#if he was playing soccer it's like he's both playing goalie and forward

[manny-jacinto]

Seriously the vampire baseball scene is ingrained in my mind it looks like it’d be so much fun if it read a real thing!

i think baseball should be the official sport on this website and i think everyone should get interested in a certain shohei ohtani fr!!!!!!!!!

[discokicks]

FOX IN THE BOX — ROY KENT.

PART TWO of ACES AT THE WATER’S EDGE.

(series masterlist!) (AO3!) (series playlist!)

pairing: roy kent x fem!reader (no use of y/n!)

summary: back in 2012, you and roy meet for the first time. in 2023, you sign a one-year contract with richmond and have to work with roy for the first time. both go about as well as you’d expect.

word count & rating: 9.6k, R (roy kent says fuck and does fuck!)

chapter warnings: swearing, light sexual innuendos and light references to sex, mentions of alcohol and partying (the olympians get DOWN in olympic village) minor allusions to what happened to reader at west ham, major football talk, roy kent is rich, original character intros and plot (author really likes a plot, woo boy), angst, and of course, fluff.

author’s note: ok wow, thank you for all the love on the first chapter! wildly unexpected but much appreciated. this one’s got a bit more to it— jumping timelines, original characters, lotta soccer/football talk, reader and roy don’t know how to act (in more ways than one). also did crazy research into the 2012 olympics for this, so no one tell me my timeline’s off or i’ll cry. also also, is roy's sister named molly or is that just evidence that i've read too many fics? whatever it is, her name's molly! thank you again for the love and i hope you all enjoy! love you all tons! -mags

LONDON OLYMPICS. (LATE JULY, 2012)

You meet Roy Kent for the first time at midnight, in a rookie’s dorm room in the Olympic Village.

It’s a seemingly unlikely place for a football phenom like him to be. You’d expected all of those guys to choose to be elsewhere, exploiting their home-country advantage to hang out in their posh flats. But there they were, carrying out their team bonding efforts to prepare for their game tomorrow. 

Knowing what you know about Roy now, it’s fitting for him to have been there. But in this moment, you’re shocked to see the likes of him in Olympic Village. 

It’s a place that’s convinced you that your college career was only good for preparing you for it. And you’re not even talking about the sports aspect of it. You’re talking about the shit-show, chaos-menu of athletes from around the world, acting as though it’s the first week of freshman year.

Despite the fact that alcohol, drugs, and any other traditional party favors are completely off-limits on-premises, it doesn’t seem to deter your fellow Olympians from running the dorms like it’s a frat party. You’re half-convinced you’re going to get a classic ‘who do you know here’ from the trust-fund-looking Australian swimmer you pass getting into your building, but he just sends a heartbreaking smile at you and your teammate as you walk in.

Your team’s fresh off the bus from Glasgow, having just beat France at Hampden Park. It was a hell of a way to open, despite the Opening Ceremony not taking place for another two days. As a younger player who’d proven herself in last year’s World Cup, you were the starting striker in your first Olympic game ever, scoring the second goal of the match and assisting the fourth. The adrenaline of it all hadn’t quite worn off yet. 

It’s clear that your teammate’s feeling the same way. Melanie Rivera, your left winger and for all intents and purposes, best friend, is straight-up vibrating. You’d met during World Cup training, where you two had instantly clicked and she’d taken you under her wing to show you the ropes and what it meant to play at this level. Despite this being her second Olympics, the feeling of a win never goes away. Or at least, that’s what she tells you.

The two of you are practically bouncing off the walls as you arrive on your floor, giggling to yourselves about different things that had happened during the game. Your fluent-in-French full-back telling off a French forward when she got too close to your goalie. The mid-game mishap where some French girl’s cleat went flying. The ‘bullshit’ yellow card Mel had received right before the half (Mel knew it was a fair call, she’d totally pushed that girl). 

“She was asking for it, though,” Mel insists, collapsing onto your bed as you enter your shared room. “Pulling on my shirt the whole game. I have two rules. Two. Don’t—”

You roll your eyes, having heard these rules a million times. “—touch my goalie, and don’t—”

“—touch my fucking kit,” she finishes, throwing her hands up exasperatedly. Her eyes shut with a huff.  “They’re pretty simple. Don’t know why people can’t follow them.”

“Yeah, it’s a travesty,” you reply dryly. Your lip curls into a grimace as you look at her. “You wanna know what my rules are?”

One of Mel’s eyes opens with a knowing smile. “Don’t be sweaty on your bed?”

“Oh, so we do remember,” you say, falsely cheery. The faux smile falls from your face. “Get off. Or at least shower. I want to go to bed and I don’t want to like, smell you.”

Mel rolls off your bed with a dramatic sigh. “Fine,” she relents. “But you can’t go to bed.”

Your expression remains unamused. “And why not?”

“Because the British men’s team is hanging out upstairs,” she states as if the answer’s obvious.

“Right. Of course,” you reply. “So, we’re crashing their team bonding?”

“No,” she says, pointing at you. “Their women’s team crashed. And then Jack texted me to tell us to come up.”

You narrow your eyes at her. “Uh-huh. Is Paige there?”

Mel shrugs, avoiding your gaze. “Maybe.”

“Oh, great,” you say sarcastically. “So, you’re forcing me to stay awake so I can wingman you?”

Mel flops on your bed once more. “Please,” she cries. “Dude, I like her so fucking much. We’ve been texting since the Cup and I don’t know, this year I think I’ve got a chance.”

“Why can’t Jack wingman you? He’s clearly down to set you two up,” you say, sounding a bit whiny. “Also, why are they hanging out here? I thought they’d rent a place or stay at their own houses.”

“They make the rookies stay in the Village their first years. It's for the experience, or whatever,” she answers. That’s brushed to the side quickly. “Also, Jack is a fucking awful wingman. The only type of scoring he’s good at is on the field.” She looks at you expectantly. “And I can’t go up there alone. I’ll look like a loser.”

You gape at her. “You are twenty-seven years old.”

“And I’ll look like a twenty-seven-year-old friendless loser!” When she sees the expression you’re wearing, she tilts on her side. “Say yes or I’ll roll around in your bed.”

You cover your face with your hands, an exhausted laugh echoing into your palms. This clearly is a losing battle, and you decide you’re going to be a good friend tonight. “Fine,” you groan, hearing your bed squeak as she launches herself off of it with a cheer. “An hour. That’s it. And then I’m going to bed and never talking to you again.”

“I can live with that,” she yells, bounding for the shower in your room. “I’ll text Jack that we’ll be up in thirty!”

“You owe me so big!” you reply.

You can hear Mel’s grin when she says, “I love you, too!”

Thirty minutes later, you’re freshly showered and up three floors, standing outside of the rookie’s dorm room. You can hear just how loud it is from outside and you suddenly really feel like you’re back in college again. 

It takes Mel a solid three minutes to work up the courage to knock on the door, something that you’re sure would have taken longer if you hadn’t reached out and done it yourself. She scowls at you, but the door opens before she can cuss you out.

Jack Wilson, Tottingham sweeper and three-time Olympian, answers the door with a wide smile. You’d met him a handful of times due to his friendship with Mel and he was just as lovely as everyone had said. There was a charming sort of awkwardness about him despite his status as a professional footballer, but it made him all the more endearing to you. 

“Glad you finally decided to show,” he said to you two, opening the door wider for you to enter. “Congrats on the win.”

“Thanks,” Mel said, eyes already scanning the small dorm living room for Paige. “What’s up with the team bonding in the dorms?”

You’re also looking around the room, sending smiles to the handful of girls you recognize. “Game tomorrow. Coach wanted us to do dinner as a team, so we ate in that big hall. And we--” he says, pointing to two guys on the couch, “--wanted to see the Village this year. So here we are.”

Your eyes follow his finger to the men, one of which isn’t familiar. The other, you immediately identify as Roy Kent. And his eyes are on you.

He’s easily recognizable, curly hair a bit more tame and managed than the iconic, half-assed mullet he’d had when he first signed with Chelsea. That ever-present scowl only lifts a little when he sees that you and Mel have arrived, but you honestly can’t see much change in his expression due to his drawn brows.

While you’d relied on Mel for the majority of your connections to this new world of football, she’d never really seemed to hang out with the likes of Roy. From what you’d gathered, despite his rather high status, he was a bit of a recluse. Yes, he went out constantly, and yes (if the tabloids were right), he’d certainly dated around, nobody really seemed to know much about him. 

When he’d come up in a team game of ‘Fuck, Marry, Kill’ with famous footballers, Mel had told the group that he was a guy of few words, and of the words he did say, ‘fuck’ seemed to be his favorite. Your friend and teammate Katie O’Connor was ready with a terrible impression of him when she answered with ‘fuck,’ especially after Mel also confirmed that the Gina Gershon news was true. 

You try to ignore this as you go over to introduce yourself to them, despite the fact it’s currently setting up camp in your brain. “Nice to meet you guys,” you say to Roy and the other boy on the couch. Jack takes a spot next to you on the floor as you take an empty chair next to the couch. Paige waves at you from her spot when you sit.

Roy nods at you in acknowledgment. “Good showing out there.”

Jack points at you. “Bloody insane goal you had,” he says. “I think I’d break my back if I tried to do a scorpion kick like that. It was fucking class.”

You grin. “Well, lucky for Tottenham, they keep you on the other side,” you say, then quietly add, “Not that it would make a difference.”

You see Roy’s lips twitch up from the corner of your eye, and you bite back a laugh as Jack physically deflates before you. Mel’s heard your comment and runs over to sit on the arm of your chair, which is conveniently close to Paige. “Ooh, is it shit on Tottenham time? Because I haven’t seen your ass in months, so I got a whole list, man.”

As the two of them begin to argue in the way they do, you sit at watch them with a smile. They’d had this type of relationship since you’d met them back at the Cup, when Jack had flown into Germany to see your final games. Despite the loss, those were a wild couple of weeks.

The moment your brain starts to recount them, you can feel a pair of eyes on you. It snaps you out of your haze completely. Especially when you realize that it’s Roy Kent who’s staring at you once more.

You blink at him, slightly confused by the attention. “Hi?”

He nods at you again. He seems to take a moment to evaluate you, and then, “You overthink.”

“W-What?” you ask. The word comes out clunky and confused.

Roy motions to the TV that’s on across the room, one that’s showing highlights from your game. “Out there,” he says. “You overthink.”

The two of you stare at each other for a moment. You, feeling unbelievably out of sorts and unsure of what brought this on, Roy, secure and casual, like he just stated the weather. 

Before you can question him, he nods at you for a final time, then stands up. “I’m going home,” he tells the group. “You lot better be fucking ready for the game tomorrow.”

Roy’s out of the room before anyone can say a proper goodbye to him, but no one bats an eye. No questions follow. 

Except you, of course. You’ve got a fucking million.

You overthink on the field? Where the fuck had he gotten that from? How had he seen it? While there were some times, yeah, you got a bit in your head, you’d never considered yourself an overthinker. And even if you were, the overthinking produced results, right? You liked to think you were just three steps ahead of everyone else out there. Not an overthinker.

But what made him say that? What had he seen? Was it your hesitation outside the box in the first fifteen that resulted in you losing the ball? Was it the switch you’d made to get to the goal when your right winger had it on the side? Was there a look on your face when you’d taken that free kick in the second half? You were pretty in your head then, but hey, it led to Mel scoring.

Overthinking. Pfft. He didn’t know what he was talking about. 

But then again, what the fuck was he talking about?

The thought of this unknown bomb dropped on you without any sort of answers quickly and completely took over your mind. Criticism about your playing had never bothered you (you were a twenty-five-year-old female soccer player, and you’d had more horrendous coaches than you could count), but this? This was something that literally made you itch. And you weren’t going to be able to scratch it until you knew what the hell he meant.

Before you knew what you were doing, you found yourself practically chasing Roy out of the room, whipping your head around to figure out which way he’d gone. Lucky for you, the dorm’s slow lifts were on your side. 

Roy stood by the elevator, checking something on his phone as he waited. He clearly doesn’t hear you coming because he nearly drops it when you ask, “What do you mean I overthink?”

“What the fuck?” And now he’s staring at you like you’re the crazy one.

“I should be asking you that!” you say, then motion back to the direction of the dorm. “You tell me I overthink, stare at me with no follow-up, then leave? Who does that?” You’re way too animated for past midnight, but you don’t care. “Because even if I was an overthinker, which I’m not, that sort of stuff is probably the worst thing you can do. Not leaving on a note like that is like, rule number one.”

Roy’s brows shoot up. “I wasn’t aware there were rules.”

“Yeah, well, there are,” you reply, crossing your arms over your chest. When he continues to just stare at you, you make a face that you hope will cue him to go on. “So, go ahead. Please explain yourself.”

“Explain the overthinking thing?” he asks. “I thought it was pretty fucking simple.”

You roll your eyes. “No, what made you say that? Was it a play I had? Was it something I did? What did you see? I’m just curious as to—”

“You came up the field toward the end of the game,” he says, effectively cutting you off. “And you made a pass to Rivera that led to another pass, then a goal.”

You nod at him, not seeing his point at all. “Yeah? So? It was a great goal by Katie.”

Roy’s expression turns slightly frustrated, as if he’s annoyed that you don’t immediately catch on. “It was a great goal. But the fucking second you saw Rivera next to you, you started thinking ahead,” he tells you. “So far ahead that you didn’t notice how slow and fucking awful your mark was and that you could have had a better goal if you’d stopped thinking.”

There are approximately fifteen seconds of dead air between you two as you attempt to take in what he just said to you. “So, let me get this straight,” you begin. “You’re saying I’m bad because I think too much about teamwork?”

For a moment, you think Roy’s going to slam his head into the elevator door. Instead, he just turns to the buttons and presses them once more. “Fuck’s sake, could these be any fucking slower?”

You’re too far gone at this point to even be offended. “Uh, it doesn’t matter. You started this. You’re not going anywhere until we finish it. Why does me not being a selfish dick make me bad?”

“I didn’t say you were bad. You’re not. Clearly,” he responds. You note a bit of the classic ‘Roy Kent’ anger laced within his words and it makes you snap your mouth shut. “I’m just saying. You’re at your best when you’re not so fucking nice and when you don’t fucking think.”

Unconsciously, your arms cross over your chest. “I’ve got twenty-two years of playing time and about ten coaches that would disagree with that.” 

Once more, you see the corner of his mouth slide upward as he glances at you. “If that’s the case, then your coaches were all idiots. They weren’t smart enough to let you loose.”

An unexpected warmth rises to your cheeks. But instead of acknowledging it, you ask, “What, like you’d be a better one?” Before he can respond to that, you’re talking again. “And even if all of that were true, I wouldn’t know how to do that.”

Roy’s brow creases. “Do what?”

“Not… think ahead,” you say. “Or not think at all. That being three steps ahead thing is kind of, well, my thing.” You offer a shrug. “The generous, teamwork thing too. I like that. It’s what makes me good.”

Roy continues to look at you, but says nothing. For a moment, all is quiet as he just… stares, almost as if he can see through you. Like he’s privy to something you’re not, or he’s had some sort of revelation about you. You’re not sure anyone’s ever looked at your this hard. It’s a bit unnerving and you have to fight to not avert your eyes.

Before you can begin to further overthink that (god fucking damn it), he’s holding his phone out to you. You stare down at it blankly. 

“You’re showing me your phone,” you state, but it’s almost a question.

Roy rolls his eyes. “Put in your fucking number,” he says.

Your lips purse as you hesitate, but you find yourself reaching out for it. “Is this how you typically do it?” you ask, typing your name into his contacts. “You neg a girl for five minutes straight and then ask her for her number?”

Roy rolls his eyes again, but there’s humor amongst the annoyance this time. “I’m going to text you a time and an address,” he tells you. You hand him his phone back. “Be there on Friday after the Opening Ceremony.”

The elevator had finally arrived in the middle of his sentence and you eye him wearily as he steps in. “Just… show up to this address?” you ask. “Do I get context? Like, what to expect? What am I dressing for?”

“Overthinking,” he reminds you as he presses the button for the lobby. “Just fucking be there.”

Before you can object further or tell him that you were not in fact overthinking, you were just a woman in a foreign city concerned for your safety, he leans forward to stop the doors from closing. He’s got one hand up and has a small smirk on his face.

“And just so we’re crystal fucking clear,” he says. “If I were trying to chat you up, you’d fucking know it.”

Your eyes immediately fix into a glare and the doors close before you can say anything in response. “Asshole,” you mutter to yourself, but you’re already flipping your phone over to see if he’s texted you.

(You won’t know this until much, much later, but Roy Kent let out a loud and regretful ‘fuck!’ as soon as he was five floors down, absolutely cringing at the idea that he used a line like that on someone like you. It plagued him for three years straight.)

PRESENT DAY. (EARLY AUGUST, 2023)

On a day when Roy not only had the strangest interaction of his life with Jamie Tartt in the Boot Room, but he also found out that Trent fucking Crimm would be lingering around all season, he was sure that he was done with surprises at Nelson Road.

That quickly proved to be false, as he soon found that Ted was rounding the team up in the media room for some sort of meeting.

Roy saw Beard as he was leaving the Coaches’ Office and sent a questioning look his way. “Did I miss film on the agenda?”

Beard shook his head. “Nope. Impromptu. We just heard back.”

“Heard back?” Roy asked, watching Beard go to leave the room. “The fuck are you on about?”

Beard smiled at him in the doorway. “We got her,” he said and left with a skip in his step that Roy wasn’t sure he’d ever seen before.

They’d gotten her? Got who? 

Then it hit Roy. Oh. You. They’d gotten you.

You’d said yes. You were joining Richmond. He’d helped convince you. Despite everything, despite all that had happened and everything you two had done, you’d said yes. You were willing to work with him. You were now going to be back in his life for worse or for better. And not just back in his life, but a fucking constant in it.

Then that hit Roy. The reality of it all fucking bodyslams him and it makes his heart race. After eight years of cold-turkey no-contact, he was going to be seeing you every day. After everything he’d done. After everything you had done.

Roy realized then that he didn’t exactly consider this feeling. That he was so blindsided by Rebecca’s request and by seeing you that he didn’t even think about this. It had been hard enough to work up the nerve to confront and speak to you once. Would it feel like that all season? Had you considered this?

But then, he remembered you and how you think about every fucking angle of every situation. You definitely had thought about this. And if you were willing to push the discomfort, the awkwardness, the whatever in order to have this job, he supposed he had to be too.

Roy swore under his breath, turning away from his desk to get his head back on straight. The team was waiting for him. He could mope about this in the comfort of his own home later.

He arrived in the room just as the rest of the team was getting in. The boys were buzzing. Between the news of a potential Zava acquisition and the Trent Crimm book development, as well as whatever this was, they couldn’t seem to stop talking. Roy didn’t blame them. It was a lot for one day. 

(It’d been a lot for him too. With everyone now knowing about his break-up with Keeley, to fucking Trent Crimm, to you, he was surprised he hadn’t gone outside to scream yet. But he presumed that was coming.)

“Alright fellas, listen up,” Ted said from the front of the room, holding his hand up to get everyone’s attention. The team quieted down after a moment. “I know there’s been a lot of talk going around this week. And I know y’all are excited. But I’ve got some more news.”

“I don’t know if I can take any more,” Dani said, sending a wave of agreement through the group. “It’s hurting my head.”

Ted chuckled. “I know. Mine too. And we’re the ones who have to manage all this,” he said, motioning to Beard and Roy who stood against the wall. “But this is good news.”

Good news? That was something the team could manage.

“So, how many of you are familiar with the Women’s World Cup that happened back in 2015?” he asked, eyes scanning the crowd.

A murmur went through the team. “America won?” Colin offered. “Crazy final game that was.”

Isaac pointed at Roy. “You did some shit for Sky Sports for this Cup, right?”

As the boys began to recall this, Jaan Mas said, “Why they gave you another pundit job after that completely blows my mind.”

“Yes, Roy did do some TV work over here,” Ted answered after the laughter died down. “And yes, America won. But does anyone remember what this Cup started to be called?”

It seemed as though no one had an answer. That is, until Beard cleared his throat said, “The Summer of Fourteen, baby!”

Ted snapped at his best friend. “That’s exactly right, Coach. And despite it being the 2015 Cup, they called it that because of this woman right here.”

Ted had brought up what is perhaps the most iconic photo of you to date. It’s one of the first things to come up if you were to Google yourself, a picture that’s haunted you for the last eight years. It’s from the 2015 quarter-final. You’re mid-penalty kick against China, scowl on your face as your foot collides with the ball, blood dripping down your face from the broken nose you’d received moments before. 

(It’s certainly not the most elegant or flattering picture of you that exists, especially when your fellow teammates’ search results yielded photos of them at the ESPYs, but you still think you’ve never looked like more of a badass.)

Ted said your name smoothly as he pointed to you on the screen, annunciating all syllables. “Wildly prolific USA Women's athlete despite her rather short time in the league. And while she was always good, y’know, starting striker since she began and all that—” He chuckled, turning to look at his other coaches, who had knowing smiles on their faces. “—I don’t know. There was something in the water in 2015. Because she just became…”

Ted trailed off, looking for the word. This time, Roy found it before Beard. “A nightmare,” he said, with a suppressed yet fond sort of smile. “She was a fucking nightmare out there.”

“In a good way, of course,” Ted cleared up, earning a nod from Roy. “But, yeah. A nightmare. Wonderful teammate and fantastic playmaker, but man…” Ted trailed off with a low whistle. “We were all glad she played for our neck of the woods.”

Jamie’s hand went up. “Didn’t she just get like, hired and fired by West Ham?”

“Wonderful segue there, Jamie,” Ted said. “Because yes, that is true. She was with West Ham for a couple months. First female coach in the league. Pretty impressive stuff, and it was a pretty big deal. And then something went wrong, and they let her go.” The team made a noise of acknowledgment, all of them having seen it in the news. “And I don’t know what happened, and we probably won’t know what happened, but we knew she was too good to leave the league. Lucky for us, we need a new coach. And she needs a new job.”

There was a wide smile on his face when Sam asked, “So she will be joining Richmond?” 

“That she is, Sam,” Ted replied, earning yet another eruption of chatter amongst the group. “She’ll be joining us on Monday. And while I know you fellas will do everything you can to make her feel welcome and will show her the same level of respect that you show us up here—” Ted pointed to his coaches once more, glancing down at the computer in front of him. “—I’m going to show you why she deserves it more than us.”

A YouTube video of your highlights appeared on the big screen, going full-screen as the quick ad ended. Ted stepped back from the computer, sitting down on the stool behind him to watch along with the rest. 

Your famous 2012-France-Scorpion-Kick goal just so happens to be the first thing up and Roy’s heart nearly stops. It’d been years since he’d seen this clip and he was immediately transported back to the night you two met. A ghost of a smile unconsciously made its way up his face as he watched your body contort to flip around, and the ball soar into the net. It was a goal of pure and utter instinct. You hadn’t thought about it. You just ran in there like a maniac and knew what to do. That one gets an immediate reaction from the team.

The next one is a play you’d set up in the Quarter-Final New Zealand game, with a bunch of quick passing in the box to confuse and rattle the defense. Melanie Rivera had sent you a world-class assist for an even better goal, one that earns you the title of ‘Fox in the Box’ from the past commentator on screen. The next, an impressive goal scored after an injury you’d had in the Semi-Finals against Canada. Then, and perhaps most famously, your assist to Katie O’Connor from midfield to win the Gold. 

And they hadn’t even gotten to the World Cup yet.

The World Cup footage made up the other three-fourths of the video. It was a completely different side of you, one that had thrown caution to the wind, one that had a huge fucking chip on her shoulder, one that was just… insane. In all the best ways and meanings.

Roy’s shock of the day, though, comes after a highlight of you completely blowing past three Colombian defenders. You’d broken the fourth’s ankles with your footwork in the box for a quick goal. Footwork of yours that had been massively improved, Roy noted. And he would know, he’s the one who did it.

Arlo White’s voice filled up the room. “And yet another breakaway goal from USA’s Mean Fourteen!” The clip said. “It’s just remarkable to watch her work this year, don’t you think, Roy?”

Roy felt all eyes on him when he heard his own voice on the speakers. “I don’t know what USA would do without her,” 2015 Roy Kent said. “I’d hate to have her against me.”

It was strange for Roy to hear his own voice mock him like that. And as the team began to cheer for him, he felt a pit form in his stomach. They didn’t even know.

The highlight reel continued for another couple of minutes, and it seemed with each play, the boys became more excited about the prospect of being coached by someone like you. Beard and Ted were evidently just as ecstatic about the development, and Roy knew he had to get on board. Warp his feelings and nerves and whatever else into something resembling his team’s attitude.

After all, he was the reason you were joining.

The lights came up as soon as the video ended, snapping Roy back to reality. Ted smiled at the team. “Alright, fellas. Now, let’s get to work on the welcome party.”

The boys hooped and hollered, each of them getting up to join in whatever Ted had planned. Beard looked over at Roy as the rest filed out. 

“You think we’re ready for her?” he asked.

Roy hated the weird fucking sixth sense Beard had when it came to… well, everything. He made Roy feel like he was completely transparent. “We’re ready for her,” he replied.

Though, he wasn’t sure if he was assuring Beard or himself.

PRESENT DAY. (EARLY AUGUST, 2023.)

You sign a one-year coaching contract with AFC Richmond that Monday in Rebecca Walton’s office.

The news broke that you’d been picked up by Richmond on Friday, something that had completely come alive in the press world. Your face was plastered over all of the papers yet again, newscasters seemed to mention your name every time you turned on your TV, and social media was set on fire. Everyone had something to say about this move and the majority of it wasn’t too positive.

You tried to keep your nose out of it, knowing just how much you did not need to see people talking about you like that. The majority of the negativity was from West Ham fans, wishing Richmond ‘luck’ with the likes of you, others wishing you good riddance. 

If they knew how happy you were to be out of there, you’re not so sure they’d be as excited to let you go.

Though signings on every level in this league were typically more public affairs, ones with major press conferences and coverage, you’d requested this to be quieter. Just a few statements from the people who mattered and a pen and paper. You’d been in the media a bit too much for your liking over these past couple of months, and if you could get some exclusivity, you’d take it. 

Rebecca, thankfully, was more than happy to comply. You’d been in contact with her practically non-stop since you’d called her, and she’d been nothing but lovely to you. Each interaction with her made you feel better about this job, despite the cloud of anxiety that still hung over you.

You’re sitting in a chair opposite Rebecca’s desk when a message from Mel comes through. i always liked richmond better than west ham anyway, she says. paige and i bought shirts and will be at every game. 

A photo comes through shortly after of her three-year-old toddler, decked out in a Jamie Tartt jersey. oliver’s already got his!

You can’t help the smile that spreads across your face, fingers tapping against your screen with a quick response. adorable. give him and paige a hug for me. and i’ll be freaking out so bad at every game that i’m gonna need you there anyway, so i’m holding you to that.

you’ll be incredible. knock ‘em dead, kid.

Rebecca re-enters her office before you can respond with a thank you. She’s got Coach Ted Lasso in tow, who could not be grinning brighter at you. The second you see him, you think about everything Nate had told you during your short time at West Ham, and something within you just can’t believe it. The energy of Richmond had been different as soon as you walked through the door. The good kind of different. And their manager appeared to not be an exception.

Ted greets you immediately with an outstretched hand. “It’s so nice to finally meet you,” he says after your introduction. “I gotta tell you, we’re all mighty excited that you’re here.”

“I think I might be more excited,” you reply, and it’s an honest answer. Or at least, you’d been able to shift your nerves about the job into excitement. You’d only anxiety-thrown up once today. You figured that was an accomplishment. “Seriously. Thank you both again for the opportunity.”

“We’re just grateful you said yes,” Rebecca says. You can tell she means it. “The team’s been buzzing all week.”

The nerves return at the mention of the team, but you mentally scream at yourself to get over it. “Well, I’m just excited to get started.”

“Speaking of getting started, we should probably head downstairs,” Ted says to Rebecca. “I wanna show our new coach around a bit before practice gets going.”

“Of course, don’t let me keep you,” Rebecca responds. “I’ve got a couple more things for you to sign before you leave today, so just make sure to stop by. If you have any questions, my door’s always open, or you can ask Leslie, who you met earlier, who’s always wandering around somewhere.” Her smile gets warmer as she puts a hand on your shoulder. “And we really are pleased to have you joining us.”

You wonder for a moment how a woman like her could have ever been married to an asshole like Rupert, but you suppose that’s a story for another day. “Thank you,” you say again, a bit of that anxiety washing away. “I’m happy to be here.”

Ted leads you out of the office, his tour starting from the minute you exit. He offers a bit of insight into himself and his time at Richmond, his past two years working with Rebecca, then launches into what he knows about the history of the place (and you don’t have the heart to tell him that Rebecca had already done that when you’d arrived). 

The facility is gorgeous, but it feels a bit more lived-in and welcoming than what you remember about West Ham. Everything there was so manicured and monochromatic and sterile. Nothing about it felt like a place you’d want to work.

Richmond is the opposite. It’s bright and colorful and you can hear people laughing as soon as you step down into the lower level. While your nervousness about the team still lingers, you can feel it easing. You’ll see how long that lasts.

You’re stepping into the Coaches’ Office before you even realize it, mind too occupied with taking in your new surroundings and trying to keep up with Ted’s story. You resent the overwhelming amount of relief you feel when you realize there are only two men in the office, and neither of them are Roy. 

One is sitting with his feet crossed up on his desk and a book in his face. The other is writing on a notepad at a separate desk. You’re surprised by the speed at which both of them jump up to greet you as you and Ted enter.

“Alright, Coach, this is Coach Beard,” Ted says, and you meet Beard’s hand for a shake. “He’s one of the guys you’ll be working with this season.”

“Nice to meet you,” Beard says, nodding your way.

“You too,” you reply. Your eyes are drawn to the book he placed down on his desk and you allow yourself to grin. “I love Merlin Sheldrake.” When his brows shoot up in surprise, you shrug. “I’ve got a lot of time in the off-season.”

Beard’s eyes light up. “We’ll get along just fine.”

Your grin grows and you hear Ted’s voice from behind you. “Is that that mushroom book?” he asks. “I don’t think Beard’s ever found someone who reads that stuff too. I guess we’ve now got two Fun-guys in the group.”

You glance over at Beard. “Now it's a Fung-us.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Ted’s hand come up to his mouth as he looks over at his best friend. For whatever reason, it’s clear that the two of them are trying to contain their excitement. Before you can question it, Ted places a hand on your shoulder. “Oh, you’ll fit right in here, Ace.”

The nickname catches you off guard. It’s something that you haven’t heard since your playing days, something that the commentators and pundits loved to call you. It was always a compliment when they said it, but something about the way that your new manager says it makes it sound more like a title than a name. Like that’s what you are. 

It immediately makes you feel welcome and you can feel yourself warm into their excitement.

The other man in the room, who’s been watching this interaction in amusement, steps forward to hold out his hand to you as well. “Trent Crimm.”

Now, it’s your turn to raise your brows. “You’re the writer who keeps calling me?”

A smile that could also be a cringe appears on his face. “Guilty,” he answers. “Just trying to cover all the bases for the book.”

“I get it,” you tell him. “If you still want a quote, I’d be happy to give you one. But I can’t guarantee it’s going to be clean.”

Trent chuckles. “I’ll take what I can get at this point.”

There’s a moment where you almost question what he means by that, but you brush it off. Especially now that Ted’s started talking again. “Roy's running a little late, but I’ve heard y’all already know each other, so we’re not technically missing an introduction.”

That makes you pause. You’d figured that when Roy had appeared on your doorstep he’d told at least Rebecca about your past, and that the probability he’d told the staff was high too. But exactly how much had he told them? Did they know the basics or did they know everything?

You then realize it’s Roy you’re talking about. There was no way in hell he’d told them anything more than what Ted said. That you knew each other. Maybe that things hadn’t ended smoothly. But that was it.

That, at least, gives you a bit more confidence. Ted turns to you and leads you back into the small, adjoining room you’d walked through, pointing at an almost empty desk. “That’s yours,” he tells you. “Feel free to dress it up with whatever you want, and get yourself unpacked. We’re starting practice in about fifteen minutes and Coach Beard and I gotta set some things up, but I’d like to introduce you to the fellas before you start shadowing. That all sound good?”

You grip the strap of your backpack and nod at him with a smile. “Works for me, Coach.”

Ted grins, patting you on the arm. “Glad to hear it.”

And with that, he returns to his desk, making sure to leave the door open as he leaves.

You plop your backpack on your desk and begin to empty out your things. You grab your laptop first and place it on your desk, followed by a couple of knick-knacks and photos you brought along, ones that never felt at home at your desk at West Ham. There’s a rational piece of you that knows you should stop comparing the two places, but the pettier, more aggressive side of you tells it to fuck off.

(You like to listen to that one when you can these days.)

You’re holding a photo of a baby Oliver dressed in a Women’s USA onesie when you hear someone else walk into the room. You glance over your shoulder and immediately regret it.

Roy Kent is standing in the doorway, staring at you like he completely forgot your signing day was today.

Of course, Roy hadn’t. He’d been pacing around his flat all morning because of it. It was actually why he was late to work. But he hadn’t expected to see you as soon as he walked in. In his office. Now, your office too, he supposed.

The two of you just stared at each other for a moment, much like you did when you saw each other again for the first time last week. However, it appears that you’re both acutely aware of the three sets of eyes that are on you two from the other room.

Like you’re snapping into a scene in a play, Roy’s expression rids itself of all surprise. “Coach,” he says stiffly, nodding at you.

Coach. You suddenly remember your previous conversation. It’ll be professional. Civil. I won’t let there be any issues. 

Well, if he won’t let there be any issues, you’re sure as hell not going to give him the satisfaction of causing any.

So, instead, you return his nod. “Coach,” you greet him. As he puts his things on the desk opposite yours, your heart falls into your stomach, “A-Are we…”

“Sharing an office?” he finishes for you. You nod weakly. “Yeah.”

“Oh,” you say, then awkwardly add, “Fun.”

“I’m over the fucking moon,” he deadpans.

You bite your tongue, trying not to retort too quickly to a comment like that. You look away from him and to the keys in his hand and you prepare for the small talk you’re about to force yourself to engage in. “Tough ride in?”

It seems to take him a moment to process the question. The awkwardness of it all lingers. “Something like that,” he answers. However, his gaze is stuck on the picture in your hand. “What the fuck is that?”

Your brows furrow and you glance down. So much for small talk. “This?” You hold up the photo. “Oh, this is, uh, Oliver. Mel and Paige’s son.”

“Fuck off,” Roy says in a way that’s almost inquisitive, though the relief in his voice is palpable. You try to ignore that. “I didn’t know they had a kid.”

You huff a laugh despite yourself, and a bit of weight falls from your shoulders. “You clearly don’t follow Mel on anything,” you reply, then pause. “Oh, wait. I forgot. You don’t do social media.”

“It’s a waste of fucking time,” he says, reaching out to look at the photo. When you hand it to him, he mutters, “I think Rivera would have me blocked if I did, though.”

“Yeah, you’re not wrong,” you say honestly. You take the picture back from him and place it on your desk. Your next question comes out casual, and you can’t help but be proud of how nicely this is all flowing. “Speaking of kids, how’s Phoebe doing? And how’s Molly?”

You’re not expecting the hint of shock on Roy’s face when you turn back to him. It’s as if he can’t believe you’ve remembered his sister’s name, or his niece that you met when she was no more than six months old. You want to slap him upside the head for looking at you like that because, of course, you fucking remember that, but a knock on the door from the other room interrupts your conversation.

Trent’s standing hesitantly in the doorway, notepad in hand. “Sorry to interrupt,” he says, and he appears to be avoiding eye contact with Roy. “But if you were serious about talking, would you be free to do it tomorrow?”

You offer him a warm smile, hoping that’ll contrast Roy’s crossed arms and hard stare directed at him. “Sure thing.”

“No,” Roy immediately says. “You’re not fucking talking to him.”

Confusion takes over. “Why not?” you ask.

“Because no one’s fucking talking to him,” is Roy’s answer, firm, with no room for argument. His eyes never leave Trent. “And don’t try to fucking weasel your way into this team through someone who doesn’t fucking know any better, Crimm. You’re fucking better than that.”

You’re gaping at Roy as Trent nods at you kindly and retreats into the locker room. When you look back into the office to see if you can get some clarity from one of your other new colleagues, you notice that they’re both missing. Ted did say they had to set some things up.

You suppose that just gives you the ability to talk freely to Roy now.

“I’m sorry,” you say, whipping back to Roy who’s already facing his desk. “Has he not been given the O-K to write a book about this team?”

Roy grunts. “He has. But it doesn’t mean we’re fucking talking to him.”

“Well, doesn’t that, like, defeat the purpose of him writing a book?”

“You’re catching on.”

You lean back against your desk, folding your arms to take on Roy’s previous stance. “Oh, I see,” you say in understanding. “This is a Kent Rule.”

He doesn’t have to be facing you for you to know he rolled his eyes. “No, it’s not.”

“Oh, it’s totally a Kent Rule.” You stare at his back as he shifts his shoulders in discomfort. “You hate him, so you’re forcing the team to hate him. Enemy mine is enemy yours? That’s Kent Rule number three, if I’m remembering correctly.”

“It’s a team rule,” he states. “I’m just enforcing it.”

“Right,” you agree, though your voice says differently. “Each person here hates him so much that they allowed him to write a book here.”

Roy shakes his head with a scoff. “Fuck’s sake, I forgot how fucking irritating you were.”

“I’m not being irritating. You’re being evasive.” You only get another grunt in response. Fed up, your frustration at his lack of an explanation starts to seep into your tone. “So, what? I’m just supposed to ice that nice guy out because you say so?”

When Roy finally looks at you, he’s scowling. “He’s not fucking nice,” he says. “And you don’t know anything.”

“I don’t know anything because you won’t tell me,” you argue. 

“My word’s not good enough?”

You glare at him. “Your word hasn’t been good enough in eight fucking years.”

Roy shakes his head, almost in disbelief. “Definitely not telling you now.”

“Okay, enough,” you say, scanning the room and the hall to make sure no one’s watching the two of you. You put a hand up before he can retaliate with anything. “Look, if this is gonna work, you have to tell me things, okay? And we can’t argue here. Not here.” You motion to the office around you. “I can’t work with that shit. Alright?”

For a moment, it’s like you can look into Roy’s mind. You watch him appear to recount last week’s talk, just as you did minutes ago. Professional. Civil. No issues.

“Fine,” he finally sighs, knowing you’re right. 

“Fine,” you reply. You take a breath. “So, if he sucks and you don’t want me to talk to him, you need to tell me why. You can’t just order me around like I’m one of the guys, especially not in front of people. I’m your equal here, Roy. Whether you like it or not.”

Roy shakes his head. “You’ve always been my equal,” he says, though it’s a bit softer. “You fucking know that.”

His words leave a lump in your throat that you’re not anticipating. “Well, you’re not acting like it.”

His head tilts back, eyes falling shut. His shoulders tense up. Heavy sigh. Dear God, he really doesn’t want to tell you, huh?

And then it hits you. Oh, fuck does it hit you. He doesn’t want to tell you. 

And you get why.

Roy’s talking as soon as you open your mouth to apologize for pushing him. “The others don’t know either. I’ll tell you when I tell them,” he offers. “That’s the fucking best you’re getting from me.”

Your tongue feels heavy in your mouth, so you offer a nod. “Fine,” you say softly.

The nod is returned. “Fine.”

The conversation feels finished, but there’s still one more thing you want to say. “And can we agree right here that we’re not going to argue in front of anyone? Just like you said?” you ask. “Like, if you want to pick a fight, just like, pull me into the Boot Room or something. This shit can’t affect the way we do our jobs.”

Humor slants Roy’s expression. “Boot Room fights?”

You roll your eyes. “You know what I mean. Not in front of the team.”

“Yeah, I got it,” he says with a nod. “Fine.”

“Fine.”

From the outside of the office, you can hear the team start to file into the locker room from their gym facility, laughing just the same as when you heard them earlier. The alone sound makes you tense up. Roy narrows his eyes at you. 

“Speaking of,” he says cautiously. “I think it might be time for your introduction. Hope you like primary school-level art done by grown fucking men.”

That takes you out of your headspace immediately. “I’m sorry, what?”

LONDON OLYMPICS. (LATE JULY, 2012.)

Mabley Green. Friday. 23:30.

Wear some training gear.

I can send a car for you so you know you’re not being murdered.

You’d read the three messages you’d received two days ago from Roy Kent about a million times. While you’d replied to him that his sending a car felt very mafia boss and definitely doesn’t eliminate the murder possibility, you’d still gathered up the courage to dress up in your nicest sweats, escape from the Village after the Opening Ceremony festivities, and meet his driver on the outskirts.

(Of course, you said yes to the driver. Roy Kent was fucking loaded and if he were going to be strange and summon you places, you were going to take his free transportation.)

You’d confirmed your whereabouts and situation approximately thirty-five thousand times to Mel, who had nothing but questions for you. 

“Roy Kent. Like Chelsea’s finest, here, there, every fucking where Roy Kent?” That’s the one.

“Is sending a car for you to go to where?” I don’t know, it looks like a soccer field. 

“To do what?” Battle Pokemon. I don’t fucking know, Mel. I think he wants to train me.

“Train you or train you?” Why are you saying it like that?

“Because this has to be a weird hook-up thing that famous footballers do, right?” He made it very clear he had no interest. Also, pause. What about me says I’d fuck on a pitch?

“He could bring an air mattress.” Oh my God, I’m leaving.

But as you arrived to this completely empty field, with nobody but your overly friendly driver, Roger to back you up, you couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. This was weird, wasn’t it? You were meeting up with this guy you barely knew at an abandoned location just because he told you that you were an overthinker? Your mother would be absolutely horrified if she knew. You’d broken just about every Stranger Danger rule she’d set.

However, the second that you stepped out of the car to see Roy illuminated by the field lights, standing with his hood up and a bag of footballs thrown over his shoulder, you knew this was legit. And the anxiety washed away. But a few of the nerves stayed.

“Glad you showed,” he greets, turning to walk to the field as you fell into step with him.

You look over at him expectantly. “So, you are coaching me.”

“No, I’m fucking not,” he says. “I just want to get you out of your head.”

You nod in faux agreement. “Right. Because that’s not coaching.”

Roy rolls his eyes. “No, it’s not. It’s called being a nice fucking person.” 

“Right,” you say again. “Because Roy Kent is known best for his kindness.”

He turns to you. Something sparks in you when you notice that he appears to be humored by all of this. “You should be thanking me.”

“Of course. I’m sorry,” you apologize, sending him a wide smile as you two make it to the field. “Thank you, Coach.” Roy rolls his eyes again and you chuckle softly. “I’ll thank you when I know for a fact you’re not gonna murder me.”

He watches as you plop yourself down on the pitch to stretch a bit. “If I was going to kill you, I wouldn’t have brought a fucking witness.”

“I don’t know,” you shrug. “Roger could be your Ryan Gosling.”

Roy actually laughs at that one. It’s a sound that you’d never expected to hear, but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to hear it again. “I wouldn’t trust him to do that kind of driving. Chatty prick can barely get around London.”

“Hey,” you chide. “He was very nice.”

“He’s fucking incredible. Been with him since my Sunderland days. Still a chatty prick.”

You can’t help but smile at the fondness that’s crept into his voice, but you say nothing about it. You bring your knee to your chest in a stretch and look up at him. “So, what’s the plan here, Coach?”

“Not your coach.”

“Right, sorry. What’s the plan here, Zodiac?”

Roy shakes his head, fighting to keep his lips even. “I want to make a deal with you.”

“A deal?” you ask. “What kind of deal?”

“I’ll train with you until your team's out,” he says. “Whenever our match schedules align, we can figure out a time to do shit until you need to go home.”

Your smile turns cocky. “And if we win?”

He practically snorts. “You’re not going to win.”

“But if we do?”

“Then we’ll train until then,” he replies. “And I’ll give you whatever you fucking want.”

You’re not sure what that entails, but anything you want from Roy fucking Kent? It’s an offer that may be too good to pass up. But still, one question lingers. “In exchange for what?”

“What?” he asks.

You stand, lifting one of your feet from the ground so that you can pull it up behind you in another stretch. “A deal works two ways. Exchanging goods or services and all that,” you tell him. “What’s in it for you?”

Roy shrugs. “I need to train too,” he answers. It's a bit simple, a bit evasive. “That’s what’s in it for me.”

“Oh, c’mon,” you say, “you can’t be serious. You want to train with me just to train?”

“What’s wrong with that?” he asked, crossing his arms.

“Nothing,” you respond, slowly realizing he’s serious. “I guess I just kind of assumed when I heard ‘deal’ that you’d want something in return.”

“Well, that’s all I fucking want,” he tells you. “If I think of anything else you can do for me, I’ll let you know.” 

A mix between a scoff and a laugh escapes you. “I’ll be anxiously anticipating your demands.”

He’s turned to his bag of footballs and crouches to grab one, glancing up at you as he rises. “So?” he asks. “Do we have a fucking deal, or what?”

Your foot goes down as you look at him, evaluating him and his offer. You shift your gaze to the field, to the big lights around you, then to the night sky that tells you it’s almost the next day. 

You have a game in Glasgow again tomorrow against Colombia. You’re out past curfew and know your team would both kill you and congratulate you if they knew where you were. You have to be on a bus in less than eight hours. 

But here’s Roy Kent, standing with you on an abandoned pitch in London, offering to train with you. And what kind of idiot passes that up?

“Deal,” you agree, taking the ball from his hand. “Now, where do we start?”

(mini!) TAGLIST: @tegan8314, @csigeoblue, @confessionsofatotaldramaslut

[celestie0]

I’m using this ask to flaunt how much I love Kickoff! Choso 🥰😋 I know he had like two canon appearances but still 🩷🩷

Something about a silly spacey goalie just 🫶🏽🫶🏽

I just wanna know more about him, I need to take him on a date and get him talking so he can see that I’m the one for him and he’s the one for me 🥺🩷

Anyways (⁠ =⁠｀⁠3´)♡(´ε｀⁠= ) thanks for listening

KICKOFF CHOSO LORE INCOMING JUST BECAUSE BERRY ASKED FOR IT!!!

AAHHH im glad you enjoy kickoff choso :”) yea he has not many appearances but he’s always a vibe xD i actually have a reader on ao3 that asked me if they could write a kickoff choso fic sooo 👀 i’m really looking forward to see what they come up withhh aaa

pls kickoff choso is a very simple man, he had no clue about anything going on when reader slapped tf outta that ren at the bar n splashed kai w alcohol but he wanted to trip some bitches regardless ✋🏼😭 he just wanted in on the fun HAHAHAHA

i looooove the concept of choso being goalie bc he 100% just spaces out 90% of the game when the ball is nowhere near him and then he instantly locks in once he needs to HAHAHA he be LUNGING for the ball. i like to think the reason he became a soccer player and goalie in general was because one (1) person told him he had good reflexes once when he was a kid n he just RAAAANNN w that compliment ✋🏼😭 (omg now what if kickoff choso x reader childhood friends to lovers where reader is the one that said that to him when they were both like five or sumn 🙈) and he’s never been able to forget it since ehehe i’m getting so ahead of myself here pls)

yea i’ve also hc that he doesnt wear his pigtails or hair down on the field but he does like a very low short pony/bun with some layers of his hair falling out of it as he’s playing bc not all of his hair is long enough to tie back. also he’s verrrryyy particular ab his soccer gear, i think most particular of all the players on the team. like he takes his gloves n shiii very seriously haha and sometimes when he’s just chillin off the field, his hands out of habit attempt to fasten velcro over his wrists when he’s not even wearing his gloves bc he’s just so used to doing that all the time on the field ✋🏼😭 i think it’s become a nervous tick for him hahah

OKAY LAST ONE IM PROMISE i think i also hc this before but he’s the second sluttiest of the four soccer boy groupies (choso, nanami, gojo, geto), but he’s kind of aloof n isnt TRYING to get laid so often but he kinda has that mysterious & cute vibe going on that makes him easy target for extroverts 😔😔 poor thing. he’s not complaining though. but also he’s the type to 100% lead you on without realizing it and then be really confused when you think yall were in a relationship the whole time HAHAHA

he thinks kickoff reader is really badass 👍🏼 he doesnt really fw her all that much cuz he doesnt rly know her like that, but he thought her slapping the shit outta ren was hella dope

I GOT CARRIED AWAY W THIS SORRY BAE!! BUT THANK YOU FOR LIKING HIM 🫶🏼💕 HES JUST A LIL CUTIE I ADORE HIM

[extraliga-related]

Do you have any info on Eduard Šalé? I was charmed to pieces by his draft day interview on ESPN and as someone who is likely to see him often in the Pacific, I'd love to know more about him!

FAVORITE CZECH EXTRALIGA ROOKIE!! YES!!

Prone to essay, so... be warned?

Ambitious kid from Brno who was first brought onto the ice by his grandpa. Usually the youngest kid on the team since he kept on joining the next higher tier as an underager. Led to coaches not expecting too much from him, so he put the pressure on himself and made it his goal to not fall into the habit of improving just one area at a time. Quote from when he was 15:

"I'll have to keep working on everything, though. From skating to shooting to stick-handling and so on. Everything needs to be improved all the time."

and when asked about relying on his talent:

"Even those who are talented still have to work hard to get somewhere."

And now we can see where it already led him!!

______________

Got the attitude that he doesn't care about individual rankings or numbers, whether or not he's leading the top-scorer list, just about contributing to the team and succeeding as a unit. No time to contemplate the future but rather focus on each game individually and once it's done it's done, no use to dwell more than a day when all you can do is make adjustments and try again.

Was ranked among the top 5 players for the draft early on, dropped after his numbers in the league didn't add up to much (7+7 in 43 games). Criticized for not producing even though he was statistically among some of the most productive forwards given his ice time averaged about 12 minutes while perpetually being on the 4th line.

It's not on him that the league is inherently hard to play in for U20 candidates and he knows it. Wasn't deterred and kept his frustration in check even whilst enduring a 24-game drought. While the U18 WJC didn't go so well for the whole team, they came back swinging in the U20 WJC and brought home a silver medal. Did admit to crying after losing the final while a teammate vehemently tried to deny it. A kid who's in touch with his emotions! And not afraid to show them!

______________

Some Facts:

previously had the choice to decide between a football/soccer, tennis, or hockey career

was indeed among the top-scorers in Juniors (U16 -> 4th at 21+33 in 38 games; U17 -> 2nd at 27+24 in 39 games; U20 -> 2nd at 42+47 in 39 games)

was only 2nd 2005-born player to step on Extraliga ice

named Tomáš Plekanec as one of his hockey idols, scored his first Extraliga goal against him & his team

aforementioned goal happened while both the youngest (Šalé) and oldest (Jágr) player in the league were on the ice

scored a hattrick against Třinec despite only getting 10 minutes of ice time on the 4th line that game when he was 17, making him the 2nd youngest player to do so

Extraliga Rookie of the Year 2022

does not know how to celly

______________

Already got prior connections to Seattle!

The man who announced Seattle's pick is Robert Kron, another Brno native. And one of the first people to congratulate him was the Kometa Brno legend himself, former goalie and current scout for Seattle, Sasu Hovi. Speaks perfect Czech, once scored a goalie goal, and met Šalé before as he's still around whenever there's a special event (or scouting to do).

______________

Had reasons to describe his game ahead of the draft, might as well tack an amateur view on here:

Left shooting LW (with the option to switch to C) who's still growing into his size but already knows how to efficiently utilize it.

Got the agility and intelligence to read and predict the play, allowing for a commendable transition game resulting in plenty of chances for him and his teammates to score on. Actually channeling all those skills at once (throughout a full match) and cashing in on said chances is something that'll come to fruition further along his path of development.

His stick-handling/shot release is a sight to behold. Can adjust his hands/body any number of ways, fooling the opposition, and still have it land exactly as intended. That is if he doesn't hesitate too long, which has happened. Once he's got the visual analysis while maintaining a fast pace down? Better look out! Needs to apply the same initiative and foresight when skating without puck.

And that penalty shot... 👀

[lam-ila]

hi hi! here's a collection of all the tag games i've been tagged in during the month of Ramadan

i'm not gonna tag anyone to continue them but if you see any that you wanna do, consider yourself tagged

as always, thank you to everyone for tagging me!

—————

tagged by @pwhl-mybeloved here

shuffle your on repeat playlist and list the first 10 songs that play

Maan Meri Jaan by King feat. Nick Jonas

Why Won’t You Love Me by 5 Seconds of Summer

Rock N Roll McDonalds by Wesley Willis

Overcompensate by twenty one pilots

Heathens / Trees - Livestream Version by twenty one pilots

The 30th by Billie Eilish

Kill My Time by 5 Seconds of Summer

The End. by My Chemical Romance

I Didn’t Change My Number by Billie Eilish

Far Too Young to Die by Panic! at the Disco

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putting the rest under the cut bc i'm not gonna be mean and take up that much space on your dash

tagged by @frostysfrenzy here

last song: Implicit Demand for Proof by twenty one pilots

favourite colour: green!

last show/movie: Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 (back to back which is why i included both)

sweet/spicy/savory: sweet

relationship status: single

last thing i googled: women’s baggy jeans (i need new jeans. mine are literally falling apart)

current obsession: unis to go to for masters degrees (i am no where near the time to apply for masters)

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tagged by @jackhues here, @donttelltheelff here, @lifeofpriya here, and @jimmystrudel here

last song i listened to: Implicit Demand for Proof by twenty one pilots

currently watching: lots of sports

currently obsessed with: f1 (thank you mel, kesh, and my cousin for kickstarting this obsession)

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tagged by @jimmystrudel here

player that got me into hockey: carey price (i miss him sm)

player you like because of their narrative: arber xhekaj. the dude goes undrafted, worked at costco but skipped his shifts to play hockey, signs with the habs (his favourite team) and is an immediate fan favourite, his brother gets drafted to the habs, he gets sent down to laval, comes back up to the habs and is doing absolutely amazing

goalie/forward/defensemen: i love me some goalies. idk if this is because price was my fist favourite player or because i'm a goalie for soccer (honestly it's probably both) but i absolutely love goalies

player i would let meet my parents: nazem kadri. i mean, he's muslim, my family and i are muslim, so it's an obvious answer

current favourite team: has been and will always be the habs. sens are second bc i used to live in ottawa, and canucks and red wings are sneaking their way up there

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tagged by @donttelltheelff here and @introvertedperson16 here

post five song you’ve been enjoying recently!

Overcompensate by twenty one pilots

Next Semester by twenty one pilots

Cottontail by Nep

Homesick by Noah Kahan

east side by Lyn Lapid

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tagged by @2manytabsopen here

this fun lil game

yea this is scarily accurate

[deathandnonexistentialdread]

Local Team Discovers The Benefits Of Teamwork & Isagi Finds Out About Strategy

Panel appreciation time

immaculate 10/10 museum worthy

Isagi realizes that Mohawk Dude (Okawa) is the smoke, a distraction, in Team Y's stage performance and that behind the smoke is someone else pulling the strings

Meanwhile both teams are trying to get the ball from the free throw.

Great job goalie! also, i would like to give a special mention to goalies because i think that they are awesome. now back to our regularly scheduled reread.

honestly Team Y's plan to trick Team Z worked in their favour. So good job Team Y!

Detective Isagi solved the case! But the real question is: Is it too late?

Isagi aims for the goal but misses

Thank goodness for Gaagamaru

idc what you say Gagamaru is the MVP of the match, I mean look at that goal

thank you for your sacrifice Gagamaru

Local Boy discovers the feeling of team spirit, is confused about the meaning; More at 7.

Nikko knows that Isagi knows

It's Asahi Naruhaya's turn an let's see what he's got!

I also like how Isagi decides to continue with Naruhaya's formation instead of breaking the flow.

also Nikko has a heart to heart (?) with Isagi

It means that if you want to win, you should give the dude a concussion so that he can't think anymore

Let's see what Igarashi has up his sleeves!

....and Team Y is not letting him play

There is only one minute left, so if any of teams can score it has to be now

also i like how Nikko is giving the play by play of their plan to Isagi, he must really want someone to know about it. Nikko is pretty relatable that way

so basically Team Z is screwed ...well that's not good

Team Y: here is our super special move where everyone charges forward during the last minute

Team Z:

Will Team Z win this math? Will Isagi find out his weapon? Will Raichi ever get to play his sexy soccer? All this and more in the next part of our series!

[iwannaban0nym0us]

ok so the past 2 days have been a ride—both good and bad—so I think it's time for one of my rambly posts about life!

ok to summarize: monday amazing, shop internship everything looks great, weird to see freshmen around tho, finished up my remote internship, soccer practice was actually good for once, and then it got late and my brian started running in circles and stressing about seeing my ex-girlfriend (M) again, then i talked to one of my friends for a while which was cool, today was quite a roller coaster, morning more shop internship which was great it looks even better in there now an i'm sad it'll only last a like week tho, then people started showing up and at first it was great because like friends, but then when i was moving some stuff down to the garage i walked past the main hallway and saw M and internally freaked the fuck out, and then i just went back to work and i saw them 2 more times but didn't have the nerve to actually go talk to them, then i had to go do orientation stuff but a bit before that i ended up running up to M to scare them and then i saw my asshole ex and their boyfriend so I patted M on the head while running past and then went to find my friends, then we did some orentation stuff, then we had lunch, at one point i left my friends and talked to M for like 20+ min, and then more orientation stuff, including some advisory time, and then i talked to M a bit more after that, and then my friends and i walked a block over to get some ice cream, and i just had soccer practice

Ok, starting w/ yesterday, I don't think this will be too long, the shop internship was great and keeping myself busy doing that stuff that a) i enjoy and b) is helpful for a space i spend a lot of time in is good for me and the shop, so win win. It was weird that the freshmen were around tho since thursday friday and the first week of the summer meant that I had gotten used to the campus just being teachers (and a few interns). I knew one of the freshmen from interning at our school's summer so it was cool to get to see her and I think I convinced her to join the robotics team so that's cool.

Alright, now yesterday's soccer practice, which was actually good???? So for context pre-season was a fucking shitshow we didn't play like a team at all and i felt like such an outsider since 2 teams w/ already established friend groups merged and i didn't come from either team. But yesterday's practice was the first slp (my team aka the lower team - really means state premier league) practice where the npl team (the better team - really means national premier league) wasn't around and I def think that helped. Also I'm like really glad I'm not on npl because the spl coach is much nicer and it seems like the players on spl are nice too (and the division we're playing in is still higher than what i played last year which wasn't even my intention when i joined the team).

So anyway, practice, for the first hour we did a build out drill that was really good for me as a goalie because it was specifically designed to use me as a goalie (which doesn't happen that often) but also just generally a good drill. Then for the last half hour we just sat and talked as a team which I know sounds cheesy but it actually wasn't really and we def needed it. Our coach like reminded us that we need to be one team and we did like a gratitude circle and said what we were looking forward to (didn't have to be soccer related) and then our coach told that despite what the npl coach says (which is that it's a disappointment if we don't win the league) all he wants from us is the put in the effort so that individually and collectively we will get better with each game.

Alright, and then I came home and it was kinda late and then I ate and showered and it was def late and so my brain started to spin in circles and stress about today and how exactly my first interaction w/ M since the breakup was gonna go. Then one of my friends called me and we first talked about their problems and then mine and then random stuff and so that was nice.

Ok, today, the fucking roller coaster of a day that was today. So it started of good, just more of the shop internship, like the usually stuff. It was still good when a few of my friends and just people I knew showed up and stopped by the shop and said hi, it was, again, weird to hear how loud the hallway got, but it was ok. But then at some point I took smth down to the garage and I felt like I was about to start crying or have a panic attack or smth in the elevator because as I walked over I saw M for the first time in 2+ months and it was just a lot and terrified me. Then I went back to the shop and tried really fucking hard to focus on shop tasks, which included at least one more trip to the garage (maybe 2 i can't remember) and so I caught a glimpse of M again and it freaked me out again I didn't have the courage to go up to them and say hi or anything. So I did some more shop tasks, at one point I saw a big group of my friends which was great, oh and I also moved 7 anvils which was fun and the physical moment both was a really good distraction and gave me energy.

So now, the part where I was mildly stupid because no one was around to stop me. So I left the shop like 15min before orientation started to go find people and say hi and I didn't see any of my friends around and so I was like 'ok I can start a conversation w/ my ex by sneaking up on them and scaring them and I should do it now while I have energy and before I totally overthink this' (to be fair sneaking up on them and scaring them is something I've been doing since we first became friends and they're not the only person I do this to) and so I just did it I fucking ran at them and then I saw that the only people around where they were sitting was my asshole ex and their boyfriend so I just scared M and sprinted away before they even had a chance to realize what was happening.

After that I ended up finding my friends and hung w/ them a bit and then like 2 min before orientation was gonna start (we were already in the room) I decided to run downstairs and grab my water bottle and that just happened to be the same time that M walked into the room and I feel kinda bad about that

So then the next thing that happened is lunch and it was pretty good to start, I was hella stressed about what to do about the M situation but I also got to show off the shop to a bunch of people equally excited about it. At some point I asked my friends 'do I do the mildly stupid thing' (meaning to those who knew what's going on, do I go talk to M) and most people (esp those who knew) said no but eventually my friends came around and realized it was smth I needed to do and so one friend was like 'go do it now but it better not take more than 2 min' and I was like 'ok let me finish eating first tho' and then when I was almost done eating I saw M walking by and decided to sneak up on them again but not run away this time and that lead to like a full on conversation, just us

I don't even remember everything we talked about but I asked if they wanted to see the shop and so led them over there and showed them around and we ended up hanging out just us in there for a while and we like shared schedules, I showed her photos of when I tried to dye my hair (w/ friends help ofc), we just like talked and it was really really nice and felt so good to just be like that w/ them again. At one point I was like 'fuck it I just need to do this' and I hugged them and it was fine and good and didn't feel awkward or romantic or bad or anything.

Then eventually some of my robotics friends showed up and we talked about some random things and then they told us another person was not gonna do robotics this year and that made M wonder if they were gonna do the play again (M's a theater kid) and so we ended up running around for a few min trying to find that person but didn't find them so we just ended up sitting down w/ M's friends. I ended up bouncing between talking to M and other people walking by (since I know a lot of people) and at one point I talked to some people in the grade below me and they were joking about 2 of my friends who aren't dating but act like it and so another one of them asked about M and I had to tell them we broke up and they ask what terms we were on and so I was like 'friends?' eventually when I was back to talk to M I asked if they'd watch star trek if there was a musical episode (at which point another one of their friends who kinda like star trek joined the conversation) and so that then led to me showing M photos of pretty star trek people and then we looked at the time and were like 'oh shit we should have been back at orientation 5 min ago' (since basically all of M's friends are not in our grade they didn't have to go yet) and so me and M sprint up to orientation together, so uh I def didn't listen to my friend's suggestion of only 2 min but I actually needed to talk to them for that long.

so then the grade dean talked for a bit and then we broke off into advisories and i find out that M's ex-boyfriend from freshmen year (who they broke up w/ in almost the exact same way as they broke up w/ me) is in the same advisory as me, so uh let's hope I don't say anything stupid to him about our mutual ex

that was it for the day so i got a chance after to go talk to M again and that was the weirdest fucking conversation, pretty quickly it turned into us hearing about my asshole ex's boyfriend's crush and how they confessed right after their crush broke up w/ their girlfriend and then my asshole ex showed up so i have was having a conversation w/ 2 of my exes and one of their boyfriends which is just weird as hell and then at one point my asshole ex (related to conversation) made a comment about being willing to ask people out over text and M (who was asked out by my asshole ex when M liked me and had heard my say shit about how much of an asshole that ex was to me) said smth about knowing that my asshole ex would do that and then I chimed in we all know that because all of us had been asked out by my asshole ex at some point not too long after that i ended up leaving to go get ice cream w/ other friends tho so that was good (and like half hugged M good bye which was cool)

anyways, boring afternoon things happened and i just had soccer practice, which was again a pretty good practice and again we didn't practice w/ npl and we also did that build out drill again which is really really helpful for me and my coach is giving me useful pointers and just getting practice in those situations is helpful

so yeah, things are way better w/ me and M now and i like needed to talk to them for a decent amount of time and for now i think i'm over them but i'm scared that won't last because i can kinda already feel myself falling for them again and i almost don't wanna stop it (and so one of my friends has promised to confront me about it if they notice me making heart eyes at M)

[worlcupnow]

FIFA World Cup 2022

FIFA World Cup 2022

2022 FIFA World Cup futures picks, odds, groups: Proven expert unveils best bets, USMNT predictions for Qatar Martin Green has analyzed the World Cup draw and locked in his best bets, group winners and top sleepers for Qatar 2022

The 2022 FIFA World Cup will begin on Nov. 20 and the 26-man rosters have been finalized for all 32 teams competing in Qatar. The USMNT left off some notable names, including goalie Zack Steffen and forwards Ricardo Pepi and Jordan Pefok. The Americans will be playing in Group B with England, Wales and Iran. The U.S. are listed as 100-1 longshots in the 2022 World Cup odds from Caesars Sportsbook after missing the 2018 World Cup in its entirety.

Five-time world champions Brazil are listed as the 4-1 favorites in the World Cup odds and the No. 1-ranked team in the FIFA World Rankings made some waves by leaving Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino off its 2022 World Cup roster. But even with Firmino looking like one of the biggest 2022 World Cup snubs, the Brazilians hope they still have plenty of attacking power to be a threat to win the World Cup 2022 in Qatar. Before locking in any 2022 World Cup picks, you need to see what SportsLine’s soccer insider Martin Green has to say. 

After working in the sports betting industry for several years, Green became a professional sports writer and handicapper and has covered the game worldwide. Since then, his European soccer picks have been stunningly accurate. Green has generated almost $35,000 for $100 bettors since the 2017-18 season, and he has his finger on the pulse of the game all over the globe.

Now, Green has analyzed the 2022 World Cup draw from every angle and revealed his picks and predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see Green’s 2022 World Cup picks. 

Top 2022 FIFA World Cup predictions 

Green is backing the USMNT to qualify from Group B at +100 odds at Caesars. The Americans finalized their 26-man squad for World Cup 2022 last Wednesday and it was a sigh of relief for USMNT fans to see that Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie was included. A box-to-box midfielder with a knack for making well-timed runs in critical moments, McKennie has been battling a quadriceps injury that many feared would hold him out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The good news on McKennie’s status gives head coach Gregg Berhalter his desired midfield trio of McKennie, Tyler Adams and Yunus Musah. That group played a major role in helping the USMNT win the CONCACAF Nations League and the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Both of those finals were victories over Mexico, another quality team with clear designs of making it out of the group stage at the 2022 World Cup.

Only England is ranked higher in the current FIFA World Rankings than the Americans and Green is expecting youth and exuberance to be a deciding factor against Wales and Iran. Wales seemingly poses the biggest threat to the USMNT advancing with a collection of notable names including Ben Davies, Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsay, but it’s an aging squad and Bale and Ramsay have both been dealing with injuries that could limit their effectiveness. See Green’s other 2022 World Cup picks at SportsLine.

How to make 2022 World Cup picks

Green has locked in his best bets to win the 2022 World Cup, along with the top picks to win each group. He’s revealed how far Mexico, England and Portugal will advance in Qatar. He’s also identified a dark horse team that is listed higher than 75-1 who have a chance to shock the world and win it all. You can only see them here.

2022 World Cup groups 

Group A Qatar Ecuador  Senegal  Netherlands

Group B England Iran  USA  Wales

Group C Argentina  Saudi Arabia  Mexico  Poland 

Group D France  Australia Denmark  Tunisia 

Group E Spain  Costa Rica Germany  Japan

Group F Belgium  Canada Morocco  Croatia 

Group G Brazil  Serbia  Switzerland  Cameroon 

Group H Portugal  Ghana Uruguay  Korea Republic 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH NOW

[shoppertonki]

Madison university

“We lost track of what got us the three goals.” “We just took our foot off the gas a little bit too much and got slightly complacent,” Payne said. I’m just as pleased with the shutout as we are with scoring three goals.”ĭespite Elon leading for over 85 minutes of the game, Payne said he was disappointed with how the team managed the lead in the second half, as American outshot Elon 4-1 and controlled the ball in Elon’s half of the field for long stretches. “She took command of the box and that’s what we expect from her, she’s that good. “McKenna had a real presence,” Payne said. Payne said he is proud of Dalfonso for responding well after she took two hits from American forwards. Junior goalie McKenna Dalfonso made two saves to earn her 13th career shutout for Elon. “Everyone’s been keeping a really positive attitude, and that’s something that we have to facilitate as the veterans on the team.” “It’s definitely very different, you kind of feel super old, which is tough sometimes,” Mahoney said. Mahoney said being one of the oldest players on the team has been an adjustment, but she thinks this year’s senior class helped the team establish a strong chemistry in the preseason. Harford and Mahoney have both stepped into bigger leadership roles this season, as Elon lost seven seniors from last year’s team. “That’s something we really need to work on and keep up this year because we want to drive teams into the ground while we’re ahead.” “Scoring early for us is a really big thing,” Mahoney said. 15 minutes later, Mahoney assisted on a goal by sophomore midfielder Kennedy Jones to put the Phoenix ahead 2-0.įor Mahoney, Elon’s speed was an important factor to the strong offensive start, and she said the team needs similar starts in upcoming games this season to be successful. It took Elon less than five minutes to find the scoreboard, as senior forward Molly Mahoney scored the team’s first goal of the season for the second straight year. “She’s got a really high soccer IQ, and so she is challenging herself this year to get on the ball more and dictate the play. “We want her to impose her ability onto the game more, she’s got so much to give,” Payne said. Head coach Neil Payne said he was impressed by Harford’s return and is excited to see her offensive game develop throughout the season. Harford’s goal was the last one of the game for either team, as Elon earned a 3-0 victory. “I was doing my belly breathing before stepping up to the spot.” “I like to stay as calm as I can,” Harford said. When Harford, whose last goal came on March 21, 2021, against James Madison University, earned a penalty kick in the 22nd minute with Elon already ahead 2-0, she channeled a breathing technique she learned from the team’s sports psychologist to score the team’s third goal of the first half. It’s great to finally come back out here with my girls and be with my best friends and play.” “It’s been rough and I’ve got myself down about a couple of injuries, but I’ve worked really hard. “I cried when I came on the field,” Harford said. After missing all of last season due to injury, Harford felt relieved to be back playing again. Elon senior Bethany Harford was emotional when she stepped onto the pitch at Rudd Field prior to the Elon University women’s soccer team’s season opener against the American University Eagles.

[csykora]

g, regarding your recent ask about shesterkin’s goalie style, do you know/have any info on why different countries adopt certain different styles when it comes to goalkeeping? like what leads finnish goalies to trend towards being fast like snake and russian goalies to be strong and dependable like brick wall? i’m just interested to see if there’s history behind it or if it’s more just like “well the most elite goalie coach in russia right now happens to coach that style” or smth

I love thinking about this, yes!

A lot of it does have to do with the influence of particular coaches who run key programs or who train a star goalie that lots of people then want to copy. The hockey world isn’t that big; the goalie world is tiny.

As an example of that, modern goalie training might be really different if the airplane carrying the Soviet Wings hadn’t gone down in 1950. One of the men onboard was 23 year-old goalie Harijs Mellups. He was born in Latvia and had played hockey briefly outside the USSR, I believe in Czechoslovakia, which made him just about the only one who knew what hockey goaltending was. He was supposed to teach it to all the bandy and soccer players. After his death, the USSR teams had a reputation for being, understandably, weak in net for a long time. The resulting pressure for Soviet coaches to look outside the USSR for goaltending inspiration eventually lead to Tretiak, who was chosen because his gangly build was as similar as possible to a successful tall Czechoslovak goalie that Soviet coaches had been watching. (There was a lot of debate all around the hockey world over whether goalies should be small, which had been the fashion in the late 1800s and early 1900s, on the theory that if they were lighter they would be faster. There was a time when tall goalies were avant-garde.)

Tretiak also picked up equipment and equipment techniques from Finnish national team goalie Urpo Ylönen, who made his own goalie sticks with the blade set at angle that allowed him to rest it securely on the ice in all positions. (He gave him a signed stick, which Tretiak promptly played with). Later, Ylönen would become a goalie coach in Finland, while Tretiak coached in America and Canada. Obvsiously in addition to earlier North American star goalies who many people imitated, Tretiak has been pretty influential on American goalies.

Their actual movements were made up from both cultural and cross-training influences.

Finland actually made goalies such a priority that Ylönen became the goalie coaches’ coach. Finland knew they weren't competitors in international hockey in the '80s and '90s. They committed to funding a program to build more good coaches before they could build good goalies, and Ylönen’s very efficient style of movement just spread around the country. I believe I said something about "picking the puck" in the earlier answer--that's from him, and is now a Finnish signature, to stand very tall and keep the arms in relatively close before darting out very fast, like you said, rather than sweeping the arm out wider like Lundqvist or positioning it preemptively. I can't comment on whether that organization or efficiency is something Finns see as national character or culture, but just the fact that they set up such a program created a strong sense of unity and sport culture within their hockey.

The culture in the USSR and now in Russian sports has generally been to let young children play around longer than in North America. Creative thinking in playmaking is encouraged, including for young goalies, who watch or participate in just playing with the puck and seeing where it goes. One of the things Shestyorkin has been praised for and has been commented on by his teammates is his willingness to play the puck and pass it forward to them, which is why he's ended up with several assists. That's credited to just how much he watched plays. Meanwhile in North America, young kids are often encouraged to spend time as skaters before committing to the goalie position, and that might encourage them to skate further out of the net to play the puck or meet a skater and cut down their angles, like a Carey Price or a Braden Holtby (who didn't play goalie until he was twelve or thirteen). Both groups will involve themselves in the play and obviously can be very effective and fun to watch, Russians just mostly do this while still sticking close to the crease.

Cross-training consists of the other types of physical activities you do outside of your sport, which can work as conditioning but also often lead you to learn certain patterns of movement that you might then bring back to your sport. This is often influenced by culture or the social group around you, so there are some really interesting national trends!

Swedish goalies, including Eddie Lack, Anders Lindback, Henrik Lundqvist and others play lots of tennis, an idea that they all spread between themselves by inviting each other to play in the summers. (Note: tennis is one of the sports I am absolutely fascinated by but clueless about, but I gather it's very popular in Sweden to begin with, so it's easy to slot into summer training.) Besides his interest in dance, Tretiak ran a lot, as do many North American goalies today. Americans and Canadians are also very influenced by gym-based conditioning programs from strength and conditioning coaches like Maria Mountain. Young Russian goalies today do a lot of ballet and gymnastics.

Elena Segal, a former Soviet Bolshoi dancer who has worked in Russia and America with teams like the Anaheim Ducks, describes the value of Russian-style ballet training for goalies: "Vaganova ballet training focuses on the deep, small internal muscles.... Their role is to stabilize joints, align bones and muscles during movement, and when stationary, to produce force to the mobilizers and keep the entire body balanced, steady and in-control."

I admit--you'll all be shocked--that ballet would also be my cross-training method of choice for a young goalie, but there are other activities that work, and just might highlight different facets of movement. Maybe there's something taken from tennis in Lundqvist's great leaps and dives and reaches with the glove (at the same time, maybe he likes tennis because it fits with how he already likes to move. It's always a little bit of both.) But in terms of why Russian goalies seem strong and dependable, I'd say that's it's because they're comfortable with reading the play in order to position preemptively or participate without taking many risks, and they're also just well conditioned and move the way they want to move well!

(A video of some goalie ballet from Segal you need some joy)

[justice4canyonmoon]

Harry getting tuned on seeing his girl play football (soccer) and fucking in the locker room showers 😌

I'm glad you specified that it was soccer since I'm an uncultured American lol. hope you like it!!! ps: sorry if any of you are French, I made them the opposing team, so you'll have to pretend that you're from a different country or that the opposing team is someone different

warnings: smut!! 18+ only!! shower sex, unprotected sex

wc: 734

Being in the Olympics was an absolute dream come true. You were the goalie for your country’s soccer team, and it was your first trip to the Games. Your loving husband, Harry, rescheduled dates on his summer tour so he could come watch you play, and you couldn’t be more grateful. Just his presence calmed your nerves. You felt like you could take on the world if he was standing by your side.

You were taking on Team France in the final round of the Olympics, the gold medal on the line. It was down to the final seconds of the game, you were winning 3-2, and France was in possession. One of their forwards expertly dribbled the ball down the field, and you locked your gaze on her, ready to pounce.

Harry was sitting in the front row of seats, close up to the field so he could see you play up close. The sweat sticking to your brow got him hot under the collar. Seeing you block potential goals with ease make his cock twitch in his boxers. And the look you were giving the other team right now made him want to take you right then and there. You weren’t even trying to be sexy, you just were without trying. Harry couldn’t wait until post-match.

The player kicked the ball with all of her might, and you threw yourself to the side, catching the ball before slamming to the ground!! The sound of the buzzer filled the stadium, signaling the end of the game!! You won!!! Your teammates all circled up in a giant group hug, beyond excited that you had won a gold medal!!! Harry was clapping and cheering like a madman. He couldn’t be prouder of you!!! But he also had other plans….

“So fuckin proud of yeh, m’love. Played like a fuckin champion.”

He was like a broken record the whole walk back to the locker room. But he couldn’t help it, he was so proud of you. You hadn’t stopped smiling, it almost seemed as though your grin was permanently etched on your face. You walked into the room and Harry stayed out in the hallway until the other members of your team were gone. When the coast was clear, you peeked your head out.

“Come in, babe.”

He crept in and his jaw nearly hit the floor when you were already naked.

You giggled at his reaction, “Not like you haven’t seen me naked before, H.”

“Look just as sexy every time,” he complimented.

You pulled him into the showers, “So do you. Don’t think I’ll ever get tired of getting your clothes off.”

Harry stripped out of his clothes and threw them out of the shower, then gently crowded you against the wall, “Ready for us to celebrate your victory?”

You wrapped your legs around his narrow hips and guided him inside of you, wasting no time. You were both ridiculously horny for each other; you were hopped up on adrenaline from the game, and he was hard the whole time just from watching you. Both of you were making far too much noise for the setting you were in, but neither of you particularly cared.

“Yes, H, right there,” you moaned as he expertly hit your g-spot.

“Yeah? Feelin good, baby?” he asked, both for confirmation and for his ego.

“Yeah, baby, feels fucking perfect. Always do.”

“Yeh deserve t’ feel good, baby. Did such a good job today, yeh deserve a reward,” he told you, “so proud of yeh, Y/n. M’ perfect wife.”

You felt your cheeks growing warm again as he pounded into you, “Th-thank you, honey. Fuck, I’m close.”

His lips found yours quickly as he wrapped one of his hands around your neck, knowing your love for that particular kink. His hand squeezed your jugular once and you were tightening around him, whining against his lips as you came hard. Harry groaned your name at the tightening of your walls, and your cunt milked him of his cum. He rested his forehead against yours, smiling at you when he finished.

“Love yeh, Y/n. Yeh were so amazin today!!! My gold medalist.”

You smiled, “Thank you. It means the world to me that you came.”

“Would do anythin f’ my favorite girl. Let’s get yeh showered and back to the Olympic Village so I can fuck yeh some more.”

[doctorstethoscope]

Not Tired || Aaron Hotchner x Fem Reader

Hi besties, it’s @ssahotchswife soft hotch saturday again! This one is a request from an anon:

Request:  can you do one where he’s coaching jacks soccer team and after they win they go out to ice cream and then go to the park to get jack tired 🥰

I hope you don’t mind but I took this and really kind of ran with it a little!

contains: loving and respecting Haley Hotchner hours, discussion of parenting (don’t think there should be any triggering content in here but if you need something tagged PLEASE lmk!!)

wordcount: 1.4k

“Come on Jack!” You called from the bleachers as you saw Aaron zipping up the sideline, following the ball. He’s yelling, too, but as the coach his yelling is more instructional and perhaps more productive than yours. Your eyes dart back to Jack on the field, and you realize that he’s lined up for the perfect shot, right past the goalie and into the corner of the neck.  “Shoot it buddy! You got it!” 

As deftly as one can at ten years old, he kicks the ball and it hits the back of the net just as the ref blows the whistle to end the game. They don’t keep score, at his age, but you’re proud of Jack all the same. 

“Did you see me! Did you see me!” Jack asked, bounding over to you without stopping. 

“Of course I did buddy! Go, listen to your dad and tell the other team good game. You’re not quite done yet, sport.” You told him, ruffling his hair and sending him back in the direction of his father as you begin to pack up your belongings. 

Your boys rejoin you after a moment, and you smile at them both. “Good work, Hotchners!” You congratulate them both. “I think you’ve both earned some ice cream.”

Jack is practically buzzing at the thought, and he takes off across the field before either one of you can even get him to take his shin guards off. Aaron wraps an arm around you as you cross the field after him, planting a kiss on the crown of your head. “Good work, coach.” 

“If they were keeping score, we would have won, you know.” He tells you. 

“Aaron, they’re ten.” You laugh. 

“I’m just saying. If you’re into guys that can coach…” he trails off and you throw your head back with your laugh.

 “I’m all set with the guy I’ve got, but thanks for looking out.” You tell him as you meet Jack at the edge of the field. He takes his dad’s hand to enter the parking lot, and you pile yourselves and all of your gear into the car and drive off towards the ice cream parlor. 

Aaron takes your hand as he drives and you peek in the rear view to see Jack struggling to keep his eyes open. You smile at the thought of a quiet afternoon, filled with snuggles on the couch. Jack, of course, perks back up at the promise of ice cream, and as you’re looking around for a table, he finds something even more exciting. 

“Henry!” He exclaims, taking off towards a picnic table where JJ, Will and Henry were sharing a banana split. JJ looks up when Jack arrives at her table and you wave as you make your way over to her. 

“Fancy meeting you folks here,” Will drawls, and you smile. 

“I’d ask if you mind if we crash, but it looks like the boys have made that decision for us.” You laughed, settling in across from JJ and Will as you look over to the kids, who are now sitting in the grass. 

“Uh huh--- and then I kicked the ball into the goal and everyone cheered!!” Jack is regaling to Henry’s rapt attention.

Aaron wraps his arm around your waist as you all eat your ice cream, laughing and joking and enjoying the warm weather. He kisses some wayward ice cream off of your chin and you can’t stop yourself from laughing gleefully-- he’s obviously never this affectionate at work, and you can tell JJ is shocked to see this softer side of him. It occurs to you that they simply don’t know the man who chases Jack around the house in his pajamas and who wakes you up every Saturday morning by singing a love song in your ear and who kisses both you and his son on the forehead every night before you fall asleep. As happy as you were to have that version of him all to yourself, you wish that the others could see little snippets of him like this, too.

“We were just gonna take Henry to the park to burn off a little energy if you want to join?” JJ offered, and Jack heard you. 

“Can we? Please please please please please?” 

“You aren’t tired from your game?” You tried to remind the boy who, less than an hour ago, practically had to be removed from his carseat. 

“No, I’m not tired.” He says quickly. 

“You sure, bud? Henry can play another time.” Aaron backs you up. 

“I’m sure.” He says. The two of you share one of those looks only shared between parents, the kind of look where a whole conversation is exchanged with the speed of a blink and the quirk of a brow. 

“Okay, we can go play for a little while,” Aaron relents, and the six of you make your way over to the park. JJ and Will are prepared with a blanket, and the four of you sit and enjoy a little bit of adult time while the boys chase each other down slides and swing along the monkey bars. Will and JJ are sitting side by side, their thighs touching and their arms all tangled up in each other. Aaron has you pulled between his legs, his arms wrapped around your middle and your head leaning back against his chest. He drops kisses to your temple every so often, and you listen to him and Will chat about the porch Will wants to build around the condo. 

After a little while, Jack bounds up to you, clearly worse for the wear of the day. He settles in between your legs and rests his head on your thigh. You brush your fingers through the sandy blonde hair at his forehead.

“Oh, buddy, you’re pretty wiped, huh?” You ask him, looking down at him with an almost pitiful smile.

“Not tired,” he mumbles against your jeans. “I’m not tired, mumma. I’m just takin a break,” he says, promptly falling asleep in your lap. 

You tense, trying not to wake Jack as you turn to look at Aaron. He’s already looking down at you, and you can feel JJ and Will’s stares boring into your soul.

“We’ll go get Henry,” Will says, helping JJ up and giving the two of you some privacy. 

“I’m sorry,” you say as soon as they are out of earshot. Aaron just laughs, leaning forward to kiss the anxiety off of your face. 

“I’m not,” he tells you, shaking his head and giving you one more kiss before giving you the space to respond. 

“I didn’t tell him to call me that.” You assure him.

“I know you didn’t, hon. Do you not want him to call you that?”

 “No!” You’re quick to correct Aaron before he can hurt his own feelings, accidentally disturbing Jack in the process. You shush him and run your hand through his hair for a moment before he falls back to sleep. “Of course that’s not it, Aaron. But Jack has a mom, a great mom, and I wouldn’t want to dare take her place.”

 Aaron shakes his head. “There’s room in his heart for both of you, just like there’s room in my heart for both of you. You’ve never once asked me to forget about Haley, to act like I never loved her, or to try to live a version of my life that isn’t profoundly altered by her impact on me. Would you ask Jack to do any of that?” 

“Of course not,” You tell him. “I know how much she loved him. I wish she was still here, for both of you.” 

Aaron sighed. “I know, my love. But she’s not here, and you are here. And I know for a fact that she’d be happy to know I found someone who loves her son like their own, and he loves her so much in return that he wants to call her mom, too.” 

You breathe out a little sigh of relief. “I love you. Thank you for letting me love you when you didn’t have to.” 

“Thank you for loving me even when I didn’t want you to.” He tells you in return, kissing the side of your face again before standing up and collecting Jack from your lap without waking him, in the skilled way that only fathers can.  You stand up, your leg now fully asleep from the weight of Jack’s sleeping form against it, and fold JJ’s blanket, crossing the park to return it to her. 

“You okay?” She asked, taking the blanket and wrapping you up in a hug. “I’m sure that was a lot, and unexpected. 

“Yeah, it was.” You agreed. “I’ve never been better.”

[bloodanddiscoballs]

I have this little idea in my head where the 41st and the 57th precincts will meet and play football (soccer for Americans) against one another every year which kinda helps relieve and instigate the rivalry between the two. It's kinda a big deal and families are invited as well as anyone who's interested in showing up. There's food stands from local vendors that get picked and cycled through each year which helps to spotlight the mom&pop eateries in Revachol and can really transform a business's profits going forward. There's a fundraiser every year too which goes towards helping the city in some way (new rec center, maintenance for a major apartment building, etc). RCM officers can volunteer to be on the football team but if they don't want to play they still help out with the setup and stuff and just hang in the audience instead. There's also a sign up for both the junior and adult academy. It's a great way to connect with citizens/community and all that. When it comes to playing the game itself, some people take it more personally than others, though it very rarely doesn't have an air of fun.

Harry is big on the event, his previous life as a P.E. Teacher coming into play. Any new players always underestimate him initially, surprised when he's actually a pretty good player. He and Jean are a deadly combo, pre-Martinaise communication seemingly telepathic. Post-Martinaise they had to practice for a little together but after a bit they ended up being almost better than they were before now that Harry wasn't abusing substances anymore. It even helps facilitate the beginning repair to their relationship, the need to work together without the necessary pressure of the job opening up different avenues. Kim didn't enjoy playing back when he was with the 57th, but now that he's with the 41st he's happily joined the team. While he's not a physical barrier in the same way that Mack, Harry, or Jean are, he's nimble and able to catch passes that others miss. He and Judit are good at being underestimated by some of the 57th and thus able to out-maneuver them. Judit really loves to play, developing that joy when her kids started to play themselves in their respective youth leagues. It's one of the only times she's clearly outwardly competitive. Chester isn't the best player and prefers to cheer from the sidelines with Jules, getting the team water and swapping out the ball when needed. Mack likes playing goalie, his size and strength making it the best place for him. His reputation also lends itself to some 57th members being intimidated by him, causing them to sometimes falter ever so slightly when nearing the goal, allowing 41st players to steal the ball. After Trant started consulting with the RCM in Revachol, he began volunteering to be the referee once he found out about the games. He is a stickler for the rules, finding enjoyment in the way football is structured. He ends up being a very good referee because of this, making sure to explain each of his calls in that joyful demeanor of his. This also helps to deter fights over calls, as some people don't want him to drone on about the history about certain rules. The teams trade off each year on which RCM color combos they'll wear for the game, alternating between RCM Blue jersey tops with white shorts and black jersey tops with grey shorts.

The first year that Kim played for the 41st, Harry gifted Kim with a pair of orange cleats that matched his bomber jacket perfectly. Kim keeps very good care of them and makes sure to mention that Harry got them for him when someone compliments him on them. Harry wears his hair in a ponytail for the games which Kim thinks is incredibly attractive, especially when Harry gets all sweaty. It's very distracting to Kim, and Harry absolutely leans into it and openly flirts with Kim on the field. Kim would never say it, but it does feel like a bit of a power move to be so clearly wanted, specifically because it's so blatantly in front of the precinct he transferred from where he felt he wasn't valued as much as he is now that he's at the 41st. Perhaps he's a bit more vindictive when playing the games against the 57th in a way he isn't practicing with the rest of the 41st.

[nntheblog]

Blue Lock Characters : 45+ Characters Ranked And Skills Explained

Blue Lock is the soccer manga of 2021. It has revolutionized the concept of sports by adding the notion of survival games. After Captain Tsubasa and Inazuma eleven, here is a mastodon in this field! That's why a question arises which are the best characters in Blue Lock ? Here's Our Top 10 Blue Lock Characters Synopsis Blue Lock "The story begins with Japan's elimination from the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which prompts the Japanese Football Union to start a programme scouting high school players who will begin training in preparation for the 2022 Cup. Isagi Youichi, a forward, receives an invitation to this programme soon after his team loses the chance to go to Nationals because he passed to his less-skilled teammate —who missed— without trying to make the game-changing goal by himself. Their coach will be Ego Jinpachi, who intends to “destroy Japanese loser football” by introducing a radical new training regimen: isolate 300 young strikers in a prison-like institution called “Blue Lock” and put them through rigorous training aimed at creating “the world's greatest egotist striker.” Check Out : Blue Lock Review Vol 1 & 2 : The beginning of a long story Blue Lock Characters Ranked 45. Yudai Imamura I see very little difference between Imamura and Naruhaya. Imamura felt WAY weaker than most players in his team. He never scored a goal, neither did he played any important role in a match. And when the selection got pretty intense he got eliminated. We didn’t even get to see how he got eliminated unfortunately. 44. Okuhito Lemon Okuhito Lemon played as a goalie and was a member of Team Z. He was later eliminated in the Second Selection. 43. Keisuke & Junichi Wanima - The Best Duo Among Blue Lock Characters Keisuke & Junichi Wanima also known as the “Wanima Brothers” were the member of Team W. Team W heavily rellies on cordination plays between the 'Wanima Brothers.' Their team weapon is pass-and-go playstyle which is very difficult to stop, evern if the adversary is aware of it. 42. Wataru Kuon (Skills: Headers+ Vertical Jump) Wataru Kuon was the main strategist of Team Z. However, he betrayed his team for his own benefit during the First Selection. Although, later on he realized his mistake and gave up his selfishness in order to make his team win. Kuon has an amazing vertical jumping ability which is 68 cm. This allows him to finish nicely with amazing headers. 41. Gurimu Igarashi Gurimu Igarashi is the player member of Team Z wearing the #13 jersey in the team. He specialized in Malice. 40. Jingo Raichi (Skills: Marking+ Immense Stamina) Jingo Raichi was a member of Team Z in the First Selection matches. He played the forward position in the team. Later, after passing the Second Selection he became the part of 6th clear team. He was on the verse of facing off against the Japan U-20 playing for the Blue Lock Eleven. Raichi's stamina seems limitless and was shown in the match against Team Z. At the beginning, Reo only thought of Raichi's man-marking as a nuisance but as the game went on, his stamina started to show and Reo’s playmaking ability started to weaken. Raichi's stamina enables him to continue playing at optimal capacity, which combined with his Man-Marking ability makes him a constant threat in both defensive and offensive phases of play. 39. Ryosuke Kira Kira is a young forward who plays for Matsukaze Kokuō High School football team, he was invited to participate in the Blue Lock Project, alongside Yoichi Isagi. Kira is the first to be eliminated from Blue Lock. To be honest, his way to elimination was quite sad. He was unable to deal with the consequences. This also exposed his negative side and revealed what he thought about Isagi. He was quickly forgotten as a character in the series after his expulsion. 38. Itsuki Wakatsuki Itsuki Wakatski is the Defensive Midfielder in the team Japan U-20. 37. Nijiro Nanase Nijiro Nanase is a substitute player for the team Blue Lock Eleven facing off against Japan U-20. Out of the 300 forwards chosen for the Blue Lock Project, Nanase is ranked #99 and is currently a substitute player for the Blue Lock Eleven against the Japan U-20. 36. Asahi Naruhuya (Skills: Off- Ball Movement) Asahi Naruhuya is the former member/player of Team Z. He was formerly the center-forward player in the team. Like Yoichi Isagi, Asahi uses off-ball movement. However, Asahi seems to be much more experienced and skilled with this ability. He uses this skill to break defensive formation and has keen analytical ability, using the skill in the right place at the right time. He is also good at moving in other player's blind spots and can get past even Isagi with the skill. 35. Aoshi Tokimitsu (Skills: Quickness + Physical Power) Aoshi Tokimitsu is a forward player ranked 3rd in the Second Selection. He was on the verse of facing off against the Japan U-20 playing for the Blue Lock Eleven. Tokimitsu's greatest weapon is his physical strength, which is among the top in Blue Lock. He has been compared to a "muscle bullet" by Yoichi Isagi and even someone as strong as Shoei Baro can barely budge him in a direct contest of physical strength. This level of strength allows Tokimitsu to use his shoulder to charge past an opponent, or to block them off from the ball, making him a good target to hold the ball and set up further plays.  Another notable weapon Tokimitsu has is his unlimited stamina. During a high-level match, whereas most players would sooner or later begin to feel the burn of the endgame, Tokimitsu is an exception in that his stamina allows him to continue to operate at almost full capacity. It was during the second selection where Rin took advantage of this weapon to break through the White team's formation, with Tokimitsu only being stopped by desperate and illegal tackles from both Hyoma Chigiri and Barou. Tokimitsu's unlimited stamina makes him a formidable opponent especially in the late stages of a match. 34. Yo Hiori (Skills: Key Passes + Ball Control) Yo Hiori ranked 27 out of the 300 chosen players for the Blue Lock Project. Currently, he is a substitute player for the team Blue Lock Eleven facing off against Japan U-20. He was formerly the member of Team A and the 5th Clear Team. He plays forward, winger and sideback positions in the team. Hiori's strong suit is his ability to remain level-headed and reserved during the game, being able to calmly line up other players for a perfect pass. His combination of vision and ball control led Isagi to refer to him as a "Technician of 'Stillness'", as he serves the role of an anchor for the attack, synchronising the other attackers movements with accurate passes. This makes him a strong playmaker, who can consistently put the ball in a good position for other attackers to score.  Hiori's vision enables him to envision the best pass to make in any given situation. Hiori constantly looks around himself during a game to assess the positions of the players around him, as well as the situation of the field, so he can both receive the ball in space and pass the ball into space. It is through this vision that he was able to form an almost telepathic link-up with Rin, trading calm passes and avoiding other players. He also considers the positions of his teammates in and around the goal area, before deciding on right pass. His vision enables him to see plays that his opponent's do not expect, such as his combination with Karasu to get around the U-20. 33. Gagamaru Gin (Skills: Like Body + Acrobatic Display) - Our Favorite Gk Among Blue Lock Characters During the First Selection, Gagamaru Gin was the member of Team Z initially when arrived.  He was ranked #88 out of the original 300 forwards chosen to be part of the Blue Lock Project and started as goalie for the Blue Lock Eleven team against the Japan U-20. He currently plays as goalie for Bastard München during the Neo Egoist League. Gagamaru is Goal Poacher. Goal poachers are forwards who wait in the six-yard box or the penalty area for a cross, pass or loose ball and pounce to try to score a goal. The "poaching" refers to the fact that they will often score a goal out of the slightest of opportunities i.e. steal a goal. Goal poachers usually play as centre forwards or second strikers. Gagamaru has excellent body control and reflex, able to adapt to nearly any pass or downright any play. He has a springlike body which he uses for all types of shots and even tackles. His adaptive playstyle has allowed him to score goals for Team Z and last to the 3rd Selection. 32. Zantetsu Tsurugi (Skills: Explosive Acceleration + Left Foot Shooting Power) Zantetsu Tsurugi is a forward player ranked 53 in the Second Selection. He was on the verse of facing off against the Japan U-20 playing for the Blue Lock Eleven. Initially he was the member of Team V during the First Selection. Zantetsu's acceleration is a key weapon in his arsenal. With his quick reactions and incredible acceleration, he can react to any movement his opponent makes and intercept them. Chigiri noted that within 10 meters, even he could not overcome Zantetsu's acceleration, indicating that Zantetsu's speed is most dangerous over short distances. 31. Teru Kitsunezato Teru Kitsunezato is the current forward player of Japan U-20 team. 30. Kento Chou Kento Chou is a member of Japan U-20  playing the forward position in the team . 29. Haru Hayate Haru Hayate is the Denfensive Midfeilder in the Japan U-20 team playing the forward position against the Blue Lock Eleven . He seems to be a calm and collected person when it comes to football. He seems to notice the quirks of other players easily and comments on them. 28. Teppei Neru (Skill: Speed) Teppei Neru is the sideback player in the Japan U-20 team. Neru is considered to be a speed-type defender, who uses his incredible speed to physically outpace attackers and steal from the ball from them. Isagi went to so far as to describe him as "lightning fast", although it is his high reaction speed that enables him to instantly be able to tell the direction the attacker is going, allowing him to use his physical speed to catch up. Using this combination of reaction and physical speed, he was able to lock down Kenyu Yukimiya (known for his 1-on-1 dribbling skills) without much effort. However, he is succeptable to being overcome if he is approached by more than one attacker, as he can react to late to their play. 27. Shuto Sendo Shuto Sendo is a forward player/member in Japan U-20. He felt insulted by those questioning his position as the ace striker of the U-20 team and during the match against Blue Lock he pushes himself and wants to become better, deciding to aim higher and marry a Hollywood actress, instead of a Japanese idol that he previously settled for. 26. Kazuma Niou Kazuma Niou is the member/player in Japan U-20 currently playing as centerback in the team. 25. Jyubei Aryu (Skills: Jumping Power + Long Reach) Jyubei Aryu was ranked 2nd in the Second Selection out of 300 players. Currently, he is centerback in the Blue Lock Eleven team facing off against Japan U-20. Aryu has incredible jumping ability which, compounded with his height, enable to him reach aerial balls from a higher position than most other players in Blue Lock. Aryu has used his jumping ability to intercept long balls and score from long balls, making him an ideal target for a cross or as a centerback who physically overwhelms the opposing player. 24. Ikki Niko (Skills: Spatial Awareness) - The Most Underrated Among Blue Lock Characters During the First Selection, Ikki Niko was the member of Team Y. He was ranked 63 out of the 300 chosen players with currently playing as a centerback in Blue Lock Eleven against Japan U-20. Niko analyzes the entire field, taking account of both his allies and opponent's weapons, positions and actions to be able to determine the next play and respond accordingly. Niko's ability to read the field was rivalling by Isagi's during their match, who is himself one of the most tactically aware players in Blue Lock. Indeed, Isagi himself has on occasion been impressed with the sheer scope of Niko's vision and ability to read the state of play. With his tactical ability, Niko organised Team Y's defensive playstyle, as well as their offensive strategy, acting as the core of the team, breaking up the opponent's attacks and initiating his own team's. Niko has also demonstrated that he can read the way a pass was made and its flight path, to determine the best way to intercept it. 23. Miroku Darai Miroku Darai is the sideback player in the Japan U-20 team.  Darai's off the ball movements are used defensively, through anticipation and quick movement he is able to decipher where the opponent is moving, before reaching there first to shut them down. He talks about the "smell" of his opponent's movements, which may indicate an intuitive instinct for the off the ball movements of his mark. His off the ball movements were so good that he could prevent Eita Otoya from moving past him, despite Otoya's speed. His movements also enabled him to extensively man mark Shoei Baro, although he was eventually overcome through sheer physical ability. 22. “Princess” Hyoma Chigiri (Skills: Top Speed) - Our Prefer Speedster Among Blue Lock Characters Hyoma Chigiri also known as “Princess” was a member of Team Z when arrived. Out of 300 chosen player for Blue Lock Eleven, he ranked 44. In the first half match of the Japan National Representative Match, he played as the right sideback for the Blue Lock Eleven against Japan U-20. Chigiri has naturally strong leg muscles and expert footwork, which enables him to run down the field at incredible speeds. Chigiri is generally considered to be the fastest player in Blue Lock and only players with immense speed, like Ryusei Shidou, Eita Otoya, and Zantetsu Tsurugi can compete with him. While his speed is rivaled by a handful of players, as of yet, nobody has been able to beat him in a direct contest of speed. Chigiri has even sped past Oliver Aiku, the #1 defender of the Japan U-20. This speed, combined with his perception and awareness of positioning enables him to choose the appropriate breakthrough point in an opponent's defence and to speed through. 21. “King” Shoei Barou (Skills: Powerful Middle Shot + Charging) - The Most Stupid Among Blue Lock Characters Baro is a very selfish and arrogant type of forward who strives to be the star of the field at all times. When first arriving at Blue Lock, he was a member of Team X during First Selection and tied for top scorer in his designated stratum. After the Blue Lock Eleven played against the Japan U-20, Baro is ranked as one of the top players in Blue Lock. Baro's physique enables him to hold up the ball and physically contest other players. His charging ability allows him to dribble and create chances for himself. His shooting and villainous style enable him to finish off team moves, by devouring his teammates. Baro has one of the best physiques in Blue Lock, as well as having one of the best techniques at his age in Japan, as stated by Anri Teieri. Often Baro is given the freedom to play and devour who he wishes on the field, as shown during the Second Selection, as well as by Ego telling Baro to disregard the team's plan and focus on devouring Isagi against the Japan U-20. He could have not been in this ranking especially since Ryusei Shidou seems to be a better version of him but after have thought for this 10th place and Ikki Nikko seems much more useful but why not? 20. “Ninja” Eita Otoya (Skills: Off the Ball Movement + Swiftness) Eita Otoya is a sideback player in the Blue Block Eleven who initially was a winger in the team. He ranks 4th out the chosen 300 player for the Blue Lock Project. Otoya is incredibly quick on his feet, reacting quickly to opposing players and using his speed to intercept them. He is swift enough to intercept Shidou's Aggressive Dribbles, as well as stop Rin in his tracks. His speed is at such a level that Ego positioned him in the Blue Lock Eleven with the express purpose of using his speed to get in behind the opposing defenders. 19. Kenyu Yukimiya (Skills: Rigid Dribbling + Gyro Shot) - The Most Classy Among Blue Lock Characters Ranked 5th out of the 300 forward chosen players, he currently is the winger in the Blue Lock Eleven facing off Japan U-20.  In contrast with Bachira's technical dribbling, Yukimiya's dribbling relies on his own physique, to push past opponents with power and speed. Yukimiya's core style involves bringing a confrontation to the individual level, where he can use his rigid dribbling to get past his opponents in succession. He has shown that he can overcome Rin and then Shidou whilst doing this, proclaiming that in a 1v1 he is the strongest player in Japan (although this was likely a boast).  In contrast to his usual 1-on-1 style, when Yukimiya accesses the flow state, he can dribble with more precise movements, cutting into the spaces between both friends and foe. Through focus and analysis, Yukimiya can determine the best route to take in order to penetrate the defense, yet still ad In addition he has Gyro-Shot. This is a higvh shot, with incredible spin, allowing it to drop sharply in mid-air, while moving to the outside. When Yukimiya used this shot, it was very nearly going to score, if not for Aryu and Nagi reading its path. Based on what Reo said, its range is at least 30 meters. 18. “The Assassin” Tabito Karasu (Skills: Analytical Ability + Ball Control + Feint) Also known as “The Assassin”, Tabito Karasu is currently the defensive midfielder in the Blue Lock Eleven. Amongst 300 chosen forwards, he ranked 3rd. He is currently ranked #3 out of the original 300 forwards chosen to be apart of the Blue Lock Project and is currently starting as a defensive midfielder for the Blue Lock Eleven against the Japan U-20. Karasu has the best ball-keeping sense in Blue Lock, due to his spatial and tactical awareness and his unique ability to control space with his hands. By gauging the distance between himself and his opponent, Karasu uses his body (and more specifically his arms) to block them off from the ball, controlling the space and enabling him to either steal the ball from them or dribble past. 17. Rensuke Kunigami (Skills: Finesse Shot + Knucle Shot) He was ranked #50 out of the original 300 forwards chosen to be a part of the Blue Lock Project but was later eliminated from Blue Lock during the final games of Second Selection by Ryusei Shidou but instead of leaving the facility he walked into a mysterious "Wild Card" door that was open to him. After the U-20 match ended, Kunigami finally returned from the "Wild Card" door. Being a high powered left footed shooter, Kunigami is rare type of striker. Kunigami was tied for top scorer on Team Z during the First Selection, and only because another teammate cheated to get their goals to tie with him. When left unmarked he is guaranteed to make an easy goal. illustration By Highend69 After emerging from his time in the Wild Card door, Kunigami's physical abilities had been noted to skyrocket since his last appearance in Second Selection. While the rest of the Germany Stratum Blue Lock players struggled to compare to the Germany U-20 players, Kunigami easily kept up with them during training and ranked amongst the top 3 players in the entire stratum. 16. Nagi Seishiro (Skills: Perfect Ball Control + Trapping) - The Highest Potential Among Blue Lock Characters When he first arrived to Blue Lock he was a member of Team V and was the best player in his designated stratum. After the Blue Lock Eleven played against the Japan U-20, Nagi is ranked as one of the top players in Blue Lock. With Nagi's, perfect ball control, flexible movements, and technical ability he is able to breathe life into even the most difficult or hopeless plays. Read the full article

[miekasa]

MIE ‼️ What sports would the aot boys play? I’m so thirsty thinkin about these fine men in their uniforms and them wiping their sweat off 🥵 I will cheer for all of them with my “my bf is not only #1 in the sheets…” sign

I love thinking about athlete aus… I think I might have done one before, but I have more thots now 😌😌

Eren plays soccer in the fall, hockey in the winter, and baseball or lacrosse in the spring—tri-season athlete no big deal. But really, it actually helps him focus better on his schoolwork; he has to really manage his time between practice and games and assignments, and it teaches him to be responsible and self-sufficient, and he finds out that he much rather likes having something to do than being bored out of his mind.

He always plays forward because he’s quite aggressive, but it’s needed in these kinds of scenarios. He sometimes forgets his jerseys, in which case you’ll get a frantic phone call 2 hours before his game, “Babe, babe, babe, babe!!! I know you have your microbio lecture but I left my gym bag at your place and Levi is gonna fucking murder me—you’re the fucking best you know that, I love you!!!”

Jean plays basketball in the fall, and does swimming/diving in the winter. Depending on the year, he’ll play baseball in the spring too, and he’s got a pretty mean swing. He and Eren are honestly a pretty damn good team when they play together, and Jean is about the only person on the team who can predict and catch Eren’s crazy throws. Also, I will advocate for beefcake Jean with nice arms until I’m dead and gone, and he would look so good in all the swimming attire, even the stupid ass swimming caps and goggles he somehow comes out of the water looking sexy. Delicious, 12/10.

Armin plays soccer in the fall and he didn’t plan on playing any sports at university; too concerned that it wouldn’t allow him enough time to focus on his studies. The only thing he considered was swimming because he’s… a pretty damn good swimmer, but didn’t think it would be worth it.

However, Eren scammed him into coming to soccer try-outs during preseason and Armin made it, and turns out he really enjoys it, too. He would look… very cute in a soccer uniform, that’s all I’ll say. Definitely brings 18293 extra energy bars for Eren because Eren always forgets food (even tho he consumes it all day every day). He never did go through with swimming, which is a shame because he could probably lap half the other teams in his sleep. Oh well.

Connie plays volleyball!! And he looks sexy as hell doing it!!! He tries it out for fun and he fucking loves it, so much that he plays during the fall season for the university, but he also plays club year round. He honestly has the time of his life. Originally, he planned on being a setter—and sometimes he is—but he’s a better wing spiker than anything. Loves fake out attacks and he gets so fucking hype whenever his team makes a good play.

Wanna say I can also see Connie running track, but I just know he’d fall and bust his ass on the hurdles plsssss. Makes the dumbest faces whenever he passes his opponents and fucking winks before he crosses the finish line. 100% has a victory dance.

Levi plays soccer in the fall and hockey in the winter, and if you think he’s not the captain of both teams, then think again. Center forward in soccer, and let me tell you something, his legs in those shorts… yes, the socks and shin guards and literally hiding his lower legs but he still looks so. Biteable. His hockey uniform covers him from head to toe and he still looks sexy. He doesn’t even have to be as aggressive in hockey, because he’s such a skilled skater, he gets by without physical contact. He does casual ice skating sometimes because he’s that smooth on the ice, but it’s nothing serious. No because when he takes his helmet off after a game >>>

Porco plays hockey in the winter and baseball in the spring. If you thought Eren was aggressive on the ice, then you haven’t met Porco. He actually plays the best when he’s a little peeved off, but not so much that it clouds his head; when that happens, it’s him in the box literally every other play, and you should feel sorry for the other team’s forwards because they’re getting body checked as soon as he’s out.

He’s… alarmingly fast off the ice, too, which is why he’s a fucking ace on the baseball field. Not to mention he looks stupid cute in the uniform. Especially the hat. Particularly the hat.

Reiner is built like a fucking brick house, he’s playing hockey and he’s the goalie. Likes to be chill with his teammates and even goof off a bit before the game, but when he’s on the ice it’s game time. He’s so focused. He takes it pretty hard on himself whenever the other team gets a sneaky attack past him, but it fuels him to keep a sharper eye out for next time.

Bertholdt also does swimming/diving, but he does the longer races. His endurance is really good, and his technique is to take it easy in the beginning—even if it looks like the others are lapping him by a lot—and then kick it up when it comes to the end of the race. It’s effective 99.9% of the time. Him in the swimming shorts… very nice image, indeed.

[bubblyhoney]

soundtrack

warnings: sailor language, suggestive themes/mentions of sex, drinking, nicotine use, being tipsy/intoxicated. no graphic or explicit nsfw content besides basically tonguing and giving hickeys and an ass grab.

tags: karl jacobs x fem!reader

words: 1898

A/N: i wrote this thinking that both people in this fic are of drinking age; i’m not, but i thought it would be a cool idea. i can assume many adult gatherings feature alcohol, so yeah. drinking isn’t integral to the plot of this fic. also it is pre-(or post)pandemic bc it’s just a general rule of thumb to not have parties right now.

-

“Don’t, kill, me,” Karl warbles, setting down his bottle with a sigh. Freaks plays loud and tinny on the TV, album cover bathing those occupying the couch in a grayish light. Those occupants being just you and Karl. The room is lit with purple string lights and that one thrifted lamp with frogs on the shade he’d sworn was the best purchase he’s ever made. You’re sprawled out on the other half of the sofa, ankles crossed and a can of vodka seltzer swaying in your hand. The song changes to 20 Min by Lil Uzi and your foot bounces to the beat.

“What time is it?” You sigh, placing the nearly-empty can onto the coffee table next to your apple berry-flavored pen. He flicks his wrist towards his face.

“2:46,” he delivers, and takes a swig of the Angry Orchard in his hand. His sixth, specifically. The rest of the group had left roughly ten minutes ago, leaving the two loneliest people to drink alone. You, thoroughly tipsy, decided it was better to spend the night on his spare than pay $50 for an Uber. He agreed, of course. Why wouldn’t he?

Lifting onto your elbows, you just stare at him. He lifts an ankle to cross over the other and your eyes drop. What is his fascination with Spongebob socks?

“We should play 20 questions.”

“What?” His head swivels like a bobblehead and a giggle barely escapes your lips.

“20 questions!” You say excitedly, heaving onto your knees to look at him earnestly. “You go first.”

“Um, okay.” The song fades into Paper Planes and he bobs his head to the beat. “What’s your favorite breed of dog?”

“Shiba inu. Are you a virgin?”

The fucking tone of your voice makes him dissolve into giggles, hand pressed to his chest. You just shrug, reaching for the pen in the table. “Fair question, I think,” you say defensively. His chest heaves, but he sits up.

“No—no, I’m not a virgin.” His cheeks are red, but he’s smiling like it was an easy answer. Your mind floods with images of his long hair in your face, long fingers—a sweaty chest. You shake your head. “Okay, my turn,” he continues, giving you a weird look. “would you rather kiss Chucky Cheese or Ronald McDonald?”

“Karl!” You whine. “That is not how 20 Questions works!” You grumpily pull from your pen, blowing the smoke out of the side of your mouth. Eughk. Apple berry sucks.

“Fine, fine,” he sighs, rolling his eyes. The tell-tale guitar chords of The Adults Are Talking floods the room and his face brightens with a new question. “Have you ever been to a concert?”

“Yes, actually. The Jonas Brothers in 2009.” He wrinkles his nose, finishing his cider and dropping it onto the coffee table with a sharp noise. Your eyebrows furrow. “Don’t you dare badmouth my boys.”

“Wasn’t gonna!” He reaches for your pen and you give it to him with a slight pout on your lips that he glances at.

“Good. Where is the weirdest place you’ve had sex?” A grin climbs your lips.

“Jesus Christ, Y/N.” His eyes widen and smoke curls out of his nostrils as he hands your pen back. You just shrug and pick up your discarded seltzer. “Gimme a sec to think.”

“So many places?” You tease, finishing the last drop of your drink and crushing it beneath your palm. He shrugs, mirroring you, and cracks open another cider. He seems to think, brows furrowing, as he pulls a swig from the dark bottle.

“Boat.”

“Boat,” you repeat.

“Yup.” He looks at you, gaze flickering to your lips imperceptibly fast. If you were sober you’d probably notice, but you’re not and you don’t.

“You’ve fucked on a boat?” No way. Karl Jacobs. On a boat. Having sex. What an image—

“Yeah, senior year was great for me.” More Than A Woman fills the space of the silence as you consider this. You blink, processing.

“Whose boat?” You're genuinely curious. Was it a yacht, pontoon, fishing boat? Row boat? The sudden scene of him getting his foot stuck in a fishing net while pantless clouds your vision.

“My girlfriend’s.” And that’s that on that because he’s moving on before you can open your mouth and continue the discussion of the logistics of this. “Stop investigating, perv. Now it’s my turn. Hmm— wait! Where is the weirdest place you have had sex?” A sneaky grin is on his lips and now you just want to kiss him, damn it.

“I-Uh. I think it was under the bleachers. I also had a great senior year,” you offer, scooting forward on your knees so that you’re only a foot from Karl. He looks impressed, actually.

“Who was it?”

Your eyebrow raises in question.

“Personal question or one of the 16 left, Karl?”

His cheeks heat and he looks once to the TV.

“Personal,” he mutters into the mouth of his bottle.

“It was Brian Hernandez,” you sigh, gazing off into the distance with a fond look in your eyes. You feel the end of the game of 20 questions as you see him chew on his bottom lip from your peripheral. “Dude was insatiable. Managed girls’ basketball and looked damn good doing it.”

“I managed girls’ soccer,” he says simply, uncrossing his legs. “My girlfriend was goalie.”

“How long did you guys date?” You fold your legs up underneath you, tucking a lock of hair behind your ear. You feel the most sober now out of all tonight.

“Dunno.” He sips at his cider. “Couple weeks maybe?”

You smirk. “Karl Jacobs puts out in the first couple weeks?” That’s hot, you don’t say. He gives you a look. “18 year old Karl was a player,” you tease, leaning forward to poke at his chest.

Smacking your hand away, he sighs and lifts a hand to tousle his hair.

“Guess he was.” Clear eyes meet yours and you take a hit from the pen that lays discarded in your palm. He watches the smoke float from your mouth. The TV screen swipes to Deceptacon and the mood quickly shifts. “So.” He turns toward you with lifted eyebrows. “You were a total nerd in highschool, huh.”

Your jaw drops. “I was not!”

“Come on; yes, you were.” He makes a face and drains half the bottle of cider. “You probably were in SpellBowl and every teacher’s pet.”

“Nice try, bitch. You were a dumb jock. I’ve seen the pictures. The yearbook pictures.” You look pointedly at his hair.

“My hair was not that bad.”

“Yes it was.”

“No, it wasn’t,” he grumbles and pushes his hand through his long curls. “Just a little… short.” It’s your turn to make a face.

“A buzz cut nearly to your scalp is more than short.” He huffs at you and finishes the cider just as the song switches. “Anyways.” You don’t really have anything to say, actually. Too busy thinking about teenage Karl smacking tennis rackets around and fielding lost soccer balls for his girlfriend. She’s long gone, right?

“Are you wearing lingerie?” Karl asks suddenly and you look up. He stares pointedly at your chest and you move a hand to pat at your stomach.

“Oh,” you start, and flick the last three buttons open, fabric falling to reveal a baby blue lace corset. “Yeah.” He can’t seem to stop imagining what’s underneath it. Fuck. “Do you like it?” The tone in your voice is taunting and he has to look away.

He clears his throat and places the second glass bottle onto the coffee table.

“Yes.”

You rise onto your knees and pull your arms out of the button-up, letting it fall back on the couch.

“Do you want to touch it?” You're looking up at him from underneath your eyelashes, he realizes, and you know exactly what you’re doing. You’re not asking if he wants to touch the corset; you’re asking if he wants to touch you.

“Can I?” He glances at you warily. You just nod, and it’s then that you’re shuffling forward. The material is soft on his fingertips when he brushes a hand across your torso. “Silk,” he mumbles, and stares, transfixed, at the loopy flower pattern crawling across your waist in shades of milky blue. You just hum and watch. He realizes suddenly when he traces a finger up on the ridge of the neckline that you’re not wearing anything underneath it. It makes him stop in his tracks, neck flushing. “Are-are you—,”

“Wearing a bra? No, I’m not.” You lay a hand on his shoulder, hoisting one leg over his thighs and settling down comfortable on his lap. He bristles then relaxes as you slide a hand up into his scalp. “Do you want me to show you?”

He glares at you, barely annoyed, and shifts so that his large hands rest in the curve of your waist. Poison starts in the speakers as his eyebrow raises.

“Do you normally wear corsets when we all hang out?” A lock of your hair moves past your cheek as he brushes it out of the way. His mouth tilts into a smirk. You seem to think about it, lips pursed, and grip both his shoulders in your hands.

“Only when I’ve got someone to impress.” A hand on your lower back presses insistently and you fall further into his lap.

“Who are you here to impress, Y/N?” He’s barely an inch from your mouth now, and can’t seem to keep his eyes on one part of your face. Cool breath fans onto your cheeks and they warm. God, he’s even cuter up close.

“You,” barely passes your lips before he’s taking the side of your neck into his hand and stretching to connect your lips with his own.

Cherry, you think. Cherry chapstick, that cheeky bastard. Taking your wrist in his hand, he loops it up and around his neck. You’re making a noise into his mouth, you realize, right as he’s sliding a hand down to the side of your thigh and gripping it between his long fingers. You shiver as he pulls away too soon, pressing a small kiss to the corner of your mouth before sinking his teeth into your neck. The gasp that leaves your mouth is surprisingly loud and your cheeks flush further. He just hums, pleased, and stretches an arm to the opposite side of your waist to hug you closer. Warm lips move on the skin of your neck and his tongue darts out few and far between the kisses.

“Fuck,” he breathes when your hips jerk forward once.

“Sorry,” you whisper up at the ceiling, eyes falling shut. “reflex.”

He grins against your neck and moves to grip an ass cheek in his palm.

“Your reflex to me licking a hickey is to grind into my crotch?” he teases. You just have to nod, lips parted, as he soothes another bruise with his tongue.

“Karl.” He seems to either not hear you or ignore you for he’s removing himself from your neck and connecting your mouths once more. “Karl,” you stutter between kisses, and he squeezes at your ass.

“Yes?” His lips are bitten and puffy when he pulls away, a smug look on his beautiful face.

“Take off my corset.”

He looks between your face and the lingerie, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Don’t mind if I do.”

-

A/N: ask or send me some stuff!! requests, rants, anything. :D comment what you think !