#oc: merrick carew

[joanofexys]

aftg oc tweets pt 3/?

[joanofexys]

now that youre done with school, im setting up camp here (your inbox), hope you dont mind.

soooo

i need you to yap about merrrick and jude's relationship

okay okay so,

firstly i'm so sorry i took so long to get to this i had to vist with like a million people and people kept dropping by the house for some reason to give me money

you are also so so welcome to set up camp in my inbox, you can even build a little house here if you want

anywayyyyyy Jude and Merrick

So Jude's a golden child and Merrick becomes a media darling partly because oh my god a fox went pro and they're not a complete disaster and also partly cause he's an attention whore and he ate it up once he went pro

So yeah they meet officially when Merr's 25 and Jude's 26. Jude makes court and they're eyeing Merr but ultimately decide to pass on him. He's a good player and he's good in front of a camera but any of his coaches past or present would tell them they don't think he's a good fit cause of the shit he's carrying and the pressure being court would put on his shoulders.

They had of course met in the past for college exy events but really had no reason to interact and didn't pay much attention to each other at the time

So yeah they meet when team USA is sort of eyeing Merr/scouting his still unnamed pro team and somehow ended up striking up a conversation (Jude saw Merr's tattoos and decided to compliment them and start rambling about/showing off his own). Jude asks for his number for completely professional reasons, obviously, and it largely starts with Jude texting him random shit at the weirdest times and Merrick either not responding or giving odd as shit answers because he doesn't know how to text. So Merr gets passed up on being court and Jude teTchnically has zero reason to keep in touch with him because they're actually not going to be teammates but now he's going a little bonkers. He's watching games, he's watching interviews, he's watching that one thirst trap edit that has a clip of Merr pouring water over himself after a game. He pulls back on the random texting a bit but still tells him good game and checks in regularly and well when they end up in the same area for an event it only makes sense to ask him to get coffee.

At the end of the night they end up in Jude's hotel room just sitting on the bed. Merr asks about Jude's scars, at the end of the day he's a fox, he's used to it but still curious, and Jude answers honestly. Merrick thanks him and offers nothing in return. And it's okay. A Fox and Trojan is an odd combination and for the moment they're content with what they have. Merr's glad to have finally made a friend after the foxes and well he doesn't know what Jude gets out of it but he's glad that it seems to be enough.

They go their separate ways, keep in touch sporadically, and keep a close eye on each other's careers. Team USA takes gold that year and Merr's team does well enough to keep him going and stop him from falling back into bad habits. They both tell each other good job, Jude's hand hovers over the call button, and Merr types a million sentences unsure of what he wants to say.

After that Jude has to sign with another pro team and he signs with Merr's. They're not the best team or the biggest but they're consist players, solid, and slowly working their way up the ranks. Jude has his pick of the litter and no one really knows why he chose that team when all his court teammates went on to one's with much better chances of winning but he seems happy with his choice so they don't push it.

Seeing Merrick on the court this way and how he interacts with his team is completely different from the Merrick he's seen in their brief moments of existing together. Merr's aggressive on the court, he hits hard, and in practices he doesn't tend to care much for the fact that he's often pissing off his own teammates. Off the court, in locker rooms and at team meetings he's not outright rude but he's not making any active effort to make friends and it's obvious his teammates aren't either and they've likely never tried. So Jude pushes. It starts with press duty together and they develop a good banter, a strong back and forth, and if the press adored them separately then they love them together.

It's furthered by Jude joining him for his workouts and for drills. They start running together in the morning. Jude never asks him what's wrong enough with him to have made him a fox. Merrick never brings up his scars again. They talk about movies and music and local places that Merrick has never visited and Jude is excited to see. Jude stops bringing up local bars and the club the team loves to frequent after the third time Merr goes oddly silent in the middle of a conversation.

Then Jude starts complaining about how his dog is across the country staying with his family cause the only apartment he could find at the time doesn't allow pets. Merr mentions his place does. Jude doesn't push. A few weeks later Merrick comes up to him in the locker room after practice and tells him if he wants his dog out here and can find a way out of his lease that Merr has a spare room.

So they become roommates. And they have to set ground rules. Merrick's rule number one is no substances in the house. Merr doesn't even keep over the counter pain killers, he'll call a team nurse if he needs them. Jude tells him he takes prescription medication for his adhd and depression. Merrick asks him to keep them in his room and expects that to be the end of it. This time Jude pushes. He figures he's given and Merr owes him nothing but he might as well ask if he can take a little in return. Merrick doesn't give him everything, doesn't give him much at all, but he admits he's struggled with addiction in the past. That he's been in rehab, he's clean, but he prefers not to take the risk of having anything around. That even if he's not tempted he doesn't like the reminders. Especially since he was living alone.

They fall into a routine and Jude asks for a little bit more over time. They have the same nights off so now they have movie nights. Stevie (Jude's dog) starts to join them on morning runs. She learns she likes Merrick's bed more and Merr learns that too when he's woken up by her nudging his arm one night waiting to be pet. He walks her back to Jude's room every night for a few weeks before he gives up. They switch off cooking and eventually start to cook together. Merrick will ask Jude questions. How has therapy worked for him? What does he do to cope? Has talking about things really helped? Jude answers and asks questions in return. Do you have someone to talk to? Do you need me to listen? Tell me something about you?

They become friends long before they're lovers. They like to exist together before they choose to be together. And something odd about them just works. I can't really articulate it well myself.

I don't know when they cross that line quite yet. I only have bits and pieces of what Jude learns about Merrick and when. But it all comes together, slowly but surely. Merr introduces Jude to Wymack instead of introducing him to his dad. Introduces him to Bee instead of his mom. Jude brings him home to California, they roadtrip so they can take Stevie with them and have a great time. Their team makes it to semifinals and they end up kissing on camera and falling down on the court holding each other, kissing each other over and over again. They hold hands in public and let the paparazzi take photos, they answer all the questions after games, and they make their own posts addressing it all. And it's truly time to wrap this shit up though there's much I could delve into I think and if there's any specific questions I will happily answer them but they end up as two very content dog dads to one very spoiled Stevie

[joanofexys]

AFTG OC Masterlist (posts not linked here can be found in #my ocs or individual character tags)

social media AU: part 1(ish) | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 (wip) | a ninyard special | pfps

art commission of florian and ilya

oc info:

Jude Reyes - part 1 | part 2

Merrick Carew - part 1 | part 2

Emiko Moriyama - part 1 | part 2 | part 3

Ilya Kostyk - part 1 | part 2

Florian Laska - part 1 | part 2 | part 3

Mara Fasil - part 1

Angelo “Angel” Di Fiore - part 1 | part 2

Harper Shaw - part 1

misc - part 1

tattoo inspo moodboards: Emiko | Jude | Florian | Merrick

moodboards: wip

fic snippets: part 1 | part 2

[joanofexys]

aftg oc tweets pfps

florian:

mara:

jude:

emiko:

ilya:

merrick:

angel:

[joanofexys]

oc • merrick carew • tattoo inspo

some notes:

these are general inspo not exactly what i imagine him having though these are pretty close

the venus flytrap goes over his top surgery scars

the chrysalis he got after his second time in rehab to signify a fresh start for himself

the chrysanthemum is for his sister and it’d have her birthday next to it

[joanofexys]

tell me about Merrick?

@themundanemudperson @codename-adler

thank you guys for asking about him

as always quick little overview of Merrick Carew:

usually goes by Merr

he/him

25 years old

gay aspec, trans man

english major

played for the foxes for 5 years and attended on a scholarship

5’7, brown hair, hazel eyes, has tattoos under his top surgery scars (and other tattoos lol)

striker, plays pro for a team i will come up with a name for eventually

had an older sister

quick warning now that Merr touches on a variety of heavier topics cause yk he is a fox so yeah just be prepared for that

specific tws i can think of: substance abuse, suicide, domestic abuse, child abuse, COCSA (SA)

this got really long so it’s under the cut 😭

Merr was recruited to the foxes after his coach recommended him to Wymack. His coach had noticed a variety of signs that pointed to abuse at home and also signs of addiction. When his coach asked why he hadn’t applied to any colleges Merr admitted that he couldn’t afford it and that no one wanted to put up with his attitude since he wasn’t much of a team player.

When he was offered a full ride to PSU knowing their reputation and it meaning that they’d be the only school who would take him

Now for the reasons why he’s a fox:

Merrick grew up in a big house where he lived with his parents, his aunt and uncle, his older sister, and his 4 older cousins

He and his sister were close and pretty much attached at the hip and they got along with their cousins as well. Both his parents and aunt and uncle were neglectful and his uncle was abusive to both his aunt and his mom while his dad tended to look the other way. Because of this they were largely unsupervised and it landed on his sister to do a lot of the caretaking.

His dad was an alcoholic and his mom seemed to like pain pills a little too much so substances went largely unchecked in the home and Merr was even offered things like alcohol at a very young age which was the start of his own addiction. Merr didn’t love alcohol but he did learn to mimic his mother and developed a preference for pretty much any pills he could get his hands on.

As they got older his uncle’s abuse also turned onto his cousins and in turn their abuse turned on him (and his sister when she tried to intervene). One of Merr’s cousins started to sexually abuse him when they were 14 and he was 11 and it didn’t end until a few years later when his uncle was fired and they had to move to a different state for his new job.

Until that had happened Merr’s family had realized how dependent they were on his uncle and aunts income and they lost their house and ended up living in a variety of hotels. In this period of time both Merr’s and his parents addictions got really bad and his sister was put under a lot of stress working and trying to take of him and their parents. Eventually she started skipping school, she got rejected from all of the colleges she applied to (all out of state), and she ended up committing suicide on her 18th birthday when Merr was 14

After her death both of Merr’s parents decided to get clean, shocked by their daughter’s death and realizing they were so wrapped up in their own addictions that they hadn’t noticed anything going on with her. They both started going to rehab, group therapy, and locked down to full time jobs and got to the point where they could afford an apartment when Merr was 14. Merrick, on the other hand, got worse and became more dependent on any substance he could get his hands (even harder now that his parents were keeping a clean house). Because he had never had to worry about a lack of access to drugs before he started going through withdrawals and with it he started heavily lashing out. At his school he found ways to get high still but it wasn’t the same as what he had been getting before and he remained irritable. He snapped at people a lot including his parents which led to a lot of fighting which turned into verbal abuse

He started looking for excuses to be out of the house and decided to try out for his high school’s exy team and actually made it. He played all through high school, it forced him to keep up his grades, and well he still didn’t get clean but he had another outlet and a coach who was doing their best to look out for him.

When he moves to PSU he has no idea what he wants to do with his life, he’s focused on getting his next fix, and he’s so incredibly lonely.

Moving to college forces him to finally process his grief for his sister and he has a breakdown where he keeps trying to call her old, deactivated, number and begging to go home. His roommates end up calling Wymack who takes him to his apartment and he refuses to move back into the dorms for about two months after that. But that means he can’t hide his addiction and when confronted with that he agrees to finally actually talk to Bee. He makes it through his first semester at Palmetto and ends up checking himself into rehab over winter break.

He gets clean, relapses a few times, the summer of his sophomore year he ends checking himself into rehab again for the duration of it and ends up staying clean.

I guess he’s one of Wymack’s successes and he’s plenty fucked up and still feels like a mess trying to be a person most days but he considers Wymack and Abby and Bee and even some of his teammates family and knows he’s got them to fall back on.

When he goes pro the media ends up falling in love with him and he ends up adoring press duty for the positive attention and being surprisingly good at it with a little media training.

He’s not a huge advocate about addiction or mental health necessarily because he keeps his issues incredibly private but he’ll repost little infographics and he’s the always the first to like Jude’s posts about his struggles and leave a supportive comment.

This is getting really long so I’m gonna try and wrap it up now. Other than his addiction and his sisters death he doesn’t end up confronting his other trauma until he’s into his 20’s. After graduating he keeps Bee as his therapist and that’s where he starts unpacking everything that happened to him as a kid. He still has a lot to work on and heal from, a lot of it he’d rather pack up in a box and never address, but when the feelings on it get too big he’s learned a lot of healthier outlets over letting his frustrations get the best of him

And yeah idk if he ever makes court but I am toying with the idea of him and Jude getting together

[joanofexys]

🍕 for merr

🧊 for em

❤️,✂️ & 🎹 ur choice <3

Merr 🍕 - What is their favorite food?

I think generally he’d tell people he doesn’t have one and for the most part that’s true. He’s a picky eater so he knows what he hates but he struggles to identify what he likes to eat. I don’t know if I can even pick a favorite for him but he leans for things that are “safe” texture wise. No random chunks of anything, not a huge fan of meat cause of texture stuff, etc. I do think as long as texture isn’t an issue most things are okay flavor wise. He things that are really flavorful, preferably with some sort of spice. So that’s really a non answer lmao but I just cannot figure out a favorite food for him

Emiko🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

Not at all! Both physically and personality wise. Emiko originally was a lot more involved with the criminal part of her family as opposed to exy. She was essentially the middle man between Ichirou and Riko and kept an eye on Neil. Her job was essentially to make sure everyone was in their place and she was a lot more cut throat. She shifted then to playing exy but still being an incredibly cruel character to now still not being a great person but trying her best

Mara ❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

Mara’s little league coach was her dad and they were incredibly close. She still hasn’t gotten in contact with her family again by the time she starts playing for olympic court but she does want to and sometime in the future it’ll happen. Anyway. Little league team. She’s always played as a dealer but she remembers vividly one game when she was about 9 where she ended up scoring the winning goal for her team. Her dad took her out for dinner that night, anything she wanted, and they went and replaced all the gear she needed. When she first moves to EAU it’s a memory she thinks about a lot. It’s something that gets her through most things. Remembering where she started and how she’s gotten where she’s at. Once she graduates and makes court the memory shifts to motivate in a much healthier way

Florian ✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

This one’s probably pretty obvious but it’s the injury that cost him his leg. He doesn’t remember much of it, not specifics at least, but he remembers what the weight of the racquet coming down on his leg felt like. Bone shattering, skin tearing. He doesn’t talk about it often. Pretty much ever. Only time it really comes out is when he’s talking to Kevin about the pain he deals with in his hand. Interviews avoid the topic now, all people know are the words are “accident” and “incident” and “unfortunate”.

Jude 🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

Jude has a new hobby every week. He joins a book club. He knits with a bunch of old ladies in his apartment who always invite him over to have cookies. He got a ukulele at age 9 and he plays guitar. He knows bird calls. His moms taught him how to make friendship bracelets and now he makes them for everyone. There’s at least 3 books on his bedside table at all times that he never has the time to actually get through.

[joanofexys]

oc masterlist cause why not

intro’s

Florian Laska

Mara Fasil

Emiko Moriyama

Jude Reyes

Ilya Kostyk

Merrick Carew

aftg oc twitter posts 1, 2, 3, 4

misc:

Merrick and Jude

tattoo inspo: Emiko, Merrick, Jude, Florian

other info about them can be found in the #my ocs tag and they each have their own individual tag as well

[joanofexys]

merrick is so cool about it by boygenius coded it hurts

[joanofexys]

my little list of aftg ocs before i go to bed. idk why i'm posting this. maybe i'm an attention whore and want people to ask abt them and maybe i'm just posting this for my sake so i have a list of them somewhere

Florian Laska

Mara Fasil

Emiko Moriyama

Ilya Kostyk

Jude Reyes

Merrick Carew

Sawyer Minyard (???)

Saide Minyard (???)

[redacted]