldn't do as much as others when hunter was eliminated so quickly, but still. meh overall.

and finally...

Things I Didn't Like:

The Staffs' Plot-Line— yall. the way i grew to not give a singular fuck about this plot... i saw people complain about tomjake screen time or jake screentime or ally vs jake screentime or connor vs riya screentime or riya screentime. which, okay whatever i guess. but LOOK AT THE REAL CULPRITS HERE... they're already getting a spinoff, idgaf about some staff when i won't be able to see some of the contestants ever again after this season!!! trevek irritated the absolute hell outta me, kristal made me side eye, marcus, nina and oliver were there i guess, and emily? man. i think that alone needs another bullet point hold on-

Emily's Plot-line (if you can even call it that)— yes, yes, i already know, emily was terrible, this was shown in the very first ep, she was never supposed to be rooted for, blahblahblah. but why. why did she decide to help yul. why did she decide to help trevor. why is she helping men so much. why did she turn so cartoonishly evil in the end. why is she like that. it's so uncanny to me. it just feels like she's more of a plot device that she is a character, which makes her fall so fucking flat. it blows. to me.

The Therapist Characters— ashley and tess are the biggest examples of this. not to say that friends irl don't ask this question, but fuck, did i get tired of hearing "are you ok?" or "what's wrong?" or "here let me give you some advive." it feels like such a reduction of their characters, which really sucks considering they didn't get much characterization in comparison to other characters in the first place.

"Be the Bigger Person, Ally"— okay. the more i think about this the more it pisses me off. this is a quote from episode 18, where connor tells ally to be the bigger person in her whole situation with jake. now riddle me this, chat. why is it that connor only tells ally to be the bigger person, then a few minutes later when talking to jake, he goes "oh there's only so much i can accomplish with jake" in the confessional? you didn't even reiterate the same words old man. that makes it seem like ally should do more and adjust what she deems as okay and not okay, just so her tension with jake can dwindle, while jake gets a sigh and a slap on the wrist and a "welp i tried." despite her more immature reactions later on during this plot, ally had every right to be bitter toward someone who kept snapping at her and giving her attitude because no good communication was being used to explain why he kept doing that. instead, i wish the message could have been something like "communicate, then try to insert yourself in their shoes so you can understand each other better because you're more alike than you think" to BOTH ally and jake, because this conflict involves BOTH of them, and needs to be worked on by BOTH of them, not just by one damn party. (i could dive into shit like the sexism connotations of the message "be the bigger person" only being directed to the female character here, but ehhhh, not today + people would think i'm overreacting when i know i'm not)

Yul— look, even if i put the whole slur slinging slanger incident that occurred to the side, i still was not a fan of how yul was portrayed here for that long. idgaf if he's sometimes funny. it just made me feel uncomfy seeing such a disrespectful piece of shit get this far with a burn to the face that didn't even stay permanently. like oh so emily can be in bandages for "a year or two," but bigot mcgee here gets off burn free? okay. don't piss me off. and yes, i understand his sponsorship ending where he's still acting fake because "it doesn't matter to him whether he's liked or not," and i know he serves as an okay parallel to james at best. but personallyyyyy if we were going with the whole "yul is the worst type of famous person imaginable" angle, you could have at least made the consequences of his actions stick to his face forevermore. (that's like the only thing they got right with endeavor from my hero like come on)

and that's about it. i think. overall, i'd give this season a solid 7. i know it looks like there's more stuff i didn't like or felt indifferent about,but i just feel like i have to explain my distastes a little more so people can understand me pfft. but yeah, it's not too bad of a season, even if i side eye some things.

and i'm looking forward to season four! from what i've seen, from the short character dialogues in the voice acting tryouts (ruby save me), to the potential storyboarded scene of the setting (abandoned carnival vibes???), i am most certainly sat. i really hope onc improves from here on out :)

[lifewithchronicpain]

In case you want to attempt to understand the big game this Sunday:

I know most people on here don't care about the Super Bowl, but given the popularity of the Chiefs thanks to Taylor Swift, I thought I'd share a basic explanation of the game for those who feel totally lost.

A football field is 100 yards, the game time is 60 minutes with 4 15 minute quarters. Each team is assigned a side that will switch after the first and third quarter to negate any advantage to one side. The object of the game is to bring the ball into the end zone for a touch down, or to kick a field goal. Every inch forward you gain with the ball in your possession is how the game is won.

The game starts with a kickoff where the catching team is on offense (decided by coin flip) trying to get the ball to the end zone on the other end. They have 4 tries to get 10 yards, that's called a down. When they reach or surpass 10 yards they get a first down, meaning their chances reset and they have to make another 10 yards or the end zone. It's possible to lose yards, so you might starts 1st and ten, running back gets pushed back and your next move is at 2nd and 13 yards. Then you can throw the ball for 15 yards on the third down and you're now you're at first and ten again until you fail to make 10 yards or get a touchdown.

If you can't get the ball to the 10 yard mark, after 3 tries, you have to either use your last chance to "go on 4th down" or to punt. If you lose your chance to get 1st down on the 4th try, the other team picks up the ball exactly where you left off. If you do that and you're not even close to the end zone, you're giving the opposing team great field position. But if you're 4th down and 1 yard from a touchdown and you need that to win, you go for it. Punting is to prevent good field advantage on a failed 4th down. The ball is kicked into the other team's territory to set them back as much as possible. If the team scores they also kick it to the other time but in that instance it's a kickoff.

There are two ways of moving the ball, running and throwing and the opposing team on defense does everything they can to fuck that up. Now as much as I enjoyed football in my youth I never learned all the positions, but you really only need to know a quarterback throws, a receiver catches, and running back runs the ball without having been thrown the ball but rather handed off at the start of a play. Throwing the ball goes farther but runs the risk of incomplete passes or turnovers, where the defense gets the ball from the offense. Sometimes a turnover can ever be turned into a touchdown, so it is possible for the defense to score.

A touchdown is 6 points, then you have the option of kicking in an extra point, or running it into the end zone again from a set distance for 2 points. The latter is harder so almost every touchdown gets an extra point, but if you need 2 points to tie or win, then coaches have gone for them on occasion.

A field goal is 3 points and when the ball is kicked through the yellow bars, and can only be done from a certain point on the field which is about the 35 yard line. You kick a field goal when you know you can't make a touchdown just to get points on the board, and have made the difference with ties and victories.

This already long post is really just the basics. I've watched football for 20 years and I don't know all the rules about what holding position constitutes a fumble (dropped ball that can be picked up by opposing team) and how much a player needs to be in bounds to make a catch, but the newscasters do their best to explain. Just go with it.

So if this is your first ever football game or super bowl, I hope I've now made it at least a little bit clearer.

[linewire]

🏎️💨 THE FORMULA 1 TAG GAME! 🏎️💨:

thank you for tagging me @wisteria-wisteria <3 (holding your hand in the liminal space that is the asian timezone on tumblr)

1. Who or what got you into F1?

This fic by greenstuff on ao3. Such a good fic, so good that it made me look into F1 more so I could understand it better. Then I watched the first season of DTS and got WAY too attached to Max because I love a villain. After I started reading Lestappen fics, I knew I was in this thing for the long haul.

2. Who was the very first F1 driver you supported? Do you support them now? Have your opinions on them differed or stayed the same since then?

I was a Red Bull girlie from the start because of that fic, and I guess I was a Danny fan for a couple minutes before Max appeared on screen.

Still a Red Bull girlie but not so much a Daniel fan anymore.

3. Who’s your current favourite F1 driver?

Max and Charles. Max slightly more but not by much. Hoping, praying, manifesting an actual championship battle between them, like idc who wins, I just need to see them fighting like they're always meant to.

Truly do not hate any other driver, just mostly indifferent to a lot of them.

4. Is there a driver pairing or pairings you support? What made you attracted to that pairing in the first place?

Lestappen is my ride or die. For all the typical reasons. *Insert that Mr Knightley quote about how if I loved them less, I might be able to talk about them more.*

5. Do your parents, siblings or relatives have a favourite team and/or favourite driver(s)?

My dad's a Schumacher girl, like as in he only watched F1 for him then stopped when he left. I sorta got him back into it because I started talking to him about my interest. My mom and my step dad are Mercedes/Hamilton fans, though I think she only likes him because he also has a bulldog.

6. Do you have any favourite races? Are there any that stand out to you the most?

Monaco 23 was the first race I watched live so that holds a special place in my heart. Singapore 23 and Mexico 23 also stand out to me because those are the ones I watched live with my friends uwu.

7. Do you have a favourite circuit? Can be from the past or from the current calendar.

Honestly, kinda basic but I do like Monaco even though its place on the calendar is kinda contentious. Purely for aesthetics, not necessarily for the race quality. Hopefully Charles can win it before it gets taken off the calendar (though idk if that's gonna happen).

Still trying to learn what my actual fav is for quality of races, though. All the classic non street circuits are good for that I guess.

8. Have you ever been to an F1 race in real life? Feel free to tell us your experience going to one if you like.

I live in a country where the nearest track is a whole plane flight away so no. I don't even know if I'd like to go because the footage I've seen from races looks kinda underwhelming LMAO. Though I wouldn't say no if someone invited me. Especially if it's to Monaco or Zandvoort.

This completely doesn't count but the old place where my step dad worked was one of McLaren's sponsors back in the day and got tickets to Sepang. I just thought it was a cool story.

9. Have you ever met an F1 driver in real life?

No and thank god. I couldn't bare to look Max Verstappen or Charles Leclerc in the eye after writing them fucking nasty for all of you. I think I'd pass out if I was in the same room as Max though, like my body would just shut down.

10. Do you have a favourite F1 car? If so, what is it?

He <3

I also like the old Marlboro liveries and I think tobacco companies should be allowed to sponsor teams just so we can get cunty liveries. Like can you imagine a Red Bull Marlboro Blue sponsorship?

11. Do you have a favourite one win wonder?

Oscar? Does winning a sprint count?

12. Do you have any favourite quotes from the F1 world? This can either be inspirational or hilarious.

Max has some great one liners, like "Maybe God is with Hamilton but he is not god," and that thing about sucking on an egg (king of duality <3). I also really like the quote of Charles talking about how his grandmother would sew little crosses on his race suits.

Tagging anyone that wants to participate but specifically @carronyaflowers @itshoneywhatever and @amarynas

[vivid-image]

Chasing All the Colors in My Head

Steddie | Rated E | Multi-Part |

Part 1 | 2

When Steve started middle school, his parents started spending more time away from home. While they were on their “business” trips, they made sure Steve had plenty of money for takeout (they deemed him still too little to be trusted in the kitchen, ironically) and they never left without a kiss from his mother and a pat on the back from his father.

More time alone meant more time for Steve to explore. After school, he would sometimes dive straight into his mother’s makeup drawer and practice. His technique steadily got better, and he went from looking like a clown spilled paint on his face to just looking a little like a clown. “Practice makes perfect'', his teachers always said, and Steve was willing to be patient and wait for the days when his face would look as flawless as his mother’s.

Makeup wasn’t the only thing he was teaching himself. As he steadily grew tall enough to reach the cabinets with a stepstool, Steve started learning how to cook. He used the money his parents left for takeout and went grocery shopping, stocking up on lots of the basics and picking out some new things to try. The nice lady at the checkout, Edith, always gave him lots of cooking tips and tricks, once Steve expressed during his first time in the store that he had no clue what to do. Steve liked to play around and make his own recipes, only occasionally needing a cookbook if he was feeling depleted in creative juices. While it often ended in utter disaster, little Steve was always so proud of the dishes that came out delicious and perfect. He made sure to sometimes take leftovers to Edith at the store in order to thank her for all her help.

As middle school gave way to high school, Steve made a friend. Tommy Hagan had moved to Hawkins halfway through 8th grade, and he and Steve had been steadily building a friendship outside of the classroom. That summer, they spent all their time playing basketball or swimming in Steve’s pool or eating pizza and playing video games. Sometimes they would go down to Melvald’s and browse the magazines. They would check out the pictures of female swimsuit models and popular actresses, and Steve would resolutely ignore his urge to investigate the pictures of their male counterparts.

Steve may not have done very well in school, but he wasn’t stupid. He heard the comments that people like his dad and Tommy would make, talking about “those people” and the ones who supported them. While Tommy and his dad weren’t necessarily cruel about “that lifestyle”, a lot of people in Hawkins were. He had a strong memory of someone being outed and then chased out of town, quite literally, when he was in the 5th grade. Steve may not have understood why they did it, at that age, but he knew that it was awful. The kind of hatred that flowed through Hawkins was terrifying, and Steve wanted no part of it.

So Steve conformed. He stopped touching his mother’s bathroom drawer and instead joined the Hawkins High basketball and swim teams. His parents were rarely home anymore, so he filled his time with people he didn’t really like and filled his perpetually empty house with constant parties. He dated and he “dated”, and he built a reputation for himself that he didn’t want but couldn’t escape. He got high and he got drunk and lived life in a blur. He locked any part of himself that might be perceived as different-in-a-bad-way down into the deepest part of his heart and threw away the key.

It went on in an endless cycle for years. Until he met Nancy Wheeler.

Nancy was the perfect girl. Sweet, smart, and stunningly beautiful, she was everything a guy could ever want. When she met Steve’s parents, it had only taken a few minutes for her to impress Richard and Lisa, and the slap on the shoulder Steve received from his father after she left felt a whole lot like respect. Winning her over had felt like the greatest victory in Steve’s life, and he loved her so deeply he couldn’t stand it.

And then Barbara happened, and then Jonathon Byers happened, and from that the Upside Down happened, and everything about Steve’s life changed.

Part 4

[doinggreat]

i hope it’s okey if i vent a little about the CDR game🙃

What i don’t understand, xavi sees that araujo is injured and LIMPING and instead of subbing him off for curbasi HE SUBS OF CHRISTENSEN???? i don’t get it, Fort was also limping at the end of game. Xavi seriously needs to work on his subs/changes. when we were 3-2 down, HE SUBS ON FUCKING SERGI ROBERTO???????? WHEN FERMIN IS RIGHT THERE???

Why are we playing a 16yo lamine yamal for 105 minutes????? but vitor doesn’t even get 15? i just don’t get it. And on top of that our medical team is absolute dog shit, our players get injured and never properly recover. some players seriously lack passion (fdj, lewandowski, kounde etc.) we rely too much on our la masia kids.

im just so sad and disappointed, i was seriously thinking we could win the treble but now i’m just happy if we finish 3rd in laliga and AT LEAST beat napoli. We are too inconsistent, one day we have a masterclass and next match we concede in the first minute. i loved xavi as a player but as a coach? idk

my inbox can be your little vent place bestie 🫂

i honestly dont get that change too. i think he was concerned for christensen as he just came back from the injury but at the end of the day araujo had knee problems for WEEKS (saw this info on twitter, basically him saying that his knee was bad for a long time but he wanted to fight through it and just get on with the matches. i love our capi but that’s also dumb from the medical’s part. we all know how bad the injuries are when something was already wrong before) 🫠 i dont think we had any defenders left at that point with balde, inigo, alonso (not that he would’ve been a great sub ejjdj) out, cancelo not on the squad

after the match he said that he didnt sub on fermin bc there were too many reserve players on the pitch and he wasnt allowed to sub him on (im dumb and this is the first time i’ve ever heard such rule 💀). but still then how the marc guiu came on??? i dont get it. and as much as we like to joke about fc child labor i think everyone knows that we cannot put this big of responsibility on their shoulders, they are just kids who shouldnt play for 100+ minutes. that’s fucking insane and extremely stupid. so i agree on that one, xavi should be more careful and he should know better. at the end of the day he was one of them, he started his career early. also why tf are we never putting roque on??? did he just came to barca to warm the bench? he’s an amazing talent yet we barely give him minutes. i think by now he should’ve been a starter for at least one match (against unionistas it would’ve been a perfect try-out iykwim)

yes!!! i think our biggest issue is that players are forgetting what club they are playing for. for example frenkie is world class (my humble opinion) but he doesnt seem to have any love for barca. he’s just doing it for the paycheck and you cant change my mind. our club is nothing without passionate players, we could have the best players itw but if they dont have that barca mentality… welp..:) perhaps it’s just an ordinary club in their career but there are SO MANY people who consider barca the club of their life. and players who have that view perform so much better (look at gavi, pedri, araujo (even he isnt in his best form right now but you can tell he puts everything into a match), marc and many more not to mention the club legends)

i dont think we’re winning anything this season tbf. laliga is already a done deal in my eyes, we will beat napoli, but we wont win the ucl at this state…🙃

and about xavi i dont think he should leave. yes, he has made mistakes but he knows this team, he knows what works for us, it’s just the players that are lacking right now. we should still give him time, in my eyes he’s a genius and has a lot of potential to get barca back up. and anyway who would want to replace him?

[circesays]

Fam I just had the most incredible and stressful 2.5 hours of my goddamn life.

Let me set the scene:

It is 11:30 pm. I’m finishing a shower, remembering that I have a couple of levels left in the Apex Legends season battle pass that I need to finish, as today is the last day before it ends. I quickly realize that I’m at level 106, and I need to be at 110, and even though I have very little left to do to level up, I’m not the greatest at Apex.

So I rush to finish my shower, and dry off as quickly as possible, change, and jump straight into a match. My hair is dripping water, I’m hella uncomfortable, but goddammit I’ve been chipping at this battle pass for months (I didn’t spend money, I just really really liked the level 110 badge aesthetic) and nothing was going to stop me from getting that pass.

That’s when I met my buddy who I’ll be calling D. D and I won a game together, it was fantastic, and the two of us were chatting over the in-game voice call. He asked if we could play together, I told him about my battle pass goal, and the two of us set off to get me my goddamn badge.

Let me set the scene further.

There is an hour and a half left in the season. In order to finish leveling up, I need 4 SMG knocks (which is basically when you damage an enemy enough to “kill them” but their team is still alive and able to get them up) and 5 LMG knocks. These are types of in-game guns.

At one hour left I needed 3 SMG knocks and 4 LMG knocks.

At half an hour left I needed 1 SMG knock and 4 LMG knocks.

At 15 minutes left I needed 3 LMG knocks.

At five minutes left, I needed two.

At 1 minute left, I needed two.

We get into the last game. If I don’t get these knocks, I’ll be stuck at level 109 for this pass for the rest of my Apex career. At this point, I’m practically vibrating out of my skin. We’ve run into so many supportive people at this point- “3rd” players who were helping me get the ammo and guns I needed to win. I was stressed. D was less stressed but still rooting for me. It’s 2 in the goddamn morning, I have a class at 8, but nothing is going to stop me.

I don’t get the knocks. I failed.

I exit the match. The menu loads.

The season hasn’t ended.

D looks it up. The season doesn’t end at 2 am- it ends at 10 am. I just thought it ended at two because Apex doesn’t give you an hourly counter to the seasons end, it just says “0 days left in the season.”

Every muscle in my body fucking melts. In half an hour, I breezed through the dailies and got my badge. It was incredible. It was exhausting. D and I agreed to play more during less stressful times.

Goddammit I could have avoided so much stress if I had just looked up when the season ended.

There’s no real point to this post, honestly. It’s just a fun story because I thought others would enjoy it. I’m so proud of this, which is also kinda silly but I love it. Apex is a huge game in my family and we play together all the time so getting this badge was special to me because it represented incredible moments. And I’m happy I got it.

I’m not kidding when I say that we ran into some very kind people. Many squad mates wished us luck as we bounced from games early, because we couldn’t waste any time being revived. We felt bad abandoning them, but they understood we were on a time limit (even if it wasn’t actually real. Whoops.)

The only guy who was even slightly inconsiderate was a guy who left our game early because we were using our mics. And I respect that. He just left instead of asking us to turn them off. He could have been an asshole about it, but he wasn’t.

Today was a wild ride. Anyways that’s about it. Thanks for the fantastic season (‘•w•)b

[redwineconversation]

Olympique Lyonnais - Paris Saint-Germain UWCL OLPlay Postgame Interviews

The lengths I will go to to avoid translating an OLPLay Night Systems interview, you have no idea.

Blah blah standard disclaimers apply; @OL Comms Dept please enable my Starbucks addiction or chip in for my AC bill; banning stans from stadiums would make this sport so much better; y'all know the speech by now.

Sidenote: my bone to pick with this journalist is he doesn't really know women's football. He did an OL Night Systems interview last season where he basically said Lyon Fem should field all French [academy] players (racist); speaks super condescendingly to the female players (sexist); and seemed much more interesting in the men's academy game which was being broadcast right after the UWCL postgame show. Timothee Piron and Coralie Ducher tried to save the interviews, but between him and the fucking academy director posing as a journalist, it didn't go well.

OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS OLPLAY POSTGAME INTERVIEWS

AMEL MAJRI OLPLAY POSTGAME INTERVIEW

Journalist: Diani, 80th minute. Dumornay, 84th minute. I'd like to present to you Mrs. 86th minute, Mrs. 3-2 win, it's Mrs. Amel Majri. Good evening, Amel.

Majri: Good evening.

Journalist: You're going to have to pull out the exact numbers. 300?

Timothee: Your next game will be your 300th game with Olympique Lyonnais. [this almost guarantees she starts against EAG on Wednesday]. That will be an important game. But this one, the one we just experienced, it's important too.

Journalist: Talk us through it. In those 300 games - and I am sure you will talk about the end of this one as well, you were in the heart of Groupama Stadium. You've experienced comebacks, upsets like I am sure.

Majri: Yes, we -

Journalist: Which one stands out for you, before we talk about tonight's.

Majri: The one in the [2018] UWCL Final.

Journalist: [sounding surprised] It was already the UWCL. Okay. [How could he not know it??] Tell us what was said in the locker room. What was said on the substitutes bench up to the 80th minute when PSG was showing they were a good team. What happened after? But before the comeback, what was going through your head? Because we couldn't understand it, even with Timothee Piron and Coralie Ducher explaining it.

Majri: At halftime, we knew that we had done some good things in the first half. We respected what we had worked on all week. Unfortunately the only thing that was missing was the finishing. We weren't rewarded [with a goal]. In the second half it was the same, we weren't scoring, unfortunately we were down 2-0. But what was good is that we kept playing our game. We tried to play and disrupt PSG. We didn't freak out either, we believed. And then when we got control of the ball we started to put our chances away.

Journalist: So the first goal, it's the 80th minute. It's that goal from Kadi[diatou] Diani. You who was on the field, what were you looking at? Did you think you could come back like the men's team?

Majri: Yes. Also we - we saw the ball go in, we could also hear the fans cheering, they were really pushing us. We believed. We knew we had it in us to get those second and third goals because we have so much experience in this competition. And yeah, it's a UWCL game. When you keep going all game, you get results like tonight.

Journalist: And then you see Melchie Dumornay, 84th minute. She sends a missile. it was a magnificent shot. You wouldn't have been able to stop it. You, Amel, did you say to yourself, "it's the 84th minute, there's six minutes remaining plus added time"?

Majri: Yeah, I was fresh. I found myself central, I could see Melchie and I asked for the ball. I didn't know if she was tracking behind me, I feigned and then shot across goal.

Journalist: You shot on your favorite foot, your left foot. The control, the shot, all with the left foot.

Majri: We worked on it. We worked on it with Camille [Abily] all week in training. Shoot across goal without forcing it. It paid off tonight.

Timothee: If you watch the replays, you shot right at the post. It couldn't have gone in any better.

Majri: Yeah, I had a good look. I was happy.

Timothee: How did you feel when you saw it go in? Did you say to yourself - we had a PSG who was completely dominating, and then you had that comeback. How did you experience that?

Majri: It's the beauty - it's what makes football beautiful, honestly. Scenarios like that, they're the type of scenarios you dream about. When it happens to you you're super happy. But you have to keep yourself grounded and say it's only the first leg, if we want the second leg to be as good, we have to win it. We learnt a lot during this game, it was an emotional rollercoaster. We have to learn from it even if we won.

Journalist: Coralie [Ducher] was telling us earlier with her experience -

Coralie: It's a bit outdated.

Journalist: Outdated, I was just going to say it's been a while. It's just because Amel [Majri] went through it 30 minutes ago. Psychologically, do games like this leave an impression on champions like yourself, even if they're going to be ready for you next Sunday at Parc des Princes? Psychologically speaking, are you and Sonia [Bompastor] going to say "okay, we messed up in the first hour, we maybe weren't at our best. But now we have an unexpected opportunity, we completed the comeback." Is it something you will work on psychologically?

Majri: Yeah, of course, we need to be able to use it. But I also think that - maybe not for an hour - but I honestly think we had a good first half [debatable..] We know what note we have to end on and what to work on. It gave them confidence to score, then they scored a second. We struggled for maybe 20, 30 minutes. But I think, as you said, those sort of games come down to experience and we were able to show we won eight UWCLs for a reason.

Journalist: Coralie, one last question before we release Amel.

Coralie: What are you expected for the second leg? Because they are going to want revenge.

Majri: They're also going to want to go out and win this game. Therefore I think they're going to play a bit more freely and find spaces for themselves. Here they were relying a lot on Chawinga and their attacking strengths. But we're also going there to win, to put away our chances and hopefully win the title at the end.

Coralie: Timothee and I really thought that Geyoro was a force in the midfield. Did you feel that as well? Personally I thought that when you came on, it brought another rhythm. Do you feel as though you brought something different when you came on, with maybe playing a little more on the left side and widening the field? Or - it's true that Geyoro was really a force. She's the driving force in the PSG midfield.

Majri: Yes, but - yes, it's true she was a force. Beyond that, I really like cutting inside. So I was up against her a lot. But no, no - it's something I like to do, drifting inside. But it's true that Geyoro, yeah ...

Coraline: And the goal was very much like Ada [Hegerberg], you crossed in front of goal.

Majri: [laughs] Yeah, shoutout to Ada.

Journalist: I see on the jersey "We Play Strong". That suits the team well.

Majri: It suits us.

Journalist: In any case, the Majri family will be eager to congratulate you, and even the youngest boys - or rather youngest girls - will see that famous goal and that incredible atmosphere with 38,000 fans. Amel, thank you for joining us.

Majri: Thank you.

MELCHIE DUMORNAY OLPLAY POSTGAME INTERVIEW

[This interview is done by my arch nemesis aka the fucking academy director who poses as a journalist]

"Journalist": Melchie, what an amazing scenario. And that goal, those goals, and the final win.

Dumornay: It was incredible this evening. We went through an emotional rollercoaster tonight. The game was very difficult for us, so we showed a lot of character and never gave up to get the win in the end.

"Journalist": We felt in the first half that you were getting a lot of ball but with your back to the play. And as soon - when we were able to get the ball in front of you, you lit up the midfield.

Dumornay: Obviously it's something we have worked on all week to put ourselves in the right situations to hurt our opponent. So I was able to help the team that way, so I'm really happy. And we'll continue so we can be even better in the upcoming games.

"Journalist": Say something about the public, who really lifted you.

Dumornay: They're incredible. They gave us that adrenaline rush which pushed us to get that win. And they were really behind us. So all we could do is make them proud and not disappoint them when we were playing at home against our rivals. The team opposite was very scrappy, it's always difficult. So it's a lot of duels. And I think we deserved the win because we were able to get it despite the difficulties.

"Journalist": We know you've been waiting for these UWCL games, which were often delayed for you because of [your] injuries. You're not disappointed tonight.

Dumornay: I'm not disappointed because we won, but I think we can do even better. We conceded two goals so I think we need to work on that for the second leg, to avoid those sorts of situations. And now that we have the advantage, the game today is over but we need to learn from this game to be better for the next one, because it will decisive for going to the final.

"Journalist": Thank you, Melchie.

Dumornay: Thank you.

DAMARIS OLPLAY POSTGAME INTERVIEW

[interview still done by my arch nemesis. As Taylor Swift once said, "I hate it here"]

"Journalist": Dama[ris], it's still an incredible scenario tonight. It started badly and at the 80th minute, everything fell into place.

Damaris: Yeah, I think that's Lyon. I think we did a really good first half but we just lacked efficiency in front of goal. And then they scored two goals, it was hard for us but that's Lyon as well. We have the experience. We did it for us, we did it for the fans. It was really important today for us to show up and for the injured players as well, I think we made a magnificent effort for everyone. Now we need to prepare for next week.

"Journalist": There was a turning point in the game, the save by Christiane Endler which avoided that third goal.

Damaris: Yeah. Christiane Endler, we've said it so many times, it's nothing new. I think she changed the game as well. After her save we picked up the reins and we created a lot of chances, and that's how we scored. We have the best goalkeeper here. I'm happy because she's always behind me and that always keeps me calm.

"Journalist": It was also a big battle in the midfield. It's also an important role in your defensive position today.

Damaris: Yeah, it's always like that against a team like PSG. It's a lot of one vs ones, a lot of duels. But that's football today, UWCL semifinals are going to have a lot of tackles. We need to win all the duels. That's how we were more efficient in the second half and how we won.

"Journalist": What are you expecting in the return leg?

Damaris: I don't know after this. We have a week to recover and see how we can prepare the best that we can.

"Journalist": Thank you, Dama[ris].

Damaris: Thank you.

SONIA BOMPASTOR OLPLAY POSTGAME INTERVIEW

Journalist: Sonia [Bompastor] is with us. Sonia, thank you very much. Amel [Majri] came and spoke with us 25 minutes ago. It's already great publicity for your players. There are a lot of smiles. First of all we were talking about [emotional] rollercoasters. Where are you at right now? Top, bottom, middle?

Bompastor: It's true that in football we like experiencing those kind of emotions. It's a completely insane scenario, even more so when you're at home with the crowd behind you. We really experienced such high emotions. So we're still savoring it.

Journalist: There was perhaps a little less savoring before the 80th minute. Somewhat related, you got scolded by the referee. What happened there?

Bompastor: No, I was gonna say that I find it difficult to stay calm on the sidelines. I'm deeply invested in the game.

Journalist: You have legitimate reasons not to stay calm. Up until the 80th minute, it had been going badly from the start. How would you narrate the end of the night? 80th minute, 84th minute, 86th minute. Did you watch the men's game or something?

Bompastor: [laughs awkwardly] Yes, yes, it's true, we used it for inspiration. In any case, the Lyon fans have been spoiled because between the men's team and the women's teams, there are absolutely crazy scenes. Mostly in our favor. But yeah, actually, since the start of the game, at halftime, I always believed that it was possible, even when we were down 1-0, we were quickly down 2-0 at the start of the second half but I knew that if we scored one goal, we would be able to get something out of it. So those were my words at halftime, very positive to give even more confidence to my players. And we have such a quality team with a lot of talent up top. So I'm not surprised that we were able to score those goals, even if opposite us there is a very good team, that doesn't make it easy.

Timothee: Sometimes we talk about experience and it's a little bit abstract. Is that not what experience actually is? Knowing that no matter the state you are in now, by getting a goal back you can go and get a result. Is there not a bit "know-how" in how to handle big games? Because honestly what happened tonight, it's pretty crazy. Is that not what experience is?

Bompastor: Yeah, obviously it helps. The more games you experience with different scenarios, the more you are able mentally to stay grounded when it is going well and not give up when it is more dire. I think that when we were down 2-0 there was Christiane Endler who made a decisive save which allowed us to stay just a little bit in the game. Then right after we scored that first goal. And yeah, I think that after having scored that first goal, tonight what really helped us was the crowd's support. We could really hear them, and they pushed us to score those two other goals which allowed us to win tonight.

Coralie: I brought up the mental aspect a lot. I think the teams tonight, especially Lyon because Paris [Saint-Germain] kind of did the positive, that [mental aspect] played a lot. Did you have some key players, I'm thinking of Amel Majri coming on who did a lot of good, they calmed the team down?

Bompastor: Yeah. In any case I like how the substitutes did when they came on. They brought energy at a time when the team needed it. Often when you are a coach, you anticipate different scenarios, so you're like "we're going to make this change to bring such and such thing". Tonight the energy of the players but especially Amel [Majri]'s finishing, for example, those brought a lot of positive things. I'm happy for them personally because it's never easy when you don't start a game. You're always a little bit frustrated, you're a competitor, you want playing time and to participate in those types of games. They knew how to be very positive for the group, they were able to be decisive as soon as they came on. And that allowed us to walk away with a positive result. It's a cumulation of things. I think the team is very strong mentally. It's a team that never gives up. Maybe tonight there would have been reasons to do so, and that's why experience is so necessary at this level.

Journalist: This Saturday, there was a good article on Pierre Sage [men's coach] in the publication L'Equipe [Bompastor laughs in disbelief off-camera] The Lyon men's coach insists a lot on this team and his substitutes. We can see it with Cherki, others. Could you tell us a little bit, without giving up any secrets, what work you do with the girls [note: he could have said players but said "girls"] who aren't necessarily regular starters at the start?

Bompastor: Well you know, I was going to tell you that for the coach and for the staff, those are the most important players. Because at the end of the day the ones who are playing are happy, they're in a good dynamic. But the consideration and the importance in the communication and relations you have with the players who sometimes have less playing time, that's what makes the difference. Because at a certain point they feel they're taken into consideration, they feel they're involved in the plans. And even if it's difficult in the heat of the moment, you have to acknowledge it as a human being. So when the coach comes over to you and says "I know it's hard for you, I know you want to play but you are going to play your role in a different way." Tonight for example for Amel, I think she is as happy tonight as she would have been had she started.

Journalist: Yes, that's what she showed us earlier. Coralie, another question before we let Sonia go. Sonia, what is going to be the schedule? I was going to say in the next hours. This game, are you going to rewatch it before tomorrow morning?

Bompastor: Usually I like to give myself 24 hours to come back down and see it better in hindsight. But sometimes I rewatch it on the go. It's always better to rewatch the game when there was a positive result, that's for sure. But we experienced a lot of emotions and we will need to really compartmentalize them and stay level-headed. You can count on us because we know it's going to be difficult next week.

Journalist: I also brought up video in my question. Are you going to show the players in the next hours how you concede those two goals? Are you going to specifically work on this game? Paris Saint-Germain showed some really good things that they will want to replicate Sunday at 4pm at the Parc des Princes.

Bompastor: Yeah, of course. That's the role of the staff, to analyze the game, go over the tactics, go over what Paris did on their side, go over what we did on ours, what caused us problems, what did we do well. We'll do analysis with the team and with individual players. There will be video sessions pretty much every day so the message is extremely clear for the players and for the team.

Journalist: Another question from Timothee, because in 4 minutes we're going to watch the men's reserve team.

Timothee: It's pretty crazy the different stages a team will go through. For maybe 20 minutes Lyon was being put through the wringer. In a flash that changes. After the first [Lyon] goal people were like "Paris is going to collapse". It's crazy how a team can just come together or like Paris did just collapse in an instant. It's complicated to analyze, really.

Bompastor: Yeah, well, you have to analyze it through the lens of the mental aspect is fundamental at this level. With regards to that, as you said, in those moments where it's difficult, you're down 2-0, you can't give up. You need to have the strength to be resilient and stand up to it. And when it's going well not to be too euphoric. And that's the experience from the players as well which helps enormously. It's the work of the staff, the coach, to compartmentalize all those emotions. But you only experience those types of emotions in football. That's why we like it and why we're fans.

[seedlessmuffins]

hi!! so i’m going to the carolina hurricanes vs new york islanders game this sunday and i am almost entirely clueless about either team (and most of the sport but your info post was so helpful) 😭

if there’s any fun facts or interesting things (even if it’s drama or the players being silly) you know about them i’d love to hear, especially the hurricanes since that’s my home team! i’m not sure how much you follow either team, so if you don’t know much or this is a silly question, feel free to ignore

sorry if this breaks hockey etiquette or anything 😭 i wouldn’t expect someone to ask me for fun facts about real madrid lol but you are the resident hockey mutual here so <3

hello lovely anon! first of all, thank you for this ask i am so honoured that you thought of me as the person to go to for these questions, i love it so much! mwah! not breaking much hockey etiquette, i just have to apologize because these teams aren't my team so im not an expert, i just did my best! second of all (before i answer fully lol), i just want to say a disclaimer! hockey isn't as popular in the us as it is in canada, so for some us teams there isn't a lot of information because people in the city are more interested in american football or basketball. unfortunately, raliegh is one of those places. i listened to like 3 hours of canes podcasts, read so many articles, and literally scoured the internet for canes content and i found almost nothing. bestie im so so sorry! i did my best! because there isn't a big fanbase, there isn't many people reporting on this team, many fanpages, or much info about silly moments or drama :( i did my best to give you an overview of the two teams, a crash course in live hockey, some helpful links to learn more about the canes, and some silly stuff about the islanders (because they have so much historical drama!) i hope you enjoy this post and your game bestie ily

Live hockey

when going to a live hockey game, there are a few things you need to know before you go! live hockey is more similar to american football than footie, because the stadiums are quite small so the games are quite catered to people who are watching at home. here are some basics specific to live hockey

there are 3 20 minute periods with 15 minute intermissions in between each. during this intermission, you get to see the zamboni, a machine that cleans the ice to make it hard and smooth before each period. during the period, there will be between 1 and 3 TV time outs, where play will pause for 2 or so minutes so that the ice ladies and gents can shovel the ice with shovels, because the snow builds up and makes it hard to skate. during this time, usually most stadiums do fun games (like kiss cam, lookalike cam, that type of thing) during this time to keep the audience engaged! (zamboni for reference!)

if the game is still tied at the end, the game will go to overtime, and possibly the shootout. these are the best moments of the game! some people like to leave a bit early to beat traffic, but as long as the person/people you're going with agree, i would recommend staying the whole time. after a win, the team will come out onto the ice to celebrate with the fans (its similar but different from footie), and they will award the 3 stars of the night! its totally worth it to stay until the end

crowd atmosphere is so so different from every other sport. usually when watching hockey, everyone is sitting and just watching, there are some chants (idk the canes chants sorry!) but usually there isn't much crowd participation unless there's a goal. the game moves so quickly, you have to really focus to know whats going on (and the puck is small and hard to see it moving!)

watching the game: there are big jumbotrons in the middle of the rink that will show the score, the shots, how much time is left, and a recording of what is being showed from the tv cameras. it is so helpful to watch, especially when there is zoomed in shots. don't worry if you end up watching the jumbotron and the ice for equal amounts of time! i did that all the time as a kid because its honestly pretty hard to follow just looking at the ice unless you really know the game well

penalties! i know they are confusing, but when a player gets a penalty there will be an announcement for what the penalty is for (and who is on the power play), and the jumbotron will show a countdown of how long is left in the penalty! it is always fun to watch penalties, and you can pretty easily look up what each penalty means as they are announced

the night you're going is military appreciation night! i have no idea what this means lol. sorry! in canada we don't really do that sort of thing to the same degree, we did something for remembrance day but that is it lol. what i can sense from the website is that the canes will wear special jerseys for warmup, and they will probably have some military stuff throughout the night

2. overview of the teams

ok, so the hurricanes. hurricanes are doing very well this season, they have won 47 of their 74 games (as im writing this, they just lost their game tonight lol) and they have secured their spot in the stanley cup playoffs! they are at the top of their division, and they are looking to secure that spot by earning points in the remaining 8 games of the season. you are going to watch one of the last games of the season, and the goal for the canes will be to win to be confident going into the playoffs. strengths of the canes include their goaltending, their penalty kill (when they have one less player on the ice, they usually can prevent the other team from scoring) and their defence. weaknesses include scoring, they don't have a "star striker" that scores a bunch of goals, as their star striker recently got injured, and they also don't make the most of the power play (when the other team has one less man on the ice, they aren't consistent about taking advantage and scoring). here's my lil hurricanes summary for you (please ignore my messy writing i did my best)

lets meet the opponent! the islanders are in a rocky position, as they are fighting two other teams for a wildcard spot into the playoffs. they need to win every game they can to get in. the islanders are hungry, at the trade deadline (transfer window in hockey) they bought a bunch of players to try and improve their squad for the playoffs. they have won 39 of 76 games, they are fourth in their division, and they want to book a trip to the playoffs so this game is crucial for them to win. i didn't do as much research about the islanders (again im so sorry!), but i know that a strength of the islanders is their goaltending, they have one of the best goalies in the league in sorokin. weaknesses, im sure they have many i just don't know what they are. here's my islanders summary (again, sorry about my writing)

3. the lore

lou lamoriello. this guy is a character. he is old school hockey, he's over 80 years old, and he has been in the league forever. everything i hear from him seems like something either a cartoon villain or jose mourinho would say. he hates beards, and makes all his players shave when they are on his team. he won't let players wear high numbers because its not traditional. every quote he has is absolute gold because he could not care less about his public perception. he is his own boss, and you can tell because this man is unhinged. some gems include "i am not going to make a decision to make a decision," "i really wasn't thinking about it to tell you the truth," and "lets be careful how far we go with that"

islanders as a team. they are from long island, which is like new york's suburb cousin. they won the stanley cup 4 years in a row, set so many league records, and were thriving in the early 80s. then, they did nothing at all for almost 20 years and almost had to be relocated because their arena was literally, physically crumbling and the ice was warming up during games. iconic.

during this down era, random guy john spano tried to buy the team and almost succeeded. he faked bank statements and taxes stating he was a multi-millionaire, and he was the owner of the team for a few months. it wasn't successful, because he was really just a random small business owner from new york. the whole story is kind of unbelievable, there are many documentarties about it. this happened in the 90s. absolutely hilarious

bo horvat. bo horvat was the canucks captain for 3 years and he just got traded to the islanders in january. there's no lore here, i just love and miss bo horvat on the canucks. my heart broke when he left and i hope he's doing well

4. helpful links

because im not a canes expert, heres some useful resources for more information! this tiktok page is from a new canes fan as well, she goes to games and explains hockey as she learns it. her tiktoks are super helpful for info about the hurricanes game experience, and hockey for beginners! (i do my best but i think some of what i say doesn't make sense because some of this stuff ive known since i was little, so i can't explain it well. she does a way better job) and this podcast is helpful for game previews! they post a short 10 minute episode every day, so it is easy to keep up with and has lots of helpful canes specific information. other helpful pages are the carolina hurricanes social media, especially twitter and instagram. they will post pictures and gameday updates that will have info in them about the players, the lineups, and more fan content!

this is where you see that im a writer lol. im so sorry this is so long (and that there's so many footie references, im assuming you're a footie friend so if you're not im sorry)! i hope you find this helpful, this was super fun to make and write. i hope you enjoy your game, let me know how it goes! go canes (just for this one day for you, anon)!

[bullsandthebones]

Idk what half life is but i've seen your posts about it

I would LOVE you sososososososo much if you wanted to idk explain it to me?

/hj you dont really have to i love anyway<3

HEHHEHEHE YOU'VE FALLEN INTO MY TRAP /j

OK OK SO the life series is a Minecraft SMP that was created by a youtuber by the name of Grian

there's been four "seasons" so far, 3rd Life, Last Life, Double Life, and the one that just ended which is Limited Life.

The premise changes each season, but it's kinda like hunger games in a way, the goal is to be the last one standing.

In 3rd Life, you had 3 lives in total. When you start out, you're a "green life", which means you have all 3 lives and you /cannot/ attack other players unless it's in self defense. When you're down to a "yellow life", that means you have only 2 lives left, and you can attack ONLY the green lives. Once you're a "red life" you have only 2 life left and you can attack anyone. Yellows, Greens, and even Reds are your enemy. You only have one life left and you need to win. (this carries on into the other series, so remember how the lives work)

Last Life! The premise for this (anyone can correct me if they want, I might be a bit off for this one since it's like a fever dream to me) is to, once again, be the last one standing. However, this time there are new rules. I believe you have 6 lives, the first three are technically green, then the next two are yellow, and the last is red. A new mechanic is added, where there is a "Boogeyman", At the start of each episode a boogeyman is chosen, and if you get picked you have to kill someone before that episode ends or else you're knocked down to the next colored life (I'm pretty sure). You can also give away your lives in this season, as a bartering thing.

Double Life- this one is still pretty fresh in my memory. So, in this one, everyone in the server is randomly paired with another player and they are "soulmates". same colored life rules apply (3 lives, green-yellow-red), except this time your life is shared with another person. If they die, so do you. If they take damage, so do you. The boogeyman mechanic is not present in this season.

Limited Life!! In Limited Life the rules change a lot, instead of your lives being attributed to just you dying, it's based on time. Everyone starts with 24 hours and they are green. As their time dwindles, their colors change. I believe at 12 hours they become yellow, and somewhere around 8 they become red. (I wasn't paying much attention to that part so anyone can correct me if I'm wrong) If you die you lose 1 hour, if you kill someone you gain 30 minutes. If you run out of time, you're out of the game.

okay so I know that was a lot, but that's the basics for each season, I'd have to go back and rewatch the first two to tell you more but yeah! I recommend watching the team play each season, I know that Grian, Goodtimeswithscar, SolidarityGaming, and Bdoubleo100 are in every season but I'm not confident about everyone else

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (366): Sat 18th Mar 2023

I tuned into the Lakers game against the Mavericks from last night and I really wish I hadn't. It was a competitive game and the Lakers were leading heading into the final minutes. It looked like the Lakers were going to win and all they needed to do was run out the clock but the Mavericks scored at the buzzer and won. I was fuming because just before this Davis was awarded two free throws and missed one of them. If he’d have scored it would have gone into extra time. This guy has fucking sucked lately. Not only does he miss crutial shots but the ball keeps slipping through his fingers and the opposing team keeps stealing it. When the towel boys go on to wipe the sweat off the court they should give Davis' hands a quick drying too, or maybe he should play with some rubber gloves. If they'd have beaten the Rockets the other night (which they should have, easily because the Rockets are in last place) and won this game the Lakers would be in eighth place but they fucked up and now they're still fighting to scrape their way into the playoffs. I was majorly pissed off this morning. Not just because the Lakers blew a sure thing although that certainly didn’t help but because of the realisation that the next few weeks is going to make a real dent in my savings. As well as getting my pounds changed to dollars for my US trip I’m going to have to pay to get the bike fixed AGAIN! Also the price of taxis to work is going to be ridiculous but I refuse to risk getting the bus because with this job being late can affect your chances of being made permanent and although there should be plenty of time for me to get to work on time if the buses where on time they often just turn up when they fucking feel like it.

After spending the morning on stow and the early afternoon delivering tubs to stations I left at 2:30 and headed to the town for Mam’s Mother’s Day meal. I booked a place called Roma in all honesty because I put off booking a place at any of the good restaurants and when I tried they were full up. So the fact that this place was one of the only ones still taking bookings on Mothers Day told me that it probably wasn’t going to be that good. I was expecting paint peeling off the walls and cockroaches doing a conga line across the floor but the place was actually really nice. The pizzas Lacey and I ordered were fucking enormous as was Mam’s Lasagne and my sisters Carbonara, two courses for £12.95 is not a bad deal at all. As the rest of us were eating our meals Luna kept saying “I WANT CHEESECAKE!”. We finally ordered her one and she refused to eat it until I challenged her to see how fast she could finish it which appealed to Luna's competitive side and she wolfed it down in less than a minute. While she waited for the rest of us to finish she watched a video on my sisters phone of something on YouTube that's just called "The Dolls" and it's basically a little girl filming herself playing with dolls and doing all the voices. I put up with this shit for a little bit when I'd watch Luna but I've put my foot down on having this on in the house and insist that she watch something else because while this show started out really layered and delicately written I think it really went downhill after season three. I paid for the whole meal because my sister is a mother now too and this is a day for her to be spoiled as well and also because I'm lovely.

[fredcasden]

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Pokemon Violet was certainly more the 'how the hell do I get to where I need to go' aspect, but following a plan of doing things in a set order does mean I'm pretty much over powered in a number of different aspects. Meowscarada can basically one shot most things at level 56, since I have her with two dark type moves, one grass type and one fairy type moves. I'm certainly leaning into doing the rest of this game as I did Pokemon Shield and just over level my core team to brute force my way through the elite four. I mean it worked in Shield & Let's Go Eevee... and technically did in Shining Pearl.

We did conquer two Gyms, the ones for Ghost type, which happened to be the one 'duos' style of battling area I've seen in game, plus the Psychic gym. Again Meowscarada basically did all the heavy lifting in both areas. Figuring out how to 'catch up' with Iron Treads, the Quaking Earth Titan, took way too long for me to realize, but we made short work of him.

Noat this point, I have One Gym left, two Team Star Bases and one more Titan to conquer before starting the string of end game battles. But also discovered there are Shrines where if certain things are removed Legendary 'ruin' Pokemon may be freed to possible battle and / or captured. I doubt I'll go that far as most sites are calling the pursuit of the Shrines to be 'post-credits' content.

For the raid we dropped in on PowerThumbz as they were playing Prey over at twitch.tv/powerthumbz!

Stream Clip Links

Final Hit In The Ghost Gym

Flower Trick For The Win... Again

Victory In The Psychic Gym

Defeating Iron Treads, the Quaking Earth Titan

Mom first day of Radiation Therapy went well from what she told me, the biggest issues yesterday being with the prearranged Uber and Lyft rides which clearly are not taking into account how quickly she can move. Most of her therapy sessions are in the afternoons, which gives plenty of time to get her ready... but I'm worried about the ones that are schedules for mornings. If anyone would be kind to donate to her GoFundMe, it would be greatly appreciated: https://gofund.me/6adf8354

Started writing the latest WWE commission story request, may end up going with the promo set up route for it, since it's easy to write without me having to track down actual TV segments. Did got a large portion written after the stream.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2  daily workout featured Weaving Combo #1, Body Hook Combo and Beginner Combo #1 for 28 minutes.

What did the clock do when it was hungry? It went back four seconds.

Song of the Day: Big Fun 2017 by Inner City

For tonight's stream, Iceman made me aware that he may not be able to join us, so we may still only with Fall Guys or pair it with Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed or MultiVersus if I decied no t to play Fallout 76. Regardless Fall Guys will be featured to start things off!

So on that note we'll see you later over at twitch.tv/fredcasden!

[wideouts4life]

NFL Week 12

The wideout of the week award goes to Justin “The Man” Jefferson. The 3rd year pro was sensational. Jefferson caught 9 balls for 139 yards and had one touchdown on a shallow cross where he took a big hit as he crossed the goal line. He caught the ball all over the field and had some sweet catches. I like his run after catch on a smooth basic route he ran in the 2nd quarter. I also love his ability to make the tough catches as he did on an inside fade against two defenders. Jefferson ensured his team victory with an out-n-up route where he took a big hit from the safety right as he caught the ball. He trails Tyreek Hill by 1 yard with 1,232 on the season. With 6 games left each wideout would have to average 128 yards to eclipse 2,000. I’m excited at the possibility of two wideouts possibly breaking Calvin Johnson’s record. 

Zay Jones of the Jacksonville Jaguars made his first appearance of the season on this blog. Jones caught balls from multiple routes. Had he scored and not dropped 2 hitches, Zay would be the wideout of the week. Jones finished the afternoon with 11 catches for 145 yards including a 2-point version that sealed the victory for his team. 

Amon-Ra St. Brown had himself quite the day on Thanksgiving. St. Brown finished his day with 9 catches for 122 yards and 1 touchdown. Amon opened the game with a sweet slant that shook the defender badly. He caught a dig and broke a few tackles which is reminiscent to watching him up close in high school. St. Brown is playing fast and it appears the 2nd year pro will have a chance to eclipse 1,000 yards receiving once again. He currently has 716 yards with 6 games to go. Let’s go kid. 

Tee Higgins is flying under the radar but he leads his team with 826 yards. Ja’Maar Chase has missed 4 games but that has not stopped the Bengals who have been 3-1 during that stretch with Higgins a big part of why they are 7-4. Higgins had a nice slant where he broke a few tackles and looked pretty nimble. He had a few catches toward the sideline and caught a nice fade for a touchdown. With a little over 3 minutes on the clock, Higgins ran a stutter-go route and caught the fade 1-handed with the defender draped all over him ensuring his team’s victory. 

Christian Watson of the Green Bay Packers is slowly becoming a house hold name. The 6’5 wideout can fly and he showed his speed on a slant route of 63 yards for a touchdown against one of the better defensive teams in the NFL (Eagles). Watson has eclipsed 100 yards in 2 of the 3 past games scoring an impressive 6 touchdowns. If only he was targeted earlier in the season the Packers could have a better record. 

It’s refreshing to see Chris Godwin make this list. I tore my meniscus and mcl in college and while I didn’t have to have surgery, I understand the pain and rehab plus what knee injuries do to athletes psychologically. Godwin definitely has lost a step and that’s ok. He never was a burner but if he wants improve his quickness and route running he may need to come see me this off-season. Godwin caught 12 balls for 110 yards and 1 touchdown. I don’t know why Brady threw him two dumb-ass screen plays that went for a combined 3 yards. But having him involved improves their chances to win substantially. I mean his last name is GodWin.

Ceedee Lamb had 6 catches on 11 targets for 106 yards. Lamb’s productivity has increased having Prescott back. Lamb made a sweet 1-hand catch on a stop-n-go and almost scored on an over route where he was tripped up about the 3 yard line on 25 yard gain. D.J. Moore had a decent afternoon with 4 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. Moore can flat out fly and he showed his speed on 52 yard big post for his lone score. Moore will definitely drop a pass which he did on his first catch opportunity and later on a pass that led to an interception. But all in all he’s being productive with majority of the plays coming his way. 

Another week to be great wideouts! Play fast, make play, and finish strong!