#especially since we know he's a coach again the season after — part of it is making amends with will but i think part of it is also

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

i don't know if anyone is still having this debate but i found the outline for this in my notes app, so: i do actually think it was a good idea to have roy rather than nate as the manager post-season 3 — not because i necessarily think roy's a better coach; they're both shown to be good at their jobs and to each have their own strengths — but because part of the job of manager is much more public-facing than being an assistant coach.

roy clearly doesn't like the press poking into his private life and has had some bad experiences with them, but while he's grumpy about having to do interviews, he's also established to have a bit of an ego and part of the reason he's upset about retiring is that he feels like he won't be roy kent, famous public figure, anymore. in essence, while he complains about doing press, he ultimately seems to like being in the public eye at least some of the time, in addition to being pretty good at it when he's putting in the effort.

nate, on the other hand, is just starting to overcome very severe social anxiety that was clearly aggravated by being in the public eye, and dealing with that kind of attention, especially on social media (understandably) still seems to stress him out even when he's in a much more stable place at the end of the series. i could see him becoming manager again at some point in the future — either at richmond or somewhere else — once he's had more time to work through that, but i don't think that kind of progress would happen in the couple of months between him rejoining the team and the start of the next season

[peachhcs]

Sammy is so happy after last nights win for BC- especially since Will got his first hat trick and was named mvp of the game 🥺

no one else i’d rather celebrate with

yes she was! she had the game on her computer in her dorm where both her and hannah were cheering for the boys as they watched them celebrate on the ice.

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will blurb)

samy couldn’t be more proud of her boyfriend for tonight & they desperately wished they were in the same place to celebrate

i wrote this at like 1 am and i’m actually pretty happy with the outcome LOL keep sending in requests! i’m slowly working though my inbox, but i wanted to get this one out since it just happened and i didn’t wanna wait too long :)

au masterlist

as soon as the buzzer sounded, samy was jumping out of her chair, screaming in excitement with hannah. the two girls grasped one another’s arms, nearly in tears as all the boys immediately stormed the ice to celebrate one another and the hockey east victory.

“they won! holy shit, they won!” hannah couldn’t stop screaming, probably making their neighbors wonder what the hell was happening.

samy scanned her screen for her boyfriend. she quickly found his number 6 and the big smile on his lips warming her heart seeing him so, so happy. she couldn’t believe he scored four entire goals and his very first hat trick of his career.

despite all of the joy in her, the disappointment settled beside it that she couldn’t be there in person celebrating with him and the boys. this was the worst part about long distance. they had to celebrate over a facetime, hiding the disappointment that they weren’t together in person.

the cameras were panning to different shots of the bc boys celebrating. one picked up the freshman exchanging tight hugs with one another. samy’s heart warmed seeing will and gabe exchange a loving, proud hug with one another and she knew how much both of them dreamed of this moment together.

“i’m so proud of them,” the brunette gushed, her eyes glued to her computer.

“they played so well. i just know they have a national title in their future,” hannah agreed.

another few minutes passed before awards and honors started getting announced once the commotion settled down.

“with four goals and 1 assist in tonight’s championship game, we would like to announce forward, will smith, as the 2024 hockey east tournament mvp!”

more screams were heard across the small dorm. samy couldn’t contain her excitement watching will skate up to the coaches, another huge smile on his lips as he stood up between them for the photo and his plaque.

all of his hard work finally payed off. the brunette knew how hard he worked all season for this moment and seeing it all come together had tears lining the girl’s eyes.

“oh my god, you’re crying,” hannah pulled her roommate into a tight hug.

“sorry, i’m just so proud of him. he deserves this so much,” samy wiped some of her tears away.

oh how badly she wished she was there in person to give will a giant hug as soon as he walked out of the locker room.

all-tournament was announced with will and gabe included. samy loved how big their smiles were getting praised for doing so well in the sport they loved.

the live stream ended leaving the girl to patiently wait for will’s call. she knew it’d probably be awhile with press and celebrating with the team, so she tried busying herself with some schoolwork.

will’s contact flashed across her screen forty minutes later. samy didn’t waste anytime picking it up, smiling wide when she saw her boyfriend’s own smiling face.

“we’re tournament champions!!” the boy exclaimed and showed off his impressive medal.

“i know!! i’m so, so proud of you, will! you deserve it,” the girl gushed, blowing quick kisses into the camera.

“did you see my four goals?” will asked excitedly and samy nodded.

“watched the entire game. you played so well. i can’t believe you got four goals,” she gushed again.

“me neither. it still feels like a dream i haven’t woken up from. look at my plaque!” he held up the circular piece of hardware with the words most valuable player carved across the bottom.

“it’s incredible. where are you gonna hang it up?” samy wondered.

“i’m thinking right above my bed. what do you think?” will flipped the camera around so samy could see. she nodded.

“i like it there. gotta show it off,” she grinned. will flipped the camera back around, propping his phone against something so he could lean back in his desk chair. his curls were damp from his shower still and he still had his suit on.

“i wish you were here. i miss you,” the blonde said with a sad smile.

“i wish i was there too. at least you got the boys to celebrate with,” the brunette chuckled some.

“i’d rather celebrate with you. i came out of the locker room just instinctively thinking you’d be there waiting like always. i forgot you wouldn’t be,” will’s confession had samy’s heart clenching. a blush spread across her cheeks as she tried finding something to cheer him up with.

“at least summer’s only two months away,” the girl offered.

“two months too long. doing all of this without you by my side like always has been hard to adjust to,” will leaned forward closer to his phone. his second admission was gonna make samy cry.

long distance really did suck sometimes. especially during moments like these ones.

“you’re gonna make me cry,” the girl frowned, but smiled nonetheless.

“i’m sorry, i don’t mean to. i miss you a lot. i really can’t wait for summer,” will chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood.

“your haircut looks nice by the way,” samy commented which instantly made will touch his hair. he flushed.

“it does?”

“mhm. your short hair is cute,” the girl nodded.

“gabe begged me to get a mullet, but i just couldn’t do it. i figured i’d cut in shorter to get rid of dead ends,” the boy chuckled earning a giggle from samy.

she dragged her finger across her desk, seeing the time tick closer and closer to 10:30. she had early morning practice tomorrow and she knew will probably had celebrating to do with the boys after their big win.

“i should probably let you go. you probably have a party to get to or something to celebrate the win,” samy said after a moment despite not wanting to hang up the call so soon.

“what? no. you’re hanging up already?” will quickly sat up. his words had her flushing.

“i mean..i don’t wanna keep you from the parties,” she laughed briefly.

“no, no, you’re not. i promise. i told you i’d rather be celebrating with you,” will urged.

“really? i mean there’s not much we can do over the phone. we can celebrate over the summer. belated celebration. maybe there will even be a national title to celebrate too,” the girl grinned.

“let’s not get too ahead of ourselves,” the blonde laughed. “you know i’d rather spend the night on the phone with you than at some party where i’d just be thinking of you the whole time, right?” he searched her eyes through the screen. another blush spread scores the brunette’s cheeks.

“you’re sure?” samy asked just to make sure. she hated keeping will from doing things with his friends because she truly didn’t mind knowing tonight was a big night.

“i’m sure,” will stuck his pinky out.

samy copped his motion and the two pretended to hook their pinkies together.

“plus, i can think of a few ways we can celebrate over the phone,” a look crossed in will’s eyes and samy immediately knew what he was thinking.

her poor blush got even worse, glad that hannah was in the bathroom so she didn’t hear what he said.

“will!”

all that could be heard was a laugh from his end and the two sharing wide smiles.

[singaroundelay]

Because I have nothing but time on my hands and I've watched S3 so many times due to fics, let's take a look here at some lovely pull quotes from that James Lance article, shall we??

Just Trent Crimm. Acting totally normal around his crush.

All he wants is Ted’s approval. And to be noticed and loved in return.

But, what I will say is that I felt that in certainly in season three, no, he doesn’t have a relationship. But he is lightly dating.

Trent’s lightly dating but I wager if a certain American crossed his path again… (Take your daughter and get thee to Kansas, Trent.)

Which, uh, canonically… this means Trent really was thinking about kissing Ted.

Makes a person wonder, since he was in the coach's dugout — and watched Ted catch someone offsides even before the linesman did, just how close did Trent come to kissing Ted?

So, if you ask me...

If you could have heard what happened inside Trent, I think his heart just went and (he mimes an explosion). The plug was pulled in terms of him taking Ted down. 

That was the exact moment his heart went BOOM.

As we have said all along, this man had the biggest crush on Ted.

 ...and then he sheds his journalistic ethics because he wants to be a human more than he wants the profession.And I love that when he did that season two, it’s like he just blows his career up because he wants to look after a lovely human being, i.e. Ted.

Seriously, I’m of the age of having to squint and turn my head to the side in order to see anything remotely queer for my ships. Knowing full well I was willing things into existence that definitely weren't there. It's why even to just have Trent's chat with Colin at the Homomonument felt like such a "win".

But now — to know that every smile and wink and action, especially after "love our chats" was done on purpose? That it was all James' acting choices and his desire to have Trent fall for this American that he was supposed to eviscerate?

As the kids would say: my crops have been watered and my skin is clear.

At this point, I don't care if it's unrequited love on Trent's part. For the first time in my many years of fandom, all my head tilting and squinting wasn't needed.

Because it's fucking canon.

[managician]

9pm musings: if you think about it Ina11 areori timeline where Tenma never gets passionate about soccer would make perfect sense.

By "if you think about it" I mean, I thought too hard about it and spent like 2h typing all this, so here's my ideas under the cut. Maybe someday I'll make a fic with this?? Who knows

With Orion Foundation being a thing I think the adults would try a lot harder to make sure No Evil Organization tries to take over soccer again right under their noses, so Fifth Sector, reasonably, wouldn't get to exist, or at the very least gather as much power as it did in GO.

No Fifth Sector means no promise of money for Yuuichi's surgery, which means Tsurugi probably straight up gets obsessed with becoming a top tier famous striker who can make enough money instead. Raimon will still be the most prestigious jr high school for that so it's safe to imagine he'll end up attending there.

(If the accident even happens, that is. If we go the 'everything is fine' route the way areori fixed Atsuya and Hiroto's deaths, both Tsurugi and Yuuichi would enroll in Raimon due to their admiration of Gouenji and become an amazing striker duo.

Because yeah might as well bend Yuuichi's age so they can play together if we're fixing everything!)

The rest of GO Raimon started playing soccer for their own reasons, as far as we know, so the team would be formed normally, with or without addition of Yuuichi. Holy Road can work without Tenma, especially without any need to make a revolution.

Now, CS, it gets a bit messier but it can still work. It's mentioned in the season that Tenma was a bit of the 'beginning' of the Second Stage Children genes, but surely there are other talented players that caused it, so Feida vs El Dorado conflict would still end up happening.

Rather than Tenma, at the start of CS Fei would end up saving either Shindou (he's the captain, he has good head on his shoulders) or Tsurugi (probably has the strongest passion for soccer). Either of them can reasonably work as protagonists — I'm leaning towards Tsurugi because I think he'd be able to bond with Fei more closely, with both of them being somewhat loner/aloof type.

The real problem comes with gathering Chrono Storm. Would the timeline simply adjust to Tenma's absence and make someone else able to get King Arthur's miximax, or would they be forever missing that single ideal player...? In a meta sense it's tragic, but fitting, if he just gets replaced (since he was never there to begin with).

With how strong the Chrono Storm lineup is, I think they would be able to win, even if they really were missing a player. They'd just train extra hard to overcompensate that fact.

Which brings us to Galaxy. Literally the ONLY point in history where it would actually make sense for Tenma to develop any kind of liking for soccer. He's the right age for the tournament, he's got a Soul in his body. Heck, he even still attends Raimon, since his parents would send him to Inazuma with Aki because they're swamped with work in Okinawa.

Coach Kuroiwa needs him. There's a reason he picked the specific members he did, so Tenma has to be part of the equation, whether he's played soccer before or not.

But what kind of person would a soccer-less Tenma be? Let me tell you, probably not the chirpy guy we know.

In GO timeline, it's shown he practiced soccer alone with Sasuke, so it's safe to assume he honestly didn't have any friends who wanted to play with him. He's a bit of a "weird kid". The one friend we know he made in elementary was Aoi, and she got interested in him after she caught him playing soccer and grew to admire his passion.

No soccer means no close friendship with Aoi right off the bat, which would make adapting to Inazuma feel more lonely. No soccer means he's got nothing to show his parents that he's doing well while they're away and paying for all his expenses, either.

In the soccer-less world he's part of the /calligraphy/ club of all things, clearly roped in by Aoi, so it's not far-fetched to assume that a soccer-less Tenma just kind of... wouldn't know what to do with himself in the grand scheme of things.

He might've tried things here and there. I mean, he's Okinawan, so he might've liked swimming or surfing when he was a kid (sorry for the stereotype, but hey to be fair Tsunami did it too!). He looks like he'd generally be an athletic person, even if he doesn't dedicate himself fully to anything.

And that's realistic, too. It's a situation many teenagers go through. Seeing everyone be enthusiastic or passionate about something, while you don't even know if there's anything that you want to be doing in life. In this case, with no close friends and without your parents' reassurance or presence, on top of that.

So his condition to join Inazuma Japan could be something as simple as "I want enough money to be able to try out every activity/career/etc. that could interest me". What he REALLY wants is to find something that makes him passionate and lets him make friends — but he doesn't know yet that soccer will become exactly that for him.

The Moment he sees Shindou and Tsurugi do a Hissatsu together, though, completely in sync and with full trust in each other, is when he would think to himself that 'soccer can make people grow /that/ close, huh...' and inevitably get attracted to the idea of playing the sport.

Except, you know. In early Galaxy Shindou fucking hates everyone and he would be no exception. Any attempt to make friends with them and play real soccer with them would be met unkindly.

However, there's also the fact that Shindou can only rely on himself & Tsurugi for scoring this time around — and you need at least 2 players to pass the ball, so he can't hang back and play defensively like in normal Galaxy.

With 3 out of 4 of InaJapan's DF having never played a sport at all, and the 4th one being an injured ex-boxer, Tenma is the least irritating person to trust with defending. As much as it still irritates Shindou to have to trust anyone from this team.

And... you know Shindou and Ibuki's arc, with Ibuki trying to prove himself to Shindou? Yeah, in this BOTH Ibuki and Tenma would be trying to prove themselves to him askskdkdkfkf. I could imagine them ending up having some sort of rivalry to see who can become useful to the Raimon duo faster.

I don't know but the idea of Tenma just... getting to develop a close friendship with Tsurugi and Shindou way later than usual, but it ending up feeling completely natural for all of them, would be so sweet and sad at the same time,,,. almost to the point they feel there was something "missing" in their lives before getting to meet each other 🥲

I have no idea how the season as a whole would develop, especially regarding the Tsurugi kidnapping and 'betrayal' stuff, since Tenma plays a key role in it originally, but... that's for future me or someone else to figure out

Either way: my point is that I still think Tenma wouldn't grow to like soccer itself to a crazy degree like his GO self. Rather, he loves the connections that it lets him make, and thankfully fate allowed him to get to play the sport :>

[fabraies-archive]

LESS THAN ZERO

notes n warnings ❅ *: snowboarder! reader x coach! Iwaizumi, all fluff and cute winter wonderland theme, a little angst, heavily inspired by Taylor swift’s folklore album, bad pacing as always, areblogs are always appreciated, and I hope you all have a great ski season! wc 4.2 k

part 2 of snowflakes are kisses from heaven

DAY 1

You hated this voice. Echoing all over the ski slope, everyone could hear it loud and clear: you had not managed to keep up with the public’s expectations. The distorted voice continues calling out the podium winners, eventually taking a break to build the suspense when he gets to the gold medalist. The gold medalist that should’ve been you.

“First place! Chloe Kim of the United States of America!”

You look down to your feet as the Chinese translator takes over, and play with you bronze medal. You’re not mad at her. You’re mad at yourself. 'If onlys’ quickly fill up the entire functioning parts of your brain. If only you had worked harder. If only you had listened to your coach about this and that. If only you had worked longer. If only you hadn’t brushed off the criticism online. If only.

Looking back at the past months, disappointment takes over. You’re about to enter a self-deprecating inner rant when a someone grabs your hand, and you almost feel bad for wishing it would be somebody else.

“Are you thinking of getting off that podium anytime soon? Or maybe you’d rather sleep there.” A deep voice chuckles. You don’t find it funny.

“Iwaizumi.” You nod, acknowledging his presence. You don’t want anything to do with him at the moment. You two had built some sort of a friendship throughout the games, playful banter making up most of your conversations, but right now, you don’t feel like it. Especially since he’s Chloe Kim’s coach.

“Who pissed in your cereal?” He jokes, again, and this time, you don’t bother answering. You don’t have to, because he gets it. You wish he didn’t. Iwaizumi puts his hands on your shoulders, and continues, “Come on! Don’t act like third place is bad! These were your first games, you’ll have plenty of time to get first place at any other time.” He tries to make you see the bright side of things, knock some sense into you. It doesn’t work, as you just decide to shrug his hands off instead.

You can’t stand the act you’re putting up in front of him anymore. You take off your helmet, step down from the podium, and there it is. The disappointment comes by again, because if only the step was a little bit bigger. Maybe you would’ve been more satisfied then.

“Of course you’d say that.” You scoff lightly, “Your trainee just won. For whom, by the way, I’m very happy. Really, I am. But you didn’t have time after your first Olympics, and that’s why you’re on the sidelines right now. There’s a fifty fifty chance I might end up like you before the next Olympics. So excuse me, but no.” You turn on your heel shortly after that, not expecting the conversation to go any further.

“I get it.” He calls out to you.

For a while, you don’t say anything. The cold mountain breeze blows softly, the snowflakes silently settle on your hair. You realize you forgot to put on lipbalm this morning, and carefully reach up to your lips. The bumps you feel with your fingers confirm that they’re chapped: even more so with the cold. 

Hajime catches his breath before starting again. “I get it. You’re an athlete, our careers end early. We don’t have much time and that’s how it is. It’s unfair. And that, is exactly why you can’t let this get to you. You don’t have time to bitch and moan.” He couln’t help adding a personal aside; “Besides, you know, for somebody who’s never been at Olympics before, you actually did great; I don’t mean to discredit Chloe but, she’s been there before. You haven’t.” 

“I guess” You mumble quietly. You don’t dare look at him. His gaze is unsettling, his dark eyes never leaving yours.

“Bye, now.” Your attempt at indifference is laughable. Your voice is weak and lacks authority, your words sucked into an empty void as you wave your hand dismissively. You begin your walk up to the Olympic village, and his voice makes way to your eardrums once again. 

“Meet me at this exact slope tomorrow, at midday. I want to tell you something.”

DAY 2

Your indexes press both your temples, your elbows lying on your bathroom counter. You look at the time, then back at the mirror, only to find it reflecting an image that doesn’t satisfy you; at all. Concealer, foundation, setting powder, color correcters- you had tried everything, if not more, to get rid of the awful panda eyes you woke up with, but nothing worked. 

At this rate, you were surely going to be off the rocker by midday -which happened to be the time at which you were supposed to meet Iwaizumi. You take one last glance at your watch for good measure, only to find out you had a measly quarter of an hour before you’d have to leave. You have 10 left when you realize you’re a desperate case. 

Who were you trying so hard for, anyway? You stop dead in your tracks. Who were you trying so hard for? Iwaizumi? Surely not. You feel your cheeks and the tip of your ears get hot at the thought. Inhale, hold, exhale. And again. You repeat this action a few times, in hopes to cool down, clear your head, but it’s not easy. The fact that you’re running late for the meet-up is not helping, either. You’re considering taking a rain-check on it, because you just realized you’re probably in love with someone else’s coach. 

“Probably”, smoke forms itself in the cold air after  the words escape your lips. “Probably.” you repeat, in an attempt to reassure yourself.

The next time you catch yourself thinking of your impromptu ‘crush’, you’re going up a mountain, the subject of your thoughts staring right back at you. 

“A penny for your thoughts?”

The question almost makes you snicker. Iwaizumi had coined this expression after hearing it on an American sitcom you two had watched not too long ago, and your heart aches at the memory. You had no doubt that if he even had an inkling of what was going on inside your head, Hajime would’ve been out of your sight before you’d even be sure of your feelings. You suppose it won’t make much of a difference, considering you’re to leave in a day from now.

“I wouldn’t even sell them for a million, forget it.” You narrow your eyes at him.

At this, the bulky man raises a brow. “So you do have something to hide ?”

“Drop it.” You warn again.

You can see his mouth slightly parting, ready to shoot you another remark, attempting to find out what exactly is clouding your mind, when the lift doors open, and one of the cable car drivers usher you out of the cabin with a disapproving look.

You elbow Iwaizumi in the ribs, asking him what exactly went through his mind for your presence to get such a reaction out of the driver.

He doesn’t answer, and instead grabs your gloved hand to drag you through the woods until you reach a tiny ski shed. It’s slightly old, and the wood is close to giving out, the color slowly fading from a nice brown to a dull grey.

The inside is a nice contrast to the cold outside, and you don’t wait a second to come in and find a tiny loveseat while draping a duvet on yourself. 

“By all means, make yourself at home.” Hajime says. At this, you stop moving, suddenly realising how impolite you were being. You raise your head, only to be met with a handsome grin. “I’m kidding” he finishes. 

You reply with another smile, turning your head to the tiny scratched square window on the right. The sky is oddly bright, the clouds acting as a screen, reflecting the light. It’s truly a beautiful sight to behold, the snowflakes fluttering down to land softly on the rim of the window. Over time, the snow clumps together to form a thick blanket over the frozen grass. The snowfall is so harsh it only takes a few minutes for the layer to thicken until it’s already reaching 15 centimeters. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Iwaizumi whispers. 

“It is.” You answer. 

There’s no need for any of you to fill the empty void of silence after that. You fall into a comfortable atmosphere, and it feels like a dream neither of you want to wake up from. You can feel Iwaizumi’s soft stare, and few seconds later, you feel your loveseat dip, and a head fall on your shoulder. you tilt your head, questioning his behaviour, but the slow breathing indicates he’s already fallen asleep. 

“Maybe I do like you.” You whisper to yourself, your eyes running over his features. It’s a risky move, but as far as you’re concerned, he’s supposedly asleep. Your heart swells as you notice the droplets of snow on his eyebrows and eyelashes. You don’t think you’ve ever seen anybody this beautiful before. His delicate lips are the last thing you see before you fall asleep yourself. 

You wake up, and it’s noon. By then, you’re sure you’ve fallen in love with Iwaizumi Hajime. 

“Hey sleepyhead. Look, I’ve talked to the cable cars staff and the last lift is in 15 minutes so, we should get going.” A tall man opens the door and speaks up. You don’t have to open your eyes to know it’s the man that’s been occupying your thoughts for the past day. 

You relunctantly get up from your comfortable seat, and put on your jacket, and head out to the cable car station. On the way, you can’t help but ask a question that you’ve been keeping to yourself ever since earlier this afternoon. 

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” You start, fiddling with you fingers. It hadn’t been your goal to pressure him into telling you, but your curiousity took the best of you. 

“Won’t tell you until you tell me what was up with you on the way up here.” He crosses his arms on his chest, determined to know what was up with you. 

You raise a brow, clearly unimpressed with the chantage attempt. “I’m not telling you.” You stay firm and focused. You would rather die than have anybody know about your crush about your opponents’ coach, let alone the man himself.

“I guess I won’t tell you what I wanted to tell you, then.” He says nonchalantly, playing with your nerves. You don’t give in to his game, and shrug, “fine by me.”

It was not fine by you.

DAY 3

“Are you sure we’re even allowed to do this?” You shout over the wind, snowboard in hand.

“We used the lift last time and the guy said it was fine. I asked him about it again this morning and he said it was also fine. Don’t stress.” Iwaizumi answers, adjusting his ski glassware.

You huff. “I’m not stressing. I just think it’s very irresponsible, ‘s all.” Your maternal instincts take over as your hands settle on your hips, as if you were scolding a child. “And, your injury. I don’t want to be blacklisted by your twitter stans, they are terrifying.”

He doesn’t do anything but laugh, until he speaks up again. “Thought you were actually worried about me for a second.”

“You wish” A grin takes over your face, which is quickly mirrored by your interlocutor; “A man can dream” the black haired man sighs, looking up. It doesn’t take too long for him to wake up from his daydreaming, as he shuns you forward, and indicates for you to get your snowboarding gear on.

You consider questioning his words from a few seconds ago, but quickly decide against it, and wordlessly comply and count the seconds until your partner was done as well. The view in front of you is breathtaking. Far off, you can already see the steep sides of the mountains and their sloping sides and rounded ridges. They’re not snowboarding friendly, you know that, but their beauty is so captivating, as if they’re beckoning you forward, begging you to come their crooked tracks. 

The slopes are untouched, yet to be used, and a fresh even layer of snow broods the land. In moments like these, you remember why you’ve been doing this for so long, why despite the losses, you’re still out there, competing. 

“Come on! We don’t have time to loose!” Iwaizumi’s voice fills the short-lived silence, and you start worrying. 

“You said the cable car driver was fine with it! Why would there be time to loose?” You reply, fastening your helmet. 

“I said the cable car driver was fine with it, not the security!” 

You let out a frustrated grunt, unheard by Hajime, who’s already on his way down the slope. In this moment, you can’t find yourself to be mad at him. Not when he looks so happy, so carefree. He’d always looked slightly off ever since you met him, as if he was he was missing something, a particular little thing. So little, but so important. It now hits you that the particular little thing has to be snowboarding.

Iwaizumi is halfway down already, and you get ready to try and overtake him. A few tiny jumps, and you smoothly start gliding on the snow. You’ve always loved it. The speed, the adrenaline, the risk. By now you’ve amassed an incredible amount of said speed; you’ve always been used to things going by pretty fast, but even by your own standards, your eyes start to widen: maybe you’re going a little too fast after all. 

You know you have when you suddenly collapse in what you thought was a tree, and land face down in the snow. The wind is knocked out of your lungs when you realize you can still feel the tree. Have I hit it so hard I uprooted the tree?? You start panicking. You were already in trouble for going down this slope when you weren’t supposed to -which your coach would definitely kill you for- and now you were supposed to deal with an uprooted tree? How unlucky could you even get? 

A slight groan from the supposed tree gives you an answer: incredibly unlucky. 

“Could’ve been a little nicer,” he laughs a little, and you wonder how he still has the energy to do this despite being hit by bulldozer; you. “I’m not as young as you.” 

“This,” You take some time to recover from your irregular breathing rhythm, “This is all you have to say?” 

“You’d rather have me yell at you or something?” He quirks an eyebrow, “Besides, I’m not too mad about how this whole thing ended up.” At this, you feel his hands go up to your waist, and only then do you realise the compromising position you two were in. 

“Shut up.” You seethe, getting off of him and attempting to hide the flustured expression your face is bearing. 

The task proves itself to be harder than you initially thought, as both of your snowboards get slightly intwined. 

“Let me- Hold on, just-” His slightly out-of-breath tone is making your heart beat at a pace that you are sure was probably much faster than the speed at which you hit Iwaizumi. Your faces are so close to each other, you might pass out. He looks slightly shaken as well, because he holds on to you. Puts his arm around you, draws you close, and waits. You both close your eyes, and for a moment, nothing happens. 

The only things to be heard are the ruffling of the trees and the wind’s whistles. You wish you could stay like this forever. You can’t even bring yourself to think about the fact that this isn’t how it should be. This isn’t right. But if it isn’t, why does it feel so normal? 

Your helmet makes a noise, and you realize it’s due to both of your helmets blocking each other from getting any closer. Talk about a cockblock.

“The thing I wanted to talk to you about. You know, yesterday, on the lift?” You start. Your hands feel moist from the nervosity wrecking your brain, but this time is right. You’re obviously not the only that has enjoyed this ‘encounter’, and you had drawn two conclusions out of this fact: number one: you probably do have a shot with him after all, and number two: you should probably shoot it soon. Soon as in, right now.

“Oh. Right. Yeah, I have to say something, too. But, you-, you can start.” The position that has him laying on his back adds a slight edge to his voice, and you’re not sure if you feel incredibly attracted by it, or if it’s a sign you shouldn’t confess after all.

“Well. There’s no easy way to say this, and feel free to stop me any time because honestly, if you get weirded out, I won’t even get mad, like, this so out of the blue and totally weird so really just-“

A mechanical click is heard from the woods, behind one of the trees, causing both of your heads to whip to the tree’s direction. A black shadow, and suddenly, nothing. That’s what you see. However, it’s enough for you both to understand: it was a paparazzi.

The cozy and comfortable atmosphere you two had created had now vanished an record time: you two were soon enough messily getting off each other, running back to both of your respective hotels. This was not good. It couldn’t be.

DAY 4

The one time you desperately wanted to be wrong, you weren’t. Your coach woke you up at a whooping five am, with 46 messages et 6 missed calls. Out of the impressive amount of messages you could make out a link to an article; Oh, this definitely was not good.

Your first reaction is a scoff. Star Crossed Lovers? How cheesy could these boulevard journals actually get? Your second is to pick up your coaches incoming call.

“Mind to explain? In what world does somebody get so reckless? With Iwaizumi, no less? Look, I know you’re upset about that bronze medal, but this was not the way to bring the attention back to you. God, how could you just-, what were you thinking?” The rest of his rant you don’t hear, drowning out his voice. All you can think of is Iwaizumi.

You just ruined his career. He had to retire from competitive snowboarding, and now, because of you, he’s going to have to let go of coaching, too. All because of you.

“I-I’m sorry, coach. Really. I know this is bad timing, but I really have to go.” You let out, bracing yourself for yet another storm of anger.

“You have to go? You cannot be-“ you hang up shortly after, having had enough of his grating mechanical voice.

You skip the bathroom; you don’t have time for casualties, you need to get to Iwaizumi as soon as possible. All throughout getting ready, you think about the fact that you would not have to get hastily ready if you had Iwaizumi’s phone number.

You take your jacket off the hook, grab your room’s key, and head out. You try your best to avoid the overwhelming stares. Some flash a sympathetic grin, and others opt for a glare of disdain, such as the woman sitting by the reception of the resort, seemingly waiting for someone else to arrive.

“You should be ashamed of yourself. You couldn’t stand for our Chloe to have the spotlight for a second, could you? You couldn’t steal her medal, so you stole her coach, didn’t you? You poor girl.” The woman comes up to you. The tone of her voice is unforgiving and unyielding. Soon enough, you notice the American flag embroidered on the sleeves of her jacket. She’s part of the American delegation, that’s why she’s blowing a fuse and having a go at you in public.

“Do we have a problem here, ladies?” An amiable voice from the back echoes in the reception.

All of a sudden, the woman, who, just a second ago was standing tall facing you, surrenders, muttering out a ‘no’ and soon leaves.

You turn around and, sure enough, it’s the man you’ve been trying to bump into. He takes your hand and, had you not been in your current situation, you would have felt the butterflies swarming in your belly.

“Come on up, we’ll go to my room, I’m sure they won’t give us any trouble there.” He proposes with a stunning smile, seemingly unaffected by the recent events. You stay in place, unable to move or speak.

“Assuming you’re here to talk to me, I mean. In light of recent events.”

You nod.

It doesn’t take too long until you both reach his suite, and only then does the long-awaited conversation start taking place. “I know about the article, by the way. You didn’t need to come up all the way here and deal with them. Appreciate it, nonetheless.” Iwaizumi reassures you.

“That’s.. great. Awesome. Could’ve avoided all that if I had your phone number, though.” You hold the sleeve of your left arm, unsure where that confidence came from.

“Is that your way of asking for my number?” He chuckles, “You could’ve just used social media.”

“Is that your way of rejecting me?” You comically imitate his last question, “And, not a fan. Besides, your accounts are all set in private.”

“So you did check.”

“You wouldn’t have accepted me either way.”

“What makes you say that?” Hajime tilts his head to the side. “After all the lifts I had to negotiate for you, and you think I wouldn’t have accepted you?”

You shrug. Now is not the time to give in to your delusional tendencies. “Isn’t this what friends do?” You ask, and when you turn your head around to face the brunette, you immediately regret it.

He looks dejected at the conclusion you’ve drawn from the past few days.

“What nice friends you have, then.” He doesn’t waste a second, and gets up from the bed. Clearly, you weren’t the only one that had suffered from an emotional turmoil this week. Your heart jumps at the realisation that Iwaizumi most probably likes you back, and also that the current situation you’ve found yourself in.

“No, I just- That’s not what I meant-“ you reach out to him, in vain.

“I get it. I’m not a child. We don’t feel same way about each other, and that’s fine. I can deal with it, I’ve been there before. Go back to your resort.”

“That’s not-“ you protest, but with a single hand movement, he silences you again.

“Go pack. You leave tomorrow.” The tone is unusual. It’s cold, hard, unwelcoming. It’s an order.

You’d be a fool to walk out of this door. Don’t walk out on him, the little voice in your head says.

“I like you back. I’ve always liked you.” You whisper. And with that, you walk out. Hajime doesn’t try to call you back.

DAY 5

You had never felt so homesick. Not even browsing the airport shops can help you feel better. Every tuft of black hair reminds you of him. You can’t shake him off, and feel like going crazy. The rest of your delegation won’t talk to you, presumably under the pressure of your coach, who was still incredibly mad at you.

The only one who hadn’t succumbed to peer pressure yet was a pretty and quiet girl by the name of Kiyoko. She mostly only listened and hummed as a sign that she was really listening, but that was more than enough for you.

“I just feel like shit for not having done more. I don’t know why I walked out on him. But like, at the same time, why wouldn’t he chase after me you know? If he really likes me. But maybe, maybe I was just being delusional the entire time and turns out he never liked me at all and I literally got it all wrong!” You gasp at that, “Oh my god. I would die if that was the case.”

You turn to kiyoko in panic, and hold her shoulders. “Do you think that was the case?”

In classic kiyoko fashion, she only blinks, and lets out a small ‘no’.

“I mean, even if that was the case, it’s not like I care. Like, Spencer Reid is hotter anyway.” You bite your fingernails, “or is he? Kiyoko, who’s hotter, Iwaizumi or Spencer Reid?”

“I don’t know who Spencer Rei-“

“I’d say Iwaizumi.”

It’s him. The only back tuft or hair you had been looking for in the swarm of people in the airport. You don’t have time to answer, because he takes your hand, and pulls you closer by the waist.

“I’m not sure..” you hum, “I think Spencer Reid might be a little more-“

Your words are drowned out by the sound of Iwaizumi’s lips smashing into yours. You relax into the kiss, and put your arms around his neck, pulling him as close as humanly possible. The scent of his cologne is addictive, and you would’ve stayed like this for centuries if it weren’t for the crowd.

“I’m sorry I didn’t chase after you like I was in a Hollywood movie. I thought you might want space.”

“You’re not forgiven.” You smile, and the grin he wears in response is making your heart jump out of your thorax.

Who knows if he never showed up what could’ve been?

©234423zip ALL RIGHTS RESERVED do not copy modify or translate my work/theme

A/n: I swear I really am on a semi-hiatus. This was just like 3/4 finished so I just wanted it to be done and posted

[saltygilmores]

Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls, Season 2, Episode 13 ("A Tisket A Tasket") Part 5, I Give Up

Just for funsies here's Jess calling Dean an idiot and Idiot admitting it.

Before I continued to slog through this absolutely mind numbing DALA (Dean and Lorelai Affair) episode, I uttered 6 words that I hope won't come back to bite me in the ass: "This can't possibly get any worse." Ahahahahahaha. There are 14 minutes left in the episode. I'm fucked. I've been on this one way too long and I'm determined to finish this. I'm just going to enjoy this Literati on a Bridge break. I'm going to my happy place where Dean doesn't exist and Rory is an orphan because Lorelai (and Chrisopher) don't exist and every episode is just 45 minutes of this.

"I'm so much happier here." R: "Why were you screwing with Dean an hour ago but you're suddenly being nice to me?" J: "Well it's the screwing with Dean that's an important step to getting here so I could be nice to you."

Ugh he took the fucking Quarter On A String so now I have to suffer through that fucking Lost and Found episode. God damn it Mariano! Why are the pretty ones always so dumb?

Did I mention that he is so pretty. I'm legally obligated to say that at least twice per Jess Episode. After Rory and Jess part ways, we cut to Rory returning home with a bag from the bookstore and Lorelai immediately shifts full gear into Weirdly Suspicious & Passive Aggressive Mode. When Rory admits she visited a bookstore and had a slice of pizza with Jess (oh the horror!) then goes to her room, Lorelai immediately shuffles her passive aggressive, suspicious little feet right in after her. 90% of the time that Lorelai and Rory meet to talk on their couch after Rory has just departed from the company of Dean or Jess, especially at night or at the end of the episode, it means Lorelai is about to dish out some horrible, horrible wisdom/life coaching. The Couch is where we have witnessed many classic mother-daughter bonding moments, such as the time Lorelai asked Rory to make sure Jess got his rabies shots before she slept with him. Ah, the couch.

Mmmm yep. *collects money*

SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH. Here we go. I think it was the great Michael Scott who once said, Why are you the way you are? Honestly, every time I try to enjoy something fun or exciting, you make it...not that. I hate so much about the things that you choose to be.

Ya know, I stan Rory more and more lately with how she stands up for Jess. Sorry your mom's a bitch. How many more tmes I can rant into The Void about Lorelai's unhealthy grudge with Jess? How many more times can I point out that Lorelai has only had one prolonged interaction with Jess, while she's known Dean twice as long and he's been rude and used a condescending tone of voice with her many times, including the first time they met (on Willy Wonka night) and it literally just happened again moments ago. It's just mindblowing to me how she will not let this FUCKING GO and SIXTEEN years later in AYITL when she is married to his uncle she is STILL making digs at him over him being rude to her when he was 17, joking about how he should have a baseball thrown at his head.

I honestly don't think I could love Rory Gilmore more at this point. Bless her rationality and sweet heart and cute rose sweater that looks like a swirl of that strawberry icing you squeeze over instant oatmeal. Are you witnessing a historical moment right now? The birth of a Rory Stan? Sort of. It won't last forever, but since I won't go past season 4 anymore, then yes.

The "things she's seen and heard" are just her regurgitating what Dean told her 5 minutes ago. LOL. She just took this kid's word as gospel, without even questioning it. The DALA is so fucked up, man! Lorelai is way too concerned with the lives of teenage boys! If Dean told Lorelai to jump off a bridge would she do it?

I really wish this were my gritty unrated Gilmore Girls spinoff titled The Hollow because I would have someone on this show actually acknowledge that Jess is honestly something of a miracle. His father abandoned him as a newborn, he had a tumultuous, negligent, inconsistent, possibly even abusive upbringing. His mother drank while she was pregnant with him. He grew up watching unsavory men in his mother's life circle in and out like a revolving door (according to Liz The Worst, one of them even died). Yet he doesn't turn to any real crime, drugs, alcohol, or even sex (okay, well bless his heart he tries there but people seem to cockblock him at every turn). HE SKIPS SCHOOL TO WORK AT WALMART. In real life kids like that are really lucky if the worst path they go down after that kind of chilhood merely involves them stealing loose change from an old fucknugget like Taylor Doose who deserves to be stolen from anyway. That bridge should have been fixed 10 years ago. Here's some of the train wreck. There were no survivors.

If Dean needs someone to talk to that badly he can get a diary or a dog or a sock puppet or like, one fucking friend his own age. I think half of the issues of this show could be solved if these people had more friends. Can't Taylor Doose swing some kind of town wide Bid-A-Friend Auction? Or emotional support animals?

Sure but like, did you ever stop to think that you and Dean are actually his only "enemies" and it's completely one sided because he couldn't care less about you, and also, your enemy is a 17 year old boy and you're a full grown adult lmao. Crazy lady. I wonder how Jess feels knowing he's the most exciting thing that's ever happened to a town full of boring nobodies who will go nowhere and do nothing while he will eventually makes millions of dollars from his best selling novels that get turned into blockbuster movies. Maybe someone will even make a movie about his life. I'm going to think about who could play Milo/Jess in a movie about himself while Lorelai yammers on and remains in denial about how insane she is. What do you think? Lorelai says Rory is "So young and naive, so nice and gives everyone a chance"; what she's really saying is "Jess doesn't deserve a chance, not even from you." I stoppped watching at this point and only skimmed a few more seconds. I saw that Rory stormed off, Lorelai and Rory fight over it at FND, Emily is confused, Lorelai says "I didn't like Dean at first because I didn't know him, I don't like Jess because I know him." You know what, there are times when this show starts to get my under my skin so much that I’m just not enjoying it and there’s no point in finishing the episode. In conclusion, Lorelai sucks and ruins everything and my number one Hill To Die On will continue being that Dean and Lorelai are sleeping together because there is no other logical explanation possible for why she talks about him like this. Goodnight!

Edit: guys, sorry that I was so enraged with Lorelai The Worst that I managed to gloss over the fact that Rory and Jess went on a Book Shopping and Pizza PRE-DATE 😍😍😍😍 THEIR FIRST ONE!

In my Gilmore Girls spinoff The Hollow we would see every minute of every Pizza and Book date and pre-date I promise you this 🥰 No skimping!

[littledoggy-girlcollar]

a counterargument: colin bullied nate pretty relentlessly, including physically. nate was openly scared of colin in the for the children ep. not that that makes what said okay, but he also apologized to colin afterwards.

you know i did think about this when writing the post so here's my thoughts on that:

you're right, colin did bully nate in season one, but unless i totally misread shit (which, possible, i did watch a lot of it fairly late at night and watched the other part of it while writing an essay), the bullying was explicitly ring-led by jamie, and was stopped pretty much entirely by roy yelling at them in the club. as far as i remember, there was nothing specific that colin did that jamie and isaac didn't, and while i also don't remember a full apology to nate, it also seemed like they all got along fairly well afterward, especially after nate's promotion to assistant coach.

and then the Headspace episode happened. i had thoughts abt what i was going to say and then i went "hey lemme pull up the episode to make sure i have that right" and i forgot those thoughts and now i have new ones and they're way more thesis-y than i thought they'd be so here we go!

nate is a bit of a dick to colin during practice, following some ribbing of nate's new nickname of the "wonder kid," coming from him mispronouncing "wunderkind/wonderkind" (as far as i can tell these are the same word? just different spelling?). dani, jamie, and colin all make essentially the same joke, but colin is the only one that nate gets mad at. could this possibly just be because of the lingering resentment from the bullying last season? sure. but colin actually goes to nate's office to figure out what he did wrong and if there's something else he should be doing, and nate literally tells him he did it because dani and jamie have more talent and recognition than he does (incredibly paraphrased). my rant about how colin could end up being THE most inspiring member of the team if the show/the character decides to go that way will be saved for another post, but in essence, nate explicitly tells both colin and us as the viewer that he picked on colin because he doesn't think he has that much power to retaliate, and nate's position as assistant coach gives him a level of authority over colin as well.

crazy. almost like a role reversal over here or something.

anyways, beard calls nate on his shit, nate apologizes to colin in front of the team, the apology is accepted. in all, it was kind of a one-off thing that was resolved fairly easily, and i am realizing that my view of that specific instance may have been clouded by the rest of the episode, but there is one more point i want to hit on before we get to that part, which is that: colin is a gay man in a sport with (from what i've heard) no visibly out queer men, and nate had no way of knowing this, but that probably made his comment cut deeper than he even intended. i know in season three colin says he doesn't want to be some big statement or representation or whatever, and i think that's totally fair and if the show wants to stick with that i think that's chill, but i do still think telling a closeted gay man that "you aren't special, you don't inspire anyone, shut up and do the work" would have a biiiiit of a mental impact beyond just the visible hurt we see from colin as he leaves. again, this bit isn't necessarily on nate since he didn't know and may not have factored it in even if he did, but to me it's just kind of another drop in the bucket of "wow this man is just saying anything now cause he's got an outsourced sense of superiority."

and that's actually where my main problem comes from. because after the apology the team gifts nate a jersey with "wonder kid" on it. and they are happy about it, and they think it's cool, and they give the credit to will (the kitman, you know, nate's old job) for coming up with it, and will says "it's a pretty awesome nickname." and then nate sees one fucking negative meme on twitter, in a flood of literally hundreds of positive ones, plus headlines and fucking podcasts praising him to high heaven, and nate goes "clearly will was trying to embarrass me, guess i better go physically threaten him so he never does that again."

because he's an insecure prick that doesn't actually believe in himself or have self-confidence. he's done a bit of growing, sure, and he can stand up for himself and voice his opinions a bit better now, but despite his stupid fucking posturing and spitting in the mirror (cause its tough? a metaphor for him hating himself? whatever it's fucking stupid) he gets all of his confidence from other people. he hasn't internalized it yet. he feels good when ted praises his ideas, he gets overly insecure when roy does literally anything, including give the proper credit to nate, feels lighter than air and higher than heaven (i don't usually invoke holy shit this much the show must be rubbing off on me in terms of metaphors) when everyone is praising his name, and it can all be ruined by one comment from his father and the same picture of his face on the internet only this time it's saying shit instead of giving him glory. so he's hearing all of this praise from pretty much all corners, and he feels good about it, but he can't hold onto it. he can't internalize it. so when he sees a sliver of criticism, it all goes out the window, and he doesn't want that! that makes him feel bad! so he has to get rid of that, too, and the easiest way to get rid of it is to turn it around on someone else. someone with less power who won't fuck you up and who doesn't visibly have enough support to come back at you (because while i love colin, we really don't see him shine on his own that much. and neither does nate). and sure whatever nate's dad is a jerk to him and childhood issues shut the fuck up that's a grown man with an actively growing support system. which he throws under the bus like five seconds later by the way.

anyways. my point here is really that the episode is kind of a perfect summary of nate's character at this point in the narrative. he's abusing his power out of some weird sense of superiority one good win got him, he's got enough humanity to realize (re: be forced to realize by a large man with a beard and ability to disappear from offices) when he's fucked up no actually hold on. he literally only apologizes cause coach beard confronts him on it and is expecting it. he wouldn't have done this otherwise and we know it because look at how he's treated will literally since he got there. ok sorry for the detour that hit me literally as i was writing and i don't have the energy to go back up and revise to fit that in. so: abusing power, will apologize when made to by those he still views as having more power than him, externalizes all of his self-concept, positive and negative, and continues to take out all negativity on anyone he views as having less power. WHICH AGAIN FUCKING SUCKS SINCE THAT LITERALLY USED TO BE HIM IT'S LITERALLY "WELL I WENT THROUGH X SO YOU SHOULDN'T GET Y" BEHAVIOR FUCK OFF. GOD. okay i need to end this before i get real fucked up about it ok closing statement.

yes, colin bullied nate in season one. yes, nate ostensibly apologized to colin and colin accepted. no, the reason this grinds my gears isn't necessarily the colin thing specifically, but the situation is kind of a microcosm of everything that's going on in the world of nate, and is therefore condensed, and therefore saturated, so it sucks more ass. yes, i understand that pretty much everything i've laid out is why nate is such a well written character, but that doesn't make him a less shitty person. i'm sure i had more things to say and forgot them so if you wanna ask questions shoot.

[pucktoxicity]

https://www.tumblr.com/pucktoxicity/759056822999171072/httpswwwtumblrcompucktoxicity759017398395404

gonna push back a bit, respectfully, of course…

For Toffoli the writing was on the wall…

It came out that he and the Devils couldn’t come to an agreement on term and as soon as that was known I think it was pretty clear that he wasn’t gonna stay because he was gonna walk at the end of the season anyway, Fitzgerald needed to make sure he wasn’t walking away for nothing and so the trade happened.

Same with Marino unfortunately…

As soon as the Devils were all but confirmed to get not only Pesce but also Dillon and the Kovacevic signing, Marino’s time was up. There just wasn’t any room for him with all those additions. Plus, with Markstrom as the new goalie you needed to build a D core to defend shots that he can’t save and that’s where Marino’s statistical weakness is.

And finally with Holtz…

They’ve been trying to trade Holtz since the Timo Meier trade last season. Holtz was part of that package but the Sharks wanted Fabian Zetterlund and Holtz was also included in the original packages for Markstrom but again Flames wanted Bahl more. So if you’ve been trying to trade someone for over a year…the trade is sadly not a surprise.

I say all this to mean none of that background or writing on the wall exists for Dawson Mercer.

Devils GM has been very vocal about Mercer not being on the trade block. Nashville came asking for him and Fitzgerald said no. He said he won’t include Mercer in any deals.

Plus we don’t have a log jam of forwards like we did with defenseman.

And he pretty definitively said he was done with moves for the off season.

We also have to remember Dawson Mercer’s agent is also the agent of like seventy other hockey players including Matty Beniers so this man is doing negotiations for several unsigned players at once so it may be just a there’s a lot of work to do rather than the numbers or terms being far apart.

I hope we get the announcement soon that he’s signing and we can all stop being anxious!

I hope my response wasn’t rude please let me know if it is I just wanted to provide some context as to why those trades happened and why the Mercer situation is nothing like that.

omfg please you can push back all you want!! that’s why we’re here!! i don’t mind at all, and i love having discussions about trades, player moves, contracts, etc. because it’s interesting to see what other perspectives are out there.

i’m really intrigued that toffoli was expected to go, because i actually was unaware that an agreement couldn’t be reached. all i’d heard was that it was “unexpected,” and i thought that meant he was surprised by the trade, not that it could’ve meant it was unexpected that an agreement couldn’t be reached w someone of his caliber/veteran presence in the league. looking back at it, the latter makes more sense than what i was hearing, so you just cleared a lot up for me! 😌 and on holtz… i know he was going. i thought even before/leading up to the trade deadline, he was gonna go before then, but i just hoped that maybe if he’d somehow reached an agreement in the offseason or something happened, or fitz and the team believed things could change with a new coaching staff, etc., but you’re right. they were trying to get rid of him for a long time, and i think because i’d interacted with him so much & gotten to know him as a person and an athlete, i was in major denial lol. i was like no way they’re getting rid of him 🙂‍↔️ things could turn around, but it was loudly obvious he was gonna be leaving, just a matter of when. (same with john, i think after the trade deadline was when people said he’s a good player, but not what we need, and as soon as free agency started, it was inevitable, especially with how large john’s contract was)

okay you brought up kevin and that was an interesting (not shocking, but shocking in that he got us markstrom) trade, so i have to ask you: did you think he’d be in the deal for markstrom? or did you think come free agency we’d use him as a trade bargaining chip for someone else we needed come this season, and someone else would’ve been used for markstrom? i did not expect us getting rid of him for markstrom but definitely welcomed it, because now we have better d-lines. kev was the nicest guy, and a huge guy, but not the strong defense we needed for sure.

and YEAH. i need a mercer announcement soon, but i know that pat brisson is BUSYYYYY right now lmfao, i could not handle his job!!

i’m having fun, please give me more trade and contract analyses of our team because it’s nice to see it from such a technical, straightforward perspective and not the perspectives of reporters or fans or whoever who might have bias. very refreshing, 10/10, no notes. let’s do this again please 😌

[standbyric]

[PART I]

01: After that Maiden Win

Pairing: Daniel Ricciardo x Female!Driver OC x Pierre Gasly Premise: Formula One, Female Racing Driver Rating: 18+; Mature themes (explicit language, death, trauma innuendos, motorsport accident, mentions of sex) Timeline: Back and forth Word Count: 3.4k Sum: The last sentence Daniel could make up was Zea saying, 'I made a friend!'. Yeah. He reckoned they were friends now. Friends with the twins, he meant.

⬅️ Chapter 00 | MASTERLIST | Chapter 02 ➡️

“THE blokes from Audi are throwing a party tonight—“

“—Did you know?”

Michael Italiano gave Daniel a puzzled look when his friend’s response was far from the topic. “Know what?”

“She was apparently raised in Melbourne—so yeah, that explains her accent—and she knows Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Hey, I do a bit of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.”

Daniel hadn’t peeled his eyes off the screen of his laptop. He’d been scrolling through the Wikipedia page—and basically any internet page he could find—of ‘Zeahire Sinaga’ since entering his driver’s suite when his eyes shot sparkles as he seemingly found something in common between him and the lady.

Keeping his puzzled look on, Michael decided to finish cleaning up, rolling the resistance band before putting it back inside the travel bag. His friend-slash-client’s behaviour had amused him, to say the least.

“So, will you be going?” He returned to his first question, hoping it’d be enough trigger for the Red Bull driver to avert his attention from the screen finally.

“What?”

“Maybe instead of googling or Wikipedia-ing the person, make an effort to talk to her?” Michael said with authority. He even crossed his arms. “You know two seasons have passed since she made her debut? And you never talked to her. What’s with the sudden interest?”

Exactly.

Daniel had always been the paddock’s certified carefree guy, but for the past two seasons, he’d been so focused on racing that everything else disconnected for a while. Yeah, he wasn’t the best student at school, but hey—he did know how to focus on his goals, especially after ranking below his teammate, Daniil Kvyat, last season on the Driver’s Standing. 

“I don’t know what you’re on about, mate.”

“I’m going.”

“Going what?”

“Her victory celebration party,” Michael threw his arms up, expressing his subtle frustration.

It was Daniel’s turn to give Michael a puzzled look. “You know people from Audi? I didn’t know you’d been talking to them.” Not to belittle anyone’s affability, but it had been an open secret that Daniel is the most outgoing driver—hell, person even—on the grid. And even he hadn’t been buddy-buddy yet with the people from Audi. Blame it on the heated competition and the fact that the team was only established last season; he simply hadn’t the time. 

“Yeah. Elijah. I know him.”

“Elijah, who?”

Michael chuckled. “Her performance coach.”

Well. Birds of a feather flock together, Daniel thought.

“Wait, why are we even talking about this again?” The Aussie shook his head because it had almost felt like Michael was onto something.

“Because… it’s an open invite…?” Michael bit his lip before continuing, “and your newly-found interest in her?”

Daniel gave Michael a side eye, trying not to lose his cool over…whatever his performance coach’s tone meant just now.

“Yeah, like I’m interested in Lewis, Seb, Rosberg? Look, she gave me one hell of a competition; you saw how she overtook me in turn 11. It’s natural for us drivers to do our research.” Yeah, right, Sherlock. Even Daniel thought that came out sounding absolutely like a stupid little excuse. Whom was he kidding?

“Alright, mate,” Michael put his hands out front, gesturing his backing down, “I’m just informing you that it’s an open invite. You’re free to show up.”

“…Yeah.”

By the time Daniel arrived at the bar, it was already getting dark. But the music was still on full boost, and he could even make his Team Principal, Christian Horner, chat with whom he assumed to be Abelard ‘Alby’ Krüger, Audi’s Team Principal. 

He was greeted by Sebastian Vettel upon entrance, who was sharing a conversation with Lewis, Romain Grosjean, and Sergio Perez, each holding a glass of alcohol. 

“Thought you weren’t gonna make it, man.” Lewis gave him a fist bump. “Saw Michael alone.”

“Yeah, had to make rounds with my parents; you know I’m that filial,” he chuckled. “Congrats on P2, mate.”

Lewis shrugged his gratitude, swivelling his glass.

“Got his ass handed by Zea on that last corner. Saw the re-run, and you were struggling there, mate,” Sebastian chipped in, sounding amused. “How does it feel? Getting your ass handed by a woman?”

“Come on, man. I have nothing against female drivers; you know that. Besides, we all got our asses served. On a nice, silver platter.”

The five drivers laughed. No lie to that statement, after all. The first woman who managed to sit at the top of the podium since 1980. She had displayed some solid driving. Perhaps a little too solid for their comfort. But to Lewis’ defence, he was running on an old set of softs for that last three laps when Zea out-paced him to take the chequered flag.

Daniel had also come to fancy himself a glass of alcohol as he continued engaging the others in conversation. The night soon deepened. 

“So, are you not going to talk to her? Horner looks interested in her.”

“So is Toto, apparently,” Lewis added his own observation to Sebastian’s statement, finding his Team Principal already within the circle.

Daniel finally followed the line sight of the two drivers beside him.

And there she was.

Arms crossed as she stood tall alongside Krüger, her smile full of confidence. She had an air of authority surrounding her toned figure, which, to Daniel’s curiosity, he found…intriguing. 

“It was definitely the mask.” Grosjean interrupted Daniel’s train of thought.

“Not going to blame anyone for keeping their distance from her because she did use to have that, uh, don’t-talk-to-me atmosphere when she had her black mask on last season.”

Make sense.

“She looks much friendlier now,” and the rest of Grosjean’s sentence derailed onto the back of Daniel’s head.

It was as if he was sucked in. 

Her animated expression was back as she answered whatever his Team Principal was saying. She seemed to have the habit of ending every sentence with her signature smile—where the left corner of her lips would lift higher, and her eyes vanish in the shape of a crescent moon—if Daniel were to make a description. He wasn’t very good at expressing how strikingly unique it was. And look at her arm—

“Didn’t know she had a tattoo on her arm,” Daniel muttered. As a self-proclaimed stigmatophile, his love for the ink was up to the extent that he’d keep probing for excuses to engrave new designs on his skin. 

That deep black ink on her stood out in contrast against her slightly brown skin. The stroke followed the line of her arm, with the artwork peeking over her exposed back and continuing to frame along her left forearm. It looked like a depiction of a clock and its gears with Roman numbers.

It looked good.

And whatever that top she decided to put on, that is some pretty figure-hugging top. Clearly, the woman had some fashion sense in her. Also that, is some nice ass—Jesus—jeans, he meant. 

It’s the alcohol.

Happy laughter from the Australian Grand Prix winner across the room snapped Daniel out of his almost-wild thought. Maybe he should, for the sake of sportsmanship, go over and offer her some words of congratulations. He reckoned he hadn’t done that, and he would’ve usually done that as early as the podium.

“Be right back, guys.”

Alby had begun sounding like an overly proud parent, overselling his all-star daughter to rival parents; Christian and Toto.

But Zea couldn’t, and wouldn’t, blame him for that. The poor old man had had to swallow his pride being the rookie despite having more experience in the motorsport industry.

Audi Sport had made quite the name and reputation for themselves in Rally and endurance races, winning worldwide titles. But in Formula One? Yeah, not so much.

Their first season in 2015, after replacing Marussia F1, who had withdrawn that year, quoting Zea; “car was shit, uncompetitive as fuck, and might blow up” anytime she pushed her pace a little bit. Audi Sport Formula Racing (ASFR) was short on funds and people back in 2015, having been unable to rack up significant sponsorship with-what Zea being a newbie… and a woman.

Laughable.

They needed promising talents at low prices and had to make do with fewer personnel. Their budget was tight as fuck, so Alby was looking for bright undergraduates willing to work for low costs. Getting good results on a race day was like combining excellent luck with prodigious driving skills.

Fortunately, Zea was both. 

The result?

She had finished the season with an impossibly possible 100% points rate, squeezing two podiums even, putting Audi alongside McLaren at 5th in the Constructors Standing. 

So, yeah, Zea was more than happy to put on a show for Alby today, seeing her boss had been nothing but her ally throughout those tough times.

The only problem was that—she was getting a bit parched. But her means of salvation from the current situation, namely her not-boyfriend-but-twin Irza, was nowhere to be found.

“Daniel!”

Zea jumped a little before turning her head, following the Red Bull Team Principal waving to someone behind her.

Daniel Ricciardo.

The man had given her a pretty hard time for almost twelve laps before a little slip-up from the Aussie allowed her to pass him at turn 11 today. Well, they say luck is a skill.

“Oh, hey, P4 guy!”

“Ouch!”

Zea chuckled at Daniel’s exaggerated display of her words, stabbing him in the heart.

Jester. As usual. What was new?

“Zea here was telling me how she’s gonna have nightmares of your rear,” Christian said. 

“Oh yeah?”

It was his big grin that had unconsciously tugged the corner of Zea’s lips.

“Wasn’t the same for me, ‘cause she just flew up to P1. Not enough time for me to get nightmares of her rear.”

Ouch. Did he just insult himself??

Zea snorted hard, struggling to stifle her laugh as she saw Daniel keep his grin even after a somewhat degrading remark he had subjected himself to. 

“See, Zea? Fun time. He’d make the perfect teammate.”

Zea coughed out a half smile.

Was Christian really pushing his agenda to recruit the Audi driver right before Alby? Which Zea found ludicrous, to be honest, as the man didn’t even spare her the courtesy of a small chat upon what arguably might have been the best debut season a rookie could have had last year. Come on; she had driven that overgrown lawnmower Audi called a car right up the stairways to Podium. At least Martin Brundle and David Croft had the decency to mention her achievement on the live broadcast, albeit just once. Give the woman credit.

Yet the Red Bull head and a couple of other team principals had jumped on the bandwagon of controversy surrounding her pace. The most popular was weight dispute. From alleging the engine not meeting minimum weight to her weight being too advantageous, seeing she was on the light side.

They had demanded she and Audi be penalised for the car not meeting the regulated weight level…only to be dismissed by the stewards even before they could bring it up to the FIA board. That was because there was absolutely no proof of an engine weight problem, plus her car had been fitted with extra weight to match the male drivers’ average weight. So, yes, no issue there. Quoting Felipe Massa, the only explanation for her pace was, “The kid is fast. Just swallow it. She’s fast.”

Christian might be half joking, for all Zea knew. After all, the man had Max Verstappen—the youngest debutant in the history of Formula One, who had overshadowed her formal debut season last year, in his little pocket. Besides, nah—it had never crossed her mind to race for any other team than Audi.

“I heard they make the fruit punch with pineapple, Zea. You like pineapple, right?”

Nice save, Alby!

“Why don’t you go grab some fruit punch for yourself and don’t mind whatever he said.”

“Oh my, did he say anything?” Her tone was harmless, but it didn’t have to take a genius to understand how bitchy it had meant. “A little mosquito just flew by my ears. Whatever did he say?”

Daniel was the first to break out in loud, crispy laughter, with Christian chewing out a bitter-sounding chuckle after. Superb teamwork from the Audis right there, with Zea immediately erupting in tiny giggles afterwards.

And then, after bidding her smiley goodbye to the other two Team Principals, Zea headed right for the bar. She wasn’t kidding when she said she was parched.

“So… Hello, fellow Aussie.”

Zea took the sight of Daniel as the hunk casually sat himself right next to her. She hadn’t expected him to follow her to the bar. Or was he following her?

“I’m Brazilian—well, half. My mother’s Indonesian,” she said afterwards, deciding that holding a conversation wouldn’t do her any harm.

“You have an Aussie accent. Do Half-Brazilians speak in an Aussie accent?”

Holy mother of icebreakers.

For a moment there, Zea couldn’t speak. Fortunately, she’d been quick enough to prevent her mouth from gaping in disbelief. She was trying to read between the line of his words. The man was a known jester to the entire paddock, so…

But it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since the Brazilian national anthem was played following her podium win. Perhaps he didn’t pay attention?

“…Does it not occur to you that I may have lived in Australia? Hence the accent?”

It was a silent reply from the man as a flush crept up his face. And Zea had started to regret what she had just said. Should she have come up with something witty to counter that instead? But the witty side of her brain seemed to have short-circuited for no reason. She could’ve sworn it had begun as soon as Christian called his name.

“Yeah, sorry, I know… you’re not Australian. Jesus, yeah, that was—that was a really bad choice of topic to break the ice. Damn.” Daniel exhaled loudly, clearly appalled at his own choice of words. “What I mean to say is congratulations on your P1—on your maiden win.”

Zea shook her head as she found her mouth twitch before finally breaking into a wide grin. “Wow—whiewh—that was one horrible attempt at conversation. But don’t worry, mate, I’ve heard worse.”

She giggled harder as Daniel shot her a distressed look laced with his usual humour, “Did you just insult me, woman?”

“I’m sorry, mate. Is it because of the P4? But hey, you still got the fastest lap!”

“Shut up!” he said in mock outrage that successfully sent Zea’s giggle into a full-blown laugh. She didn’t know why she felt the need to rub it on him. She’d found his reaction funny enough for her to keep pushing the belt on the P4 situation. After all, he was well on his way to scoring a podium in his home race.

“Thanks. It’s really nice of you to say that.” Zea genuinely meant that. He’d shown a display of sportsmanship that she needed to see. 

“So, uh, Fruit punch?” Daniel pointed his chin to her glass with a hint of judgment.

“Hey, they really make it with pineapple.”

From the confused look that Daniel was giving her, it was clear that she hadn’t given him the answer he was looking for. 

She made an ‘o’ shape with her lips before returning to the man. “I don’t drink.”

Daniel was surprised like he was deliberately trying not to hide his surprise with both his eyes wide. Zea chuckled.

“It might sound ridiculous, but I’m actually allergic to alcoholic drinks,” Zea had put a hand over her mouth as she said that, half-whispering to Daniel, a little gesture that Daniel found somehow… adorable, with-what all her changes in expression as she said that.

“I almost died once.” 

Jesus, this woman.

Daniel managed to swallow the champagne before her statement could choke him quickly. She had said that a little too light-heartedly that it surprised him.

“Excuse me?”

“From alcohol consumption.”

“Oh?”

“I was hyperventilating, and my obviously dumb brother thought I was breaking some Michael Jackson dance move or something.” Speaking of her brother, Daniel hadn’t seen that not-boyfriend-but-twin-but-regardless-her-guardian all night now. Not that he wished for him to show up now.

“He just got his driver’s license, and obviously, I was the driver in the family. It was so chaotic. He was crying in the car; I was literally fighting against air, but we got to the hospital on time, so I didn’t die. I mean, I could have if he were five minutes late. Then I wouldn’t be here talking with you, drinking fruit punch.”

Again with her light-heartedness. It made Daniel feel like they’d been friends for the longest time.

A little sensation he’d reckoned might be regret began creeping up. Like, what had been holding him up from at least befriending this woman that it had taken him almost two seasons? The mask?

“I… I honestly don’t know what to say to that.”

He’d dragged a giggle out of her. Her eyes immediately disappeared into a pair of crescent moons—adorable. Her head shook, making the number 8 earrings on each side of her ears jiggle in response.

Must be for her racing number. 88.

Daniel had to admit he’d enjoyed this little conversation they’d been sharing a tad more than he thought.  

Well.

Thirty per cent conversation from her side, seventy per cent just him taking the sight of her like she was some anomaly. Not in a negative way, obviously. 

It was just that; she’d always sounded stoic from the bits of radio broadcasted on re-runs. Her messages were short, direct and meant to be on the concise side, so Daniel couldn’t even imagine her capable of being this…laid back. 

“Speaking of your brother… looks like he’s gotten himself company.”

Zea peeled her eyes off the grinning Aussie to follow his pointing chin, albeit reluctantly.

Oh. Her supposedly means of salvation, her beloved twin, engaging in what looked to be some pleasant conversation. With a lady.

“Oho…” She leaned herself onto the bar, her hand supporting her head. A smile was apparent on her face.

She wasn’t going to lie; it had warmed her heart seeing her brother showing interest in another woman besides herself.

It wasn’t long until her starring eventuated in an eye-contact with her brother. 

Irza bid the lady a quick goodbye before walking towards the bar.

“I saw that.”

That was not the first sentence Irza had expected to hear from his twin when he finally spotted her hanging on the bar. The two had been immediately separated as soon as the party started, with him being her agent and all. It was satisfying yet exhausting, dealing with the growing attention in her stead. Zea’s performance had put her on sponsors’ radar; and of course, he was more than proud of her.

His forehead creased as he squinted his eyes, confused at whatever she meant to say.

“Whatever that was, I saw that.”

It was that annoying I-know-what’s-going-on look she had given him, coupled with her annoying hand gesture.

“But, seriously. A handshake? Mate, what are you, five?”

“And you’re drunk.”

“I’m not drunk!” Zea bit back. “I don’t even drink, you dumbo.”

“From the sugar, dumbo. Duh.”

Daniel couldn’t help but chuckle at the exchange. “That’s kinda—err—her fifth glass of Fruit Punch.” He didn’t know why he felt the need to inform the brother.

“Oh, see? Now that explains.”

Daniel comically shrugged his shoulders when Zea glared at him as if he had betrayed her. He grinned back at her.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here before you start lecturing him.” Irza had activated his big-brother card, leading Zea out of her seat, to which she obediently followed. “Sorry, mate, she’s kinda weak with sugar. Hope she didn’t bother you too much.”

Daniel greeted his teeth playfully as he shook his head. He didn’t know what could possibly give her brother the idea that she’d bother him. She’d been nothing but a great company the whole night. Besides, even if she did, Daniel wouldn’t mind, honestly.

“Oh.” Irza turned back. “Congrats on P4, mate. Amazing drive.”

Daniel immediately beamed with a huge grin. “Geez, thanks!” he said, returning Irza’s fist bump as the responsible brother dragged Zea out of the bar. The last sentence he could make up was Zea saying, ‘I made a friend!’

Yeah. He reckoned they were friends now.

Friends with the twins, he meant.

⬅️ Chapter 00 | MASTERLIST | Chapter 02 ➡️

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Updating this now because Japanese grand prix was a mess and I'm so mad at it. I hope this is a good chapter to start this story. And I know, but let’s pretend Mikey had been with Danny since 2016 haha .

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Tag list:

@scotlynaurora @squidwardsluverxx

[lunar-years]

Some people have been taking the "red rope" moment as foreshadowing for Roy Kent beating up Jamie's Father later this season. But now I have a suspicion that TED is going to go ape and throw punches at James Tartt Sr. in the next encounter, probably in tomorrow's episode (and Issac attacking the fan makes that an even likelier possibility for me).

So many people have been seeing the build up and are speculating to a full mental breakdown for Ted, and this would be such an unnerving but brilliant way to execute it: all of his own issues and ordeals left unresolved coming up to catch him, festering inside until the sight of the player he most gravitates towards as his own son is subjected to even more tormenting from his father, especially after Ted has already twice walked away without intervening.

It's not the Ted we're used to or the Ted we would like to see, but he's been struggling more this season than ever before, and everybody has a breaking point, no matter the quality of their support system. Even if he succeeds in scaring Tartt Sr. away, it would generate a complete media blowout with condemnation and support alike. Imagine how Rupert could use that information/display to get others to laugh at Richmond...

Well, as much as I do not want to be like "Well, I disagree with all of your points"...I sort of do disagree with all of your points, anon.

I think if James Tartt Sr. does make an appearance this episode, it will be a more isolated incident and not something that happens in front of the whole team. We had that last season, for one. For two, surely, even if Richmond can't ban him from other stadiums, they've absolutely taken precautions to ensure he doesn't get near the dressing room or Jamie during or after a match again. He might be at the Man City game, but I don't realistically envision a confrontation there.

I do think it is very very likely James Sr. is brought up and discussed and involved somehow in the episode's events. Like maybe he starts berating Jamie via texts and calls again, Jamie is off-kilter because he knows his dad will be at the game, or he's afraid he'll run into him in Manchester, etc; BUT...

I imagine if there is a face-to-face confrontation, it's going to be largely Jamie facing it down again, I would hope backed by some of his support system, yes. In this case I think the most likely candidates are Keeley & Roy (& possibly his mother??) because we know already they are a part of his storyline this episode.

I don't think Ted has been spiraling towards full mental breakdown? Since Amsterdam, and then especially since We'll Never Have Paris, we've seen Ted makes leaps and bounds of progress. he's been shown keeping up with therapy, he's working through his Michelle & Henry stuff and making significant changes to his mindset, and he's finally finding joy in coaching again.

To me the state of Ted's mental health was by and large the worst in s2, and the consequences of that breakdown extended into the first part of this season, but he's now well on his way back up. It would not make much sense to have him at his absolute lowest in the penultimate episode of the entire show.

I strongly disagree that Ted gravitates towards Jamie like his own son. I've already discussed that at length in response to a different ask this season, so I'm not going to go into it again here. but yeah, I just don't see it.

I think it's important to remember that by the second to last episode of the show, arcs are winding down, not starting up. I don't foresee a big media blowout with Rupert using it to tear down the club, because we're past the point of return for any of that. I just generally don't see major threads being introduced in the second to last episode when we already have soooo much to wrap up. That's why I think Jamie's storyline is going to be more of a continuation/follow-up to last season's Man City episode rather the introduction of new problems for him. This is the ending, not the beginning.

Not to down on your speculations, anon. Who knows what's going to happen! But my personal belief is that Ted & Jamie's plots aren't really going to intertwine all that much this episode. My like, big hope for them is ONE scene towards the end of the episode where maybe Ted knows Jamie's been struggling lately and he pulls him into his office to check up on him, and they get an opportunity to discuss things like Ted walking away from Jamie & his dad those times. I want resolution for them, I do, I just don't think their relationship is as big of a plot point as others think it is.

[bropunzeling]

if you are still accepting submissions for the writing meme i would love a timestamp a few years after collide the spaces that divide us

-- secret anonymous maggie

of course, please have a time theft snippet, the best and most valuable of snippets:

"So," Matthew says, feet slung over Leon's thighs on the half-decent couch of the lake house they rented for a week. "Your contract's up next summer."

Leon grimaces at the TV, picture on the fritz. The place Matthew picked isn't on a popular lake -- good -- but that means the options for where to stay haven't exactly been updated for the 21st century.

It also means he can't avoid answering the question. "Yeah," he allows.

Matthew nods. One of his heels digs into Leon's thigh. "Do you know what you're gonna do?"

It feels like a cop-out to say he doesn't, but if he's honest, Leon's tried not to think that much about it, especially this last season. They'd had a decent run, a solid second half of the season. Thinking about what he wanted to do in a year or two would've been distracting from the present, from what they could do now.

Not that it mattered, since they crashed out in the second round when Seattle swept them. But.

"Why are you asking?" he settles for.

Matthew digs his heel in again, harder. "Because I have some calls scheduled with Craig next week, and I need to know what I'm telling him about what options I'm considering for next year."

That's -- fair enough. It's not like they had really talked about it, a few summers ago. Matthew's contract was up, but Leon's wasn't, so Matthew had ended up signing something short-term with a decent AAV. Even with everything settled between them, it didn't seem worth trying to risk more distance than they had to. The drive to Red Deer hasn't been so bad, all things considered.

But Leon's not stupid. He's noticed, the last year or so, the way Matthew's talked about the team, the system, the coach, the city. Even if Matthew won't say it in so many words, Leon has heard the itch to get out in every call.

"If it weren't for this," Leon says, resting one hand on Matthew's ankle, warmth shooting up his wrist, "where would you go?"

"But we have this," Matthew says, glancing at him.

Leon rolls his eyes. "It's a hypothetical."

Matthew rolls his eyes back. "I don't know." He pauses, closing his eyes. Flexes his legs slightly in Leon's hold. "East, I think. Closer to family." He laughs. "Somewhere warm."

Warm would be nice.

Maybe it should take longer for Leon to come to a conclusion. Maybe he should be more thoughtful about it. This would mean leaving Edmonton, after all. The team that's been a part of him for a decade. He doesn't know what it's like to play anywhere else, with anyone else. There's a part of him -- growing smaller by the year, but still there -- that wants to win in blue and orange.

But that window is closing, may already be shut. He's had a few years to try; it would be unfair to ask Matthew for more time to try.

And, when push comes to shove, Leon's tired of three hundred kilometers of distance. He's tired of a few games against, a few drives to Red Deer, squeezing every second out of the offseason. He wants, deeply and selfishly, to have Matthew's passes to his tape; Matthew's legs in his lap; Matthew's skin under his palms; Matthew's presence warm at the edges of his mind.

"You should pick some options," Leon says. "Ones with enough cap space for both of us."

Matthew's eyes crack open. "That might be tricky," he says slowly. "You're going to be expensive."

"So are you," Leon points out. "But -- I'd take a discount. If I had to."

"Yeah?" Matthew's tone is unreadable, but the warmth seeping through Leon's body isn't. "You wanna play with me?"

Leon thinks about making a joke, but can't manage it. "Yeah," he says. "I'd like that."

Matthew's smile is small, and pleased, and utterly sincere. "I'll tell Craig," he says. "I'm sure we can figure it out."

[alexbkrieger13]

I was bored so decided to translate the Sweden press conference with Peter. I'll translate all of it. Instead of doing a summary where just the parts I deem important get picked. It's actually easier to do than to think about what to include and what to leave out. Especially when he's talking 😂 Maybe you can make a tag for this? It says much how Peter reasons about both individual players and the Sweden squad building.

"Welcome everyone! Since we started this in 2017 it'll actually be the first possibility to have this kind of camp with allsvenska players, with one exception. We've had before, went to South Africa a couple of times. Then it's been during Fifa dates. This time it's no Fifa date and for us in the wnt management we're very happy we can go through with this. It's not many countries that maybe have activity here depending on budget, and it shows the Swedish federation are very far ahead who can implement this camp. It of course also means at this time we have no game because very few countries have activity. We go from there and will get back with the set up when it comes to training, potential playing of game and so on. But at the moment there's no international game decided.

When it comes to the squad I can also make clear, or confirm, about Rosengård. During longer period of time actually when we started this I've had contact with Renée Slegers, who's the Rosengård coach, and understood it'd be unfeasible that the players from there could be at this camp. Partly it's statutory vacations they shall have and so on. They play Champions League until 21-22 December. So there are no Rosengård players called up.

Peter presents the squad. He just says the players names and their clubs.

And as you can see here Julia Roddar is in Hammarby so she'll be available for this camp. When it comes to Sofia Jakobsson they start up later in San Diego, and I've talked with her and San Diego. So there's a possibility for her to attend. Else it's allsvenska players who are in the squad.

Well, short and concise. We're looking forward and it's that which is nice. Often at this time you maybe look back and so on. But now we want (to go) forward. A World Cup year and an inspiring camp for players to present themselves and at trainings be able to show us you both short- and long term want to be in a A-national team - women.

Press manager opens up for questions.

Q: Peter, a couple of questions: Hedvig Lindahl back in the squad again. How do you view her level right now ahead of a World Cup? To take a spot back in the Swedish squad?

Everyone who has followed this (knows) Hedvig and I had a discussion. We decided, or I decided, that during the autumn I wanted to look at other keepers and let Hedvig get settled in Djurgården and start it up. Then we've had continuous contact and, that which I said then after the Euro is exactly the same that goes now. Which is the demand with a national team is that you shall go with the best players. We're going to go with the three best keepers, best backline players, best midfielders (he actually forgets to say forwards...) and Hedvig is one of those players who is competing, so we've had the possibility to look at six keepers this autumn and it's there we are now. So the three best keepers go to the World Cup. If it's Hedvig or someone else - that, the spring (part of season) and the performances both national team camps but also of course in club teams show.

Q: If it should come to it's between her and someone else, how much will her experiences heading into championships mean do you think?

It's hard to say but experience, that's always something. Then we put performance in a first aspect. Age doesn't really matter. It's the best ones who shall go. We've had for example someone like Hanna Bennison who's very young and who's been with us for a longer time, and she felt very experienced when she came into the squad. It's more maybe how you are as a personality and so on. And Hedvig is a personality who is very skilled in many situations, not only on the pitch but also outside it. But you shall be one of the best keepers. That is the assessment Magnus and I have to do in this situation.

Q: I'm thinking about the squad as a whole. When you see the many new names in a Swedish squad: is it above all individual qualities or is it players who you see could take a clear spot in your clear gameplan and in your way of playing?

That's the initial position of course that we look... Then there's some players, young players, who've been in U23 for example. Hanna Lundkvist we had last time. Freja Olofsson in Madrid who are also competing but can't present themselves at this camp. But the initial position is of course that we look short term, is there anyone or some who could be relevant for the World Cup but also of course long term. And it is very important to see players at trainings. That makes it so you get a comparison. In this squad we have some, like Jonna Andersson and Sofia Jakobsson, who have been with (us) very much. So we get good reference players too and we have some young ones, and we have some we've been keeping an eye on who are a little bit older but who haven't been with (us), like Felicia Rogic and Fanny Andersson, who are two examples. Nellie Karlsson that we've discussed but who now get the chance together with these young ones. So we have a bit different categories of players. But all who go there will probably feel 'Wow I have the chance'. And then if it's now for the World Cup or further on, they'll called up because they're going to be able to play in a Swedish women's national team.

Q: Hi Peter, you have some players from Eskilstuna, a club which doesn't exist (in Damallsvenskan) anymore. How did you react to that message? How do you view those players situation that they're in?

We'll get to see. We'll see what happens. We don't really know if it's going to be an appeal or what it's going to be. So we've picked the squad here today and then we'll see if they remain, where they end up or what it'll become. But generally it's always sad when (club) organisations aren't capable of running their activity like here. But I'm not read up on this. It's essentially an Efd issue when it comes to the clubs operations and that you're capable of running this. For me I feel of course mostly sad for the players, who maybe have rooted themselves and sometimes maybe want a future there. But now it'll be something else. Everyone remembers what happened in Kopparbergs/Göteborg when you were in a chaos period. There maybe some of these players will be too before you know what happens. So the hope is that these players who are called up now will be able to attend the national team camp, meaning they play in clubs so they'll be available. Should anyone become a professional abroad it could be you can't be with (us) here but when it's about clubs (he's talking about Eskilstuna) then, well... It's always sad when it happens but somewhere you haven't done it quite right. That's how it is.

Q: Abrupt changes between topics here. But it's a World Cup going on right now in Qatar for the men. It's been a huge focus on political decisions. Fifa has decided to not allow these captain's armband for example. It'll be a World Cup for you next summer and you have a national team who gladly take a stand in issues that don't have to do with the football. What are you thinking about the situation that's become around this men's championship and does it make it so you have to talk more about different situations ahead of the coming World Cup?

Not in the same way I think. It's like you say here, we'll be at a World Cup in Australia/New Zeeland and then it'll surely be... Then it's Fifa that decide which have its regulations and all. I can just say like this. I think that when this decision was made then if it was in 2011, or I don't really know when, I think it's very strange that an organisation that has both men and women, makes a decision about to put a championship in a country which couldn't really have a women's championship if you say it like that. So already there it has become wrong, so I understand that the reactions have been many for a longer time but... We've been, under our (time) period we haven't been hit by this but... We could go through with the things... World Cup 2019 that was our latest World Cup that Fifa arranged so... Well, it wasn't like that what I can remember at least. I mostly remember the football-wise parts maybe from there but nothing that in the now should disturb the World Cup in New Zeeland.

Q: But it's nothing that you want to decide ahead that we leave the political standpoints at the side or something, so it won't be this messy situation just before or something like that you've thought of with what's been?

Nah, for the time being not but it becomes like a discussion you'll have from the Swedish FA's side and those in charge there, down to Marika and down to us too and at lastly to the girls who I know is far ahead in many of these issues of course. So we'll see where we end up there but it's nothing we're discussing right now.

Q: Hi Peter, you said potential playing of game at the camp. Is there a risk there won't be any games at all?

Well it could be. But because (what) I said... many nations haven't budgeted for this, and then you're going to put a national team together to go there. So I think it's not certain we'll get an international game. Then we'll see if we solve it another way. If we don't get it, it's all the time things we can't affect. We're working very hard of course to get something but if it'll be a game there, against a club team or an internal game that we'll figure out. But the players will get the chance to present themselves also in a game environment even if it won't become an official international game.

Q: A question about a player who can't be with here (at the camp), who wasn't with last time. Rolfö. It was maybe answers from her and you that didn't say so much why she wasn't with. Is it something you can develop now a couple of weeks later?

No, not really. It's like with everything, you have... I mean Magnus and me we work very much and of course all national team coaches, club coaches, have individual talks with players (where) you talk about everything and that's something that we talk about and all. And it's not like we have a Youtube channel where we put all individual talks, which maybe would be easy for many to follow. You have these talks and from that different decisions are taken in the whole. So I have nothing more to comment for that situation so well.

Q: Is there a risk she won't be with again further on for the same reason?

No, absolutely not. It was for that occasion on that decision and this camp she can't attend. So when we call up a February squad I'm clearly counting on she'll be with. It's nothing else.

Q: Hi, I was just going to check. Rosengård's decision, how do you view that and would've you loved to have a player from there?

It was like I said. I early saw that, when the draw took place and we started to plan this camp it was for me obvious that those players shouldn't come along. I think, not us, but Janne here with the men's national team had the corresponding with clubs that gone far and didn't have players with. So for me it's absolutely nothing. One hundred percent support for that club and their players. Because it can become a very long season for them. So the potential national team players in Rosengård would get a very long season. Both with Allsvenskan that halts sometime in July and then we go maybe July 10. Then you're going home to play Champions League and be at it with everything. So for me it was one hundred percent that decision. If Renée hadn't taken it I'd taken it for her.

Q: Me again. It's not so often the mnt and wnt go to the same place like this. You have more Algarve experience. Have you left any tips of your gold nuggets at the coast for Janne?

I don't know but my first experience - sorry Fredrik - then I traveled with Fredrik Madestam by car. That I can recommend to not do. Because that was a little spooky I can say. No but I haven't so much. We'll be close by. We'll watch an international game and so on. To have some little meeting there to talk and discuss. But outside the office complex I don't have any tips there. There are no record stores. Janne isn't interested like me so it'll be another discussion.

oh cool thanks for this

[lecpenni]

gonna post about LEC both changing to League of legends EMEA Championship and the rumoured rosters right now since they're all solid except coaches

firstly the changes to the system are going to make the top teams way better i think, bo3 is better and the system is gonna be interesting, but the bottom 2 are going to be really really shafted and i think there's a higher chance of a rookie team blowing up nearly instantly, see BDS

i like 3 splits with winter and spring feeding into MSI, but i think one more cool thing could be the champion of winter (if they keep at least a 3 man core etc) facing the spring champion to actually qualify, since right now it feels like some teams will use winter split as a testing grounds and might create a "winter split doesn't matter" narrative which i desperately do not want.

summer is ending with something similar in the the big season finals, which I like a lot, and especially because the new format means that you can't coast in off of championship points like G2 and MAD did, which ended up sending what i think was one of the surprisingly weakest european teams ever to worlds, so i do hope winter and spring feed more directly into MSI with that suggested Winter Champ vs Spring Champ to qualify into MSI

but i like the format changes overall, it feels like a good first step and i'm way more into this than LCS's 8 team playoffs that looks like a fucking fiesta until top 2/3/4 and means that a team can coast and play like absolute fucking hogshit until they reach playoffs

anyways roster changes:

wooloo on twitter posted this

which was the final line up for each team as we know right now

quickly ordered:

VIT, HRTS, KOI, FNC

G2, XL, MAD

SK, AST

BDS

and then bigger explanations top to bottom:

BDS:

god it's so good they got rid of xmatty, he looked lost and alone in LEC and played really really badly for almost every game. even during jinx/zeri, but i genuinely don't know if crownie will be an upgrade. objectively? he's better, but his vitality run was really really underwhelming and he often demanded resources despite not using them effectively, depriving his topsides and usually just

not doing well

replacing cinkrof is a clown move, the man was dragging BDS to relevance while nuclearint had the occasional popoff, and the fact that he's teamless is utterly stupid, but whatever i guess people don't trust him after the OG run back in 2017 and then the cursed bds lineup.

if labrov and adam don't show the form they had in 2021 summer and ERLs respectively, bin the whole thing honestly

nuclearint seems like he'll be the "franchise" for BDS, which you know what, you could do worse

AST:

it's such a nothing roster, Finn was good as heck but usually got outclassed if he couldn't cheese a matchup on kled or irelia, 113 was the worst part of kcorp, dajor is Fine and probably a cheap pickup, and kobbe/jeonghoon are the only real chance they have to secure a top 8 finish, which they're gonna fistfight SK for i think

SK:

speaking of SK, after they made a big song and dance privately about hard investing into reaching higher in LEC, coming back in with sertuss is odd. he was fine? but he was just fine, nothing explosive or insane until he got akali, so we'll see if he keeps growing at the pace he has been

irrelevant had a very fucking good rookie split IMO, even if toplane was such a useless island and he crumbled a bit in playoffs, but tbf all of misfits did (rip bunny boys, you will be remembered fondly)

markoon was the shining new star of jungle, glad he has a team, can't wait to see him grow

exakick and doss were really bloody good in ERLs, doss' attitude has already started souring his reputation again, can't wait to see him booted for someone else (this is a joke)

XL:

well XL has my 2 favourite LEC players, Vetheo and Odo, so i know who i'm supporting

patrik/targamas will be interesting to watch after targa's middling worlds, and xerxe's return to EU was undramatic and perfectly fine, can't wait for him to play for 2ish years because he's one of the only veteran jungles left

VTO and odo had great years, and i still think VTO was the best mid player in both spring and summer, so i can't wait to see him be focused by every jungler in the league, and odo to rely so hard on tanks and outperform everyone until people realise a ban button is there

MAD:

i have no clue what to think, nisqy went from a new eu golden boy to winner of the dade award at worlds for a truly horrendous performance, chasy was decent? in NLC but nothing insane or impressive i think, elyoya spent the start of the offseason as the hottest property on the market, only to not be afforded by anyone, and hyli leaving fnatic was an unfortunate inevitability after the absolutely horrible performance he had in groups

but i think the most questionable pickup in the whole goddamn league was carzzy. i personally do not understand why carzzy was ever rated, i don't think the guy had a SINGLE good performance on VIT, and was usually the weakest member of MAD if armut got gnar, so why he's back on mad, with hyli no less is such a huge question mark. i don't really *want* them to succeed unfortunately, but they'll probably get somewhere with nisqy's shotcalling and elyoya's raw mechanical prowess

G2:

letting jankos go was the worst possible decision, but yike is a promising prospect after a good ass year on LDLC, caps hopefully can look more claps again after his insane playoffs run in spring, and BB is right now the second best eu toplaner by virtue of toplane in eu being such a bad role. the botlane is where all the hype is, and if hans/miky show up the way that that 2018 msf botlane did then G2 might have a chance

FNC:

fnatic's roster only swapping the botlane is probably the best course of action for it?

a lot of bad rumours around upset, and the really good temporary performance by rhuckz, and return of the king :)

honestly i think i'm just happy to see rekkles in black and orange again, and rhuckz looked very promising after his performance at worlds, so we'll see how fnatic does after super long of their insane aggression with bwipo and hyli

HRTS:

no clue about how this team will do, but i think they'll be the most fun to watch. jackspectra was probably the best ERL ADC, mersa was insanely confident and looked promising if nothing else?

the big one about HRTS though, is Evi and Jankos

frankly this is the coolest pair of signings this offseason, after it looked like jankos would miss out on spring/winter, and evi being the first ever japanese export. evi's a monster on urgot, a beast on kennen, and honestly was one of the stronger tops in playins and would've been in groups had DFM gotten there. really looking forward to seeing him there!

KOI:

previously rogue, their only change is szygenda in the top lane, which might be an upgrade? in erls and previously in LEC he was both a solid carry player and able to play tank duty, with his gwen especially being feared in the ERLs. besides that, the 4 man core who looked very solid at worlds are staying, so i think KOI are a shoein for winners, especially if jarvan stays in meta

VIT:

when i say i have no expectation of vitality it's because they have a terrible track record. after buying their way into EULCS, fielding middling rosters, having the worst import of all time in Hachani, then scraping into worlds 2018, they have yet to really pop off and show europe anything. but they're a big money team, and after going from last place nji and skeanz with milica and benching comp, to a suprisingly fun and interesting core of szygenda/selfmade/lider, they threw it out the window and spent huge money on alphari/selfmade/perkz/carzzy/labrov, only to bench the only functioning part of that and then sign haru who was

Perfectly Fine

and again, they're doing this again, signing kaiser in support possibly the most overhyped part of MAD, never forget the "i wasted flash on leona, time to run under tower because i need to wait 5 seconds for hexflash", neon in botlane who I'm so happy is keeping an LEC spot, blacklisted LPL jungle prodigy Bo and upper tier LCK CL top player photon, i have no clue what to think

bo's a monster, photon seems to be brutally consistent and likely scrimmed vs zeus and played vs thanatos in LCKCL, so i'm expecting more than i would if they signed a different ERL top

some people are probably already saying "ew random korean player" like they did for malrang and jeonghoon, but here's the thing, random korean player can throw hands with the best, and korean players are usually the best, and the signing makes sense since no LCK teams probably needed a new toplaner except for the lowest tier ones, and spending longer on challenger teams isn't exactly the best path into LCK. point is, photon is going to be good, and probably get signings in korea if he dislikes vitality if he shows up, which vs the caliber of tops in europe, he will

final thoughts:

i like the new format, and the teams have made very interesting changes. as for coaches, the only coach rumour i heard is vitality signing misfit's coaching staff, who were world class and took a team who should've been fighting for 6th and put them within 1 bo5 of worlds 2 years in a row. i can't wait for lec this year and i absolutely am going to support XL and HRTS, but i can't say i'm gonna dislike anyone, except BDS, who are physically unsupportable

TL;DR: LEC has a better format and the teams are exploding and reforming in a beautiful way

[mileapokp1677]

Three Steps to Win You (CH 11)

Title: Three Steps to Win You

Rating: M

Pairing: DaddyChan/Tankhun, Kinn/Porsche, Vegas/Pete

Category: M/M, AU Nerd-Jock

Summary: Accidentally, scientist Tankhun Theerapanyakul embarrassed footballer Captain Chan "Daddy" Knight in front of his coach, teammates and fans. He had to fulfill three tasks from the captain before his apology was accepted.

Chapter 11 

(Chan POV) 

The Next Day 

Chan got up from his bed slowly and in pain. It had been a long time since the last time he had had to compress his thighs and calves with ice like this, and it truly makes Chan feel his age, all 36 of it. But BSFC's victory over Bangkok United in yesterday's match was really sweet and Chan wouldn’t have it any other way. Moreover, not many professional athletes in his age could continue to compete at the top level like this, most of them had to give up their careers because their skills have drastically decreased, or some even had to retire early due to injuries. Chan realized he was one of the luckiest, and for that he was very grateful. So, no complaint whatsoever from him.

Chan was just about to consume a huge portion of vegetables-fruits-protein powder smoothie that had just been blended, when his cell phone rang. It was Don.

“Coach?��

“How are your thigh and calf muscles? I hope you've iced them.” 

“Already did, Coach,” answered Chan while shaking his head in wonder. “I guess, nothing escaped your scrutiny.” 

“Chan, I’ve been training you for almost 14 years, of course I’m aware of your condition. Just like I’m aware that you drained all your energy to guard that United midfielder, ” stated Don. "If it weren't for the fact that I knew yesterday's derby meant a lot to you, I would have stopped you.” 

“Thank you, Coach.”

“Overstraining your leg muscles at your age is not a wise choice, especially when you intend to play in all the games this season.” 

“Understood, Sir.”

“It's a good thing that next weekend there will be no match because of International Friendly, so you can rest more.” 

“Yes, Coach,” responded Chan. “What can I do for you, Sir?” 

“Ah yes. Saturday morning, people from management came to the training ground to give you a notice, but you weren't there yet, so they gave it to me. Since that day we were all so focused on the derby match, I forgot to pass on their message to you.” 

“Oh, what message?” 

“The National Football Federation has decided to give you a special award to honor your outstanding professional football career.” 

Chan was stunned for a moment, he knew he had a good career as a footballer, but never expected the National Federation would want to award him with such a high honor. He felt very flattered and grateful at the same time.

“Chan? Are you there?”

“I’m here, Coach. It’s just that… I don’t really know what to say…”

“You deserved it. When I told you, you’re my pride and glory, it wasn’t lip service, you know that, right?” Again, Chan was stunned. Don is more than just a coach for him, he’s like a father figure, a mentor.

“Coach, I…”

“I’m sure Mr. Krisda already told you about the BSFC offer.”

“Coach…”

“Wait, I'm not done talking... I’m also aware that you want a long break from football. The point is, once you're ready, BSFC is also ready to accept you as part of my coaching team. I'm waiting.”

“Hn,” responded Chan curtly because he knew if he spoke any more than this his voice would crack. Even now, he was having a hard time holding back his emotions.

“Okay, I better leave you and your super healthy smoothie.”

Chan chuckled.

“Coach, if I didn't know better, I'd think you had planted a secret camera here to spy on me.”

“What makes you sure I don't plant one? Good day, Chan!”

“Have a good Sunday, Coach.”

Chan was still filled with disbelief as he finished the smoothie. Usually after breakfast, he would do light exercise and cardio, but he decided to skip it today. He will allow his muscles to rest for the next 24 hours. As he was contemplating what he was going to do to spend his Sunday, the notification on his cellphone rang again. It was a message from the architect firm, asking his permission to call him. Chan decided to just give them a call right away. 

****** 

(Tankhun POV)  

Three Days Later

New Message from Caramello

Tankhun's eyebrows rose in response to seeing a new message notification from Chan, the first in eighteen days, but who's counting, right? Tankhun ignored the voice in his heart that suspiciously laughed at him just now and immediately opened the message from the footballer.

[Caramello]

Ready for ur second task?

Tankhun let out a grunt although inside he was very curious. Before he could reply though, a new message from Chan appeared again.

[Caramello]

Still giving me the silent treatment?

[Tankhun T]

Please ... you’re not that important for me to give you the silent treatment. I'm just busy.

[Caramello]

Ouch!

Tankhun smiled.

[Caramello]

I'll pick you up Saturday at 7.50 AM. Be ready!

7.50 AM!? Is he mad?

[Tankhun T]

Not so fast, mister. You'd better have a good reason for ruining my weekend, and you should tell me clearly what task I have to do. Do you even know my home address?

[Caramello]

I’m Chan “Daddy” Knight, the Captain of BSFC. I have my own way. 😉  

Did he seriously just throw my own words at me? Damn this man!  

Again, before Chan could type a reply, a new message from that... that old man appeared.

[Caramello]

There will be many activities that require physical exertion. So, I recommend wearing something that is comfortable and not designer clothes.

Tankhun gasped.

How dare he? Why, you…

Tankhun never typed as fast as he did at that moment.

[Tankhun T]

One, I never let anyone tell me how to dress myself. Two, I let you know that I can do anything in my designer clothes!!!  

[Caramello]

If you're not afraid they'll tear or dirty, be my guest, Pumpkin. Don't tell me I didn't warn you.  

[Tankhun T]

It’s Doctor! And what’s that supposed to mean!?  

No reply. 

[Tankhun T] 

CHAN! ANSWER ME!  

Still no reply.  

[Tankhun T]

I hate you!  

[Caramello]  

See U Saturday~ 😊 

UGH!

****** 

(Tankhun POV)

Next Saturday 07:30 AM  

As soon as Tankhun saw Kinn and Porsche having breakfast with Pa in the dining room, he's 100% sure that his suspicions last Wednesday – regarding who had informed Chan their home address, confirmed. 

Nosy bastards.

“Good morning… looks like someone still hasn't given up on meddling in my business,” jibed Tankhun, face full of accusation.  

“Good morning, son.” 

“Good morning, Tankhun.” 

“What do you mean, P'? We missed you, Pa, and Kim, so we decided to have breakfast here today,” Porsche replied, his face guilt-free, his lips curled into a wide beaming smile, his eyes as mischievous as an imp.

Ugh, this lil shit.

“Tankhun, come, Kinn and Porsche bring your favorite fried dough stick to eat with the porridge,” requested Pa, as he patted the seat on his right side. “Let’s eat while it’s still hot.”

“Yes, Pa,” answered Tankhun, obeying his Pa’s request. “Where’s Kim?”

“Still sleeping, I guess, but I’m about to wake him up now,” said Kinn. “We haven’t had breakfast together like this for a while.”

Kinn left the dining table to go upstairs to wake their youngest brother.

The mischievous look in Porsche's eyes grew even more intense, and suddenly Tankhun realized the real reason for his brother and brother-in-law's visit to the house early in the morning. Tankhun couldn't help himself not to feel amusement, his pouting had turned into a smile, while continuing to enjoy his favorite fried dough sticks.

"It's going to be spectacular, P'," promised Porsche. “You look great, by the way. Special occasion?”

“Shut up,” replied Tankhun, chuckling at the thought of what would happen soon. His brothers were his weakness, he could never be angry with them for long.

"It's the weekend, and I don't have practice today, why do I have to eat breakfast so early?" Kim grumbled as he entered the dining room and took a seat next to Tankhun. His fairly long hair was tangled, and Tankhun reflexively straightened and combed it with his fingers.

"You haven't washed your face, have you?" asked Tankhun.

"This is your punishment for waking me up so early, please enjoy my face that is still full of drool," replied Kim, still feeling annoyed. "Good morning, Pa." 

“Morning, Kim.” 

Kinn had just returned to his seat next to Porsche when the doorbell rang.

“Ah, right on time,” said Porsche, looking meaningfully at Tankhun.

"Kim, would you please be a sweetheart and open the door?" asked Tankhun sweetly.

“But whyyyy~ I haven’t even had a drop of water,” wailed the youngest Theerapanyakun boys.

“Pretty please?” pleaded Tankhun again, puppy eyes in full force.

“Sometimes I really hate being the youngest, you all take advantage of me,” Kim protested as he got up from his seat and walked towards the door.

Tankhun, Kinn, and Porsche were following Kim slowly, trying hard to keep him from noticing that they were trailing behind him.  

“Good morning, is this the Theerapanyakul residence?”

“Holy Shit!” Kim shouted as he slammed the door loudly.

“Umm, Kim… you do realize you just slammed the door in your favorite captain's face, right?” asked Porsche, desperately holding back his laughter seeing Kim's shocked face.  

“HOLY SHIT!!!”   

TBC

[icyfox17]

Actually, more voice lore, because you’ve triggered a rant.

So we have 5 coaches right, with the comeback stage coach. The lore is that we have 2 og coaches who have been there since the start. The lead singer (male) of one of the most popular Dutch sing in bands ever and the get second place in idol like 20 years ago and has a power voice (female) coach. Nothing is wrong with either of them in actually, but they are more famous, especially in the Voice as experienced coaches, and therefore they not only have a reputation, they have an advantage.

Because the female coach just won back to back seasons. And the male coach is the only person who has ever had people in his team go on to have a big career afterwards (because this man has connections). As in, the Comeback Stage coach, is an ex-candidate of his, who got second place like probably 10 years ago at this point. She was 17 and he got her a deal with his label and she got to do Eurovision and now she got the position as 5th coach behind the scenes. (And honestly, good on her because she had to work to keep that career, people can’t just give you a career if you have no talent.)

Anyway, he also had 2 finalist like 4-5 years ago (has it really been that long? Damn you covid) who also had a career. As in 1 of them started his musical career, but put it on the back burner during covid, might make a comeback after he gets his degree (because again, 17 years old) and the other is now an actor in one of our biggest soap opera’s. Again, nothing on them. It’s just now an unfortunate result, that anyone who wants to get a career out of the Voice, automatically chooses this coach. And generally that means these two titans are trading wins back and forth.

And now we have new coaches who stayed for their second year, after 2 coaches who only did 1 year then dipped. And 1 of them is like the most popular Dutch band currently, so he’s find with getting picked by people. The other coach, however, is the lead singer of a rock band (I think that’s the genre) and he only gets a specific type of singers (which is actually good, cuz it means a new group of people wants to take part in the voice and other coaches can profit too), but generally puts at a disadvantage. And it’s a nice man, so the fact the he has now been cheated out of 3 really good singers upsets me. Especially, when every single year the same coaches get all the good people. Tbf, I always get kinda done with the Live Shows because then it becomes a popularity contest which heavily reflects on which them you are in and it’s way less about the singing (also they can no longer auto tune the shit out of everything).

Anyway, as compensation for my rant, you now also get fun facts. When actually have 2 Voices because television production is split based one language (and boy how I wish we had at least once shared tv house, but that’s a rant for another day). So when have the Voice of Flanders, which is the one I watch, cuz my native langue is Dutch. And then there’s the Voice Belgique, which is the French version.

Also, since the Voice was invented in the Netherlands, I think we might just be ahead on rules and concepts? Like they start here and then spread? Though maybe the Cross Battles are stole from somewhere else? Also, we don’t have a skip feature, they have to do everything. I think that one comes from America’s Got Talent.

-🌲

IT WAS INVENTED IN THE NETHERLANDS THATS SO COOL!!!! I didn't know that omg :0

Ooohh yeah it is true, lives are def popularity over actual talent which is annoying 😭😭😭 but hey ig that's part of being a "star" u gotta be good w ppl to get connections n stuff

But oh man yeah that sounds frustrating:(

That's crazy interesting tho omg :0

[ledenews]

Nailers’ Derek Army: ‘I Have to Protect Our Players’

It’s the replay no one wishes to watch again. Former Pittsburgh Penguin Adam Johnson was on attack for the Nottingham Panthers during the second period against the Sheffield Steelers on October 28. One of Johnson’s teammates collided with opponent Matt Petgrave right in front of him, sending Petgrave into an awkward somersault spin that ultimately ended with his left skate slicing Johnson’s neck. The injury was instantly obvious, and the 29-year-old was immediately transported to a local hospital where he passed away. It was the sport of hockey at its ugliest, and the tragedy reminded Wheeling Nailers Head Coach Derek Army just how lucky he was when he played the game. “After the accident, my wife (Jennifer) finally told me an injury like that has always been one of her biggest fears when I was still playing,” Army explained. “She never said it to me, and I’m glad she didn’t, but it was on her mind. She watched with that fear, and she lived with it all those years. “It was something I didn’t realize because, as a player, you don’t play while thinking about injuries. I knew what I signed up for, and I’m a religious guy so I always said my prayers,” the head coach said. “But when a tragedy like that happens, you can’t help but think about it.” Nailers fans observed a moment of silence honoring Johnson during their home opener last weekend. Johnson played for the Pittsburgh Penguins during parts of two seasons (2019 and 2020) and had played in Sweden and Germany before joining the Nottingham roster this year.  The Penguins paid tribute to Johnson before their game against the Ducks on October 30, and the Nailers conducted a moment of silence for him before their home opener on November 4. Kyle Dubas, the first-year general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, issued an organization-wide mandate on October 31 for all minor-league players in the AHL and ECHL to wear neck and wrist guards. Army, who played eight professional seasons before he was named the Nailers’ interim head coach during the second half of the 2020-21 season, has encouraged his players to comply. “Listen, I don't want to call anyone's parent and have to tell them something like that happened to their son on my watch when I could have done something about it. I have to protect our players and that’s why I have talked with them, and I’ve encouraged them to protect themselves,” he said. “It’s easier than ever, too. “Our players know exactly what happened to one of their own,” he said. “They know what’s possible, especially now.” Most of the Nailers have opted for the turtleneck-style neck guards since the Pittsburgh organization made the protective gear mandatory on Oct. 30th. A Tragic Connection The Nailers enter this evening’s home matchup against Idaho with a 4-2 record following last night’s 5-2 defeat to the Steelheads. The puck drops at 7:10 p.m. inside Wesbanco Arena, and the Nailers once again will be more protected than ever before. “I’ve heard absolutely no pushback from any of the players about the mandate that came from the top,” said DJ Abisalih, the “Voice of the Nailers” and the organization’s media manager. “When we first started talking about it, most of them said immediately that they wanted to wear (the guards), and then it was unanimous a few days later. “There were some players who were affected more than others, and when our own Jarrett Lee wore No. 47 in honor of Adam Johnson, it really hit home in our locker room. Jarrett knew Adam, so our team had that personal connection to the tragedy, and that meant something to these guys,” he said. “The fact it happened to a friend, I think, made our guys want to protect themselves even more.” Dubas’s mandate does not cover the current Penguins roster, and Army doubts very seriously the NHL is considering any forced changes, and one reason why the neck and wrist guards are not more popular these days is because the equipment only now is becoming for comfortable for players to wear. “What I’ve seen since the tragedy is that players who have the chance to wear the neck and wrist guards are wearing the neck and wrist guards because now they are more like a turtleneck and not like a neck brace,” Army explained. “When I was coming up playing professional hockey, the neck guards that were available were awkward like a neck brace, and they didn’t allow for much range of motion. That’s why no one wore them. Fans have been able to tell Wheeling players now are wearing the additional protective equipment during the team's current homestand. “I don’t know if the ECHL will mandate the neck guards, but I know our organization has and that’s why the Wheeling Nailers are wearing them. Pittsburgh (general manager) Kyle Dubas sent out an organization-wide email, and I’m fine with it. We’re lucky here in Wheeling because our owners jumped and got our players the protection they need so a tragedy like that doesn’t take place with our guys,” the head coach said. “It’s team by team. For us, we're fortunate because our organization wants to do this the right way.” Not until August 1979 did then-NHL President John Ziegler announce protective helmets would become mandatory for all players for incoming players, and in 1988, the league made the same gear obligatory for its officials. Are the neck and wrist guards next? “I seriously doubt making the neck guards mandatory in the NHL is something that will fly because the players are used to what they’re used to, but I bet you’ll start seeing a lot more of them now,” said Army, who signed a three-year extension in May. “What happened to Adam Johnson was a freak accident, but it���s an accident no one wants to happen to them no matter how long they’ve been playing to this point. We wear a lot of stuff to avoid injuries, so I think it’ll be included now. “Even wearing the neck guards we have now is an adjustment a player has to make,” he said. “But that tragedy hit a lot of players and made us all realize what’s really possible when you’re on the ice.” But in the Army household? “I’ve already had wrist guards made for my (two-and-a-half-year-old) son, Boone,” the head coach said matter-of-factly. “No doubt about that. He’s not skating with anyone right now, so the neck guard isn’t necessary yet, but when it is, it’ll be there every time. “You have to learn from tragedy,” Army added. “Especially when life is on the line.” Read the full article