#FEMALE COACH WHAT A LEGEND

[queen-of-reptiles]

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙼𝙿𝙸𝙾𝙽

description: in which leah williamson’s younger sister is in a two year relationship with alessia russo and has just won two gold medals at the world gymnastic championships

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alessia russo x female reader

disclaimer: I am in no way saying alessia russo is gay or bi-sexual this is all fiction

warnings: not much, slight language and a lil bit of sexual content

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y/n just posted

liked by, alessiarusso99, leahwilliamsonn and 236, 345 others

y/n what a team, what a time - i love you all and see you soon!! ❤️

tagged teamgb and britishgymnasticsofficial

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username1: CONGRATULATIONS YOUR BEAM ROUTINE WAS MINDBLOWING 😭😘😘

teamgb: 2 golds, 3 silvers not too bad xoxo 🫡

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y/n: ❤️❤️

simonebiles: so proud! remember when you were just a little thing competing ! can hardly keep up with you now! 🩷

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y/n: I have been so grateful for all your support and coaching - even if i am team gb all the way! 😜😘

leahwilliamsonn: so so so so so proud of you, loved watching every second, you continuously make me proud little one !! ❤️😭

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y/n: ilysm sis ❤️

izzy.songhurst: GOWAN Y/N - SHES THE QUEEN OF THE BEAM AND THE FLOOR ROUTINE 🩷

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y/n: I EXPECT YOU TO FOLLOW SOON BRONZE THIS YEAR GOLD THE NEXT ❤️

alessiarusso99: I am so proud my baby <3

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y/n: You helped more than you will ever know my love xx

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ellatoone: 🤢🤢

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y/n: @joebunney come get your girl 🙄

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ellatoone: all gross love aside, well done our girl!! 😗

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y/n: 😊😗

maxwhitlock: Absolute legend, BRING ON Paris 😎😎

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y/n: 🇫🇷🇫🇷

username2: she was so good!!!! 😩😩

username3: She is SO pretty 🥺🥺

username4: WHY DID I NOT REALISE SHE WAS WITH ALESSIA??? 🤯🤯

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username5: THEY HAVE BEEN TOGETHER FOR TWO YEARS?!!!!!

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username6: and their instas are basically shrines to each other wtf????

katie_mccabe11: showin them all how it’s done! xx

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y/n: took lessons from u clearly xo

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bethmead_: nahhh got it from me 😌😊

caitlinfoord: that photo of us all in the caps tryna be inconspicuous omg 😭

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y/n: lesbians united ig??

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username7: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

britishgymnasticsofficial: ❤️❤️

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alessiarusso99 just posted

liked by, ellatoone, mbrighty04 and 128, 298 others

alessiarusso99 day in day out you have worked incredibly hard for this, never resting, never giving up. Words cannot express how proud I was seeing you receive those medals. I love you baby, well done amore mio xxx ❤️

tagged y/n

view 2398 comments

leahwilliamsonn: this is cute and also sickening …

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y/n: OI

username1: this IS the CUTEST THING 😭😭

username2: I NEED A RELATIONSHIP LIKE THIS NOW 😡😡

y/n: I love you so much baby! Thank you for being one of my biggest strengths! <3

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alessiarusso99: always xo

lucybronze: sickeningly cute! WELL DONE Y/N 🩷

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y/n: THANKS BESTIE 🩷

ellatoone: ew cooties

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y/n: ew ella toone

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alessiarusso99: behave you two!!

katie_mccabe: KISSING?? BEFORE MARRIAGE?

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jbeattie91: SHAMEFUL

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bethmead_: HOW DARE THEY!

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alessiarusso99: children… the lot of you 🙄

mbrighty04: loving this !! GO y/n!!

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y/n: 🥺😗

racheldaly3: LOVING YOU TWO!! 😩😩

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y/n: love you Rach!! 😘

viviannemiedema: WELL DONE BABY WILLIAMSON 🩷

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y/n: LOVE YOU TALL PERSON 🩷

esme.morgan: 🩷🩷🩷

username3: I feel like less is out of her league…

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username4: Yeah i feel like She would be happier with someone else 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

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ellatoone: We don’t.

arsenalwfc: We LOVE supportive girlfriends 😫💋

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username5: WE LOVE THE ARSENAL ADMIN

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y/n just posted

liked by, arsenalwfc, simonebiles and 211, 528 others

y/n best thing about getting to rest?

Getting to join arsenal women training ofc 🥹 (oh and getting to yell at Katie cause J is cool like that :))

tagged arsenalwfc

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username1: hahahah she was allowed to go to training 😭😭

katie_mccabe11: I DON’T understand I was ONSIDE !

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y/n: na never

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katie_mccabe11: i hate you sm

arsenalwfc: Loved having you! content incoming gooners…

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username2: AHHHHH

alessiarusso99: cannot believe my team didn’t win honestly 🙄

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y/n: Just because you kiss me doesn’t mean I will give the foul! 🤷‍♀️

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leahwilliamsonn: THATS MY GIRL - don’t give into seduction 😩😘

ellatoone: real question is … Did you take a shot?

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y/n: Nahhhh didn’t wanna embarrass the girlies too much

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bethmead_: yeah yeah, keep talking Williamson

caitlinfoord: Honestly best ref we have EVER had 🩷

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y/n: Love youuuuuu Foordy 🩷

username3: How ? Was ? She ? Allowed ? In ? Training ? 😭😭

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username4: Well, she’s Leah’s sister and Lessi’s gf so I suppose they all like her !

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username5: Suppose? The entire team LOVES her !

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Arsenalwfc just posted

The camera zooms back from the Arsenal badge to show Alessia, Katie and y/n sat at a table laughing and they all smile at the camera.

“Hi I’m Alessia Russo.” Katie begins, Alessia laughing as she shakes her head.

“I’m y/n Williamson.” Alessia adds, causing y/n to glare.

“And I’m Katie Mccabe.” y/n says, a mock Irish accent in her voice which causes Alessia to giggle.

“Oi!” Katie says, leaning over to try and smack the younger girl but Alessia’s sharp light slap to Katie’s hand stops her.

“Ha!” y/n grins as Katie hisses like an angered cat.

“That’s not fair! She’s got her guard dog with her.” Katie jokes at the camera as Alessia rolls her eyes but she smiles none the less.

“Anyway…” y/n begins dragging out the ‘y’. “Today we are doing...” y/n begins. "What are we doing?" She then asks, causing the spectators to laugh.

The spectators in question were, Leah, Beth and Vivianne, all of who were sat happily on the sofa, watching the three on camera.

"Who knows who best." Katie says, Alessia rolling her eyes playfully when she realises they have been tricked into a couple's challenge for the youtube.

It was no secret the fans loved Alessia and y/n together, consistently finding their relationship adorable and loving the small amounts of content they were sometimes given.

"So, both Less here and baby Williamson, have whiteboards and they will be asked questions by me, of course, and have to write the answer down." Katie explains.

y/n holds up her whiteboard excitedly, her eyes sparkling as she grinned at the camera, missing the way her blonde lover smiled softly at her, eyes filled with soft love.

"Then, whoever gets the most right, wins." Katie says, she then picks up a card. "Right, what are Russo's two preferred positions?" Katie asks.

"Easy!" y/n grins as she begins to scribble across the board, Alessia chuckling as she does the same.

They two turn their boards around, Alessia smiling proudly at her girlfriend when she sees they have the same initials.

"Well done baby!" Alessia grins and y/n's cheeks flush at the term of endearment even after all their time together.

"Aw look at her!" Katie teases, leaning over to pinch y/n's cheek between her fingers, however the sharp hit which stops her makes her pout. "Again?" Katie whines at her fellow teammate.

y/n however grins at her protector, leaning over to peck her cheek sweetly, before glaring at her sister who fake gagged in disgust at the show of affection.

"Okay, movin' on." Katie hums. "What is y/n's favourite apparatus?" She asks before scoffing. "Even I know that!" She adds.

y/n smiles as she quickly writes her answer, Alessia doing the same as they count down from 3 before flipping their boards 'floor' both bright against the white.

"I knew that!" Beth says excitedly and y/n grins at her.

"I've always loved it, and found it so fun." y/n explains.

"Scares me half to death." Alessia denies as she remembers all the times she had watched her girlfriend jump and flip too high for her liking.

"It's my job Less." y/n defends with a laugh.

As the game continues it is clear the two girls know each other very well, both of them getting the other's question continuously correct until it was neck and neck and the last question.

"What is y/n's favourite beam dismount?" Katie asks.

Alessia pauses, shock in her face as she realises she doesn't know. Leah's mouth drops at the fact her sister's girlfriend doesn't know this and y/n looks mildly amused as she writes down.

"I don't know." Alessia admits. "I have no clue." She adds and Katie gasps as y/n turns her board around. Showing the g-valued dismount in black ink.

"Double tuck back salto with full twist." y/n says simply.

"Because you can land it every time." Alessia realises with a groan covering her face with her hands as Katie names y/n the winner.

As filming wraps up and y/n helps the crew put their things away, two lanky arms wrap around her waist and pull her into a corridor she didn't recognise.

"Can't believe you didn't know my dismount." y/n teases. "I mean, I love you so much, and know everything about you, but you don't even know my famous dismount." y/n continues.

Alessia whines, her lanky body pressing to the front of her girlfriend's as she buries her head in her lover's neck, causing her to have to bend quite a bit.

"Stop." Alessia huffs. "Its so many words to remember." She adds as y/n shakes her head.

"Don't love me." She teases as Alessia shuts her up with a chaste yet deep kiss.

The blonde striker's hands tighten around her waist, pulling her closer as her fingertips seemingly bruise into y/n's body from the strength of her grip.

The blonde angles her head down and left, giving her a better angle to press herself against her lover, her tongue pushing against y/n's slowly opening mouth.

After a moment of tongues clashing, the kiss slows Alessia's hands sliding up to gently cup y/n's face before keeping their lips pressed softly together for a moment more.

"Still think I don't love you?" Alessia asks, pulling away slowly, her teeth pulling y/n's bottom lip with her slightly.

y/n cannot function for a moment, the deep kiss sucking all the oxygen from her head and ability to breath from her body, the only thing in her mind being the smell of her girlfriend's perfume.

"I think you should do that once more, just so I'm sure you do." y/n smiles after regaining her ability to speak.

"Gladly, amore mio." Alessia murmurs, before moving her head back down to kiss her lover once more. After what felt like seconds, the two still pressed deeply together a shout ran out.

"MY EYES!"

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alessiarusso99 just posted

liked by leahwilliamsonn, katie_mccabe11 and 239, 322 others

alessiarusso99 she’s my favourite person idk <3

tagged y/n

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username1: AWWWWWWWWW

y/n: i love you baby <3

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ellatoone: ‘i love you baby’ 🤢

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mbrighty04: hahahahahahahahahahahhahaha

leahwilliamsonn: my eyes will never recover 😩

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y/n: #sorrynotsorry

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alessiarusso99: #imaccsorry

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y/n: she’s not …

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katie_mccabe11: leah’s shout of horror will never leave me 😭

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username2: what happened ?!?! I NEED TO KNOW 😂

username3: CUTEEEEEEEEEE

izzy.songhurst: 😍😍😍

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y/n: 🩵🩵

username4: OI OI OI

caitlinfoord: KISSING? LIKE THIS? AT YOUR AGE ??

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bethmead_: HOW AWFUL 😩

keirawalsh: you two are so cute !! xx 🥺

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y/n: love youuuuu xx

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lucybronze: you two are so gross !! xx 🥺

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y/n: count your days Bronzey

maxwhitlock: 🫶🫶

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y/n just posted

liked by leahwilliamsonn, simonebiles and 498, 398 others

y/n alexa play baby by Justin Bieber

tagged alessiarusso99

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alessiarusso99: my love

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katie_mccabe11: so gross 🙄

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y/n: i’ll fight you mccabe i swear 🤛

ellatoone: banger of a tune

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alessiarusso99: hundred percent 🫶

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y/n: AND I WAS LIKE BABY BABY BABY

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ellatoone: OOOH LIKE BABY BABY BABY OOH

username1: 🥺🥺🥺

username2: 🔥🔥

izzy.songhurst: cuties

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y/n: love ya xx

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alessiarusso99: thanks Iz ! x

arsenalwfc: ❤️🥺

leahwilliamsonn: 🙄😍

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y/n: 🖕❤️

simonebiles: my babies are so cute !!!!

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y/n: 💙💙

username3: 😫😫😫😫😫

kyracooneyx: i was so in love with him 🥲

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y/n: it’s okay we all have a phase 😔

bethmead_: viv why can’t we be cute like this ?!!

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viviannemeidema: because we are not as cute as this 🤷‍♀️

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y/n: 😶😶

username4: I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

stanwaygeorgia: GROSS

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keirawalsh: georgia behave

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leahwilliamsonn: no no let’s hear her out

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y/n: 🖕🖕

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END

we love baby Less 🥺🥺

[beemynumberone]

Pictures are from Pinterest.

A wild duck chase

(Have you ever seen a duck run?)

-> pairing: HS Ushijima Wakatoshi x Reader (reader is Goshiki’s older sister)

-> Soulmate AU (a duck chases you to your soulmate)

-> genre: fluff, fluff and more fluff

-> format: oneshot

-> cw: implied eating of duck at the end

~ Part 1 of A Haikyuu Soulmate Series (Akaashi)

my haikyuu masterlist

Legend has it that a duck appears when you turn 18. And that duck will lead you to your soulmate when they turn 18. 

It is at a volleyball practice when Ushijima catches sight of you. You’re Goshiki’s older sister, a third year in Shiratorizawa. Ushijima has seen you around but never really paid much attention to you. 

And when you interrupt the practice session to pass Goshiki’s lunch box to him, Ushijima still doesn’t pay much attention. He continues training his serves while a small commotion occurs. 

“Tsutomu-san is so pretty!” Tendou remarks to him, out of Goshiki’s earshot. Ushijima grunts in acknowledgment. That ball was too short. Further? That one was almost out. I have to keep practising. 

The commotion gets louder and Ushijima tries to block the noise out. Until… quack. Tendou screeches.

Ushijima lowers his serving arm. 

Quack quack 

A white duck waddles from the slightly ajar stadium door, straight towards him. 

Reon being the dedicated vice captain he is, tries his best to shoo the duck away. Tendou leaps over to try duck-whispering. 

It seemed that Tendou was successful, since the duck was now being happily escorted by the red-haired blocker to the bleachers. It sits in its place, contented. 

And after practice, the duck follows Ushijima out, back to the dorms. Ushijima simply accepts his new companion. Why shouldn’t he?

And so for the next few days, the duck just follows Ushijima around. Even on Ushijima’s weekly runs.

During which, he realises that the duck is kinda too slow for his liking, so he picks it up and treats it like a medicine ball. He trains the duck during the Saturday runs, showers it, builds a nest for it in the room he shares with Tendou. 

Until one morning, the duck decides to take off like an alarm clock on legs. It tugs at Ushijima’s pant legs, beckoning him to go somewhere. Caught off-guard, Ushijima decides to follow it. 

The duck runs across the block and goes to the female dormitories, but guys can’t enter the female dorms. Which is what Ushijima earnestly tells it. 

And the duck just sits (?) there (?). Until it starts running off again.

Surprisingly, Ushijima realises that it’s a soulmate duck when Coach Washijou tells him so. 

This adds to his curiosity when he catches up with the duck. I’ll follow the duck and we’ll find my soulmate. The school grounds are manageable, this should be easy. 

But who knew, it was a wild goose (duck) chase. 

They ran around the school compound, the duck seemingly following a trail where his soulmate had previously walked on. 

It was almost two hours and they still couldn’t locate his soulmate. Was it lost? Ushijima thinks, looking warily at the huffing and puffing duck running in circles.

At least he got his training in amirite?

And the next day, the duck is relentless. He follows the running duck (must be the training he thinks, its stamina improved over the past few weeks) all the way to the field.

Where he sees you again in the track and field uniform, warming up at the start line. Ushijima finally puts two and two together. 

Is Goshiki’s sister my soulmate? 

And at the whistle, you take off sprinting. Following close behind you is - a white duck. 

Ushijima is mesmerised at the way you soar over the hurdles, white duck strutting under the bars after you.

At his duck’s incessant quacks, he goes over to meet you at the finish line.

Panting, you walk to slow your breathing and turn back to see your new companion waddling after you.

As you turn, you catch sight of Ushijima’s well-built figure standing stoically by the side of the track. You ignore him, bee-lining for your towel to wipe dry.

Why is he here? Is he looking for Goshiki?

You spot the white ball of feathers by his feet.

Oh.

And you feel pecking at your ankles. You look down at the stubborn animal. What’s-

The ducks nudge both of you to stand face to face (or rather, your face to his broad chest, very embarrassing and awkward ngl). You could still feel the heat from the earlier run radiating off your body.

The ducks behind you two quack innocently. 

I think we’re soulmates :D Ushijima smiles down at you, happy that he’d finally figured out who his soulmate was.

You give your best grin, matching it with a shrug that definitely looked as forced as it felt. You felt conflicted. It wasn’t that having Ushijima as your soulmate was horrible, it was just that… you two never really got to know each other.

So after a good shower, you meet Ushijima at the school pond to talk “soulmates”.

You feel like you’re not ready for a relationship with him, since you don’t know Ushijima personally yet. 

And he doesn’t want to rush things either.

So in the meantime, all 4 of you (2 people and 2 ducks) go on weekly runs in the neighbourhood. 

This leaves Goshiki really confused and slightly afraid. Is his idol leaving him for his sister??

Side note for Washijou, after Tendou probes a little about his soulmate, he reveals that he had duck rice for dinner on his 18th birthday. 

Like a duck appearing on his birthday? Definitely a birthday delicacy on legs right? Nope

Ushijima waiting outside the female dorms with his duck:

[kitsunexgari]

Chapter One

Summary: Kitsune is a wealthy billionaire on the hunt for the Front Man of these legendary Squid Games she's heard so much about. However, in her attempt to find this man's true identity, the hunter will become the hunted.

Relationship: Front Man/Hwang In Ho x Original Female Character

Warnings: BDSM mentioned, implied Dub-Con mentioned, some levels of xenophobia mentioned Note: This is the first chapter to establish what's going on so not too much is age inappropriate but it will quickly become that way by chapter two. I have my doubts anyone is going to read this but thought I'd mention that anyway.

Over her time meeting with investors and other clients from various countries worldwide, it wasn’t until Korea that she possibly found what she had been looking for. Whispers of a man, a game, and the need of wealthy investors. Of course, any attempt to research how to get into this or even meet the man who organized this whole process was nearly impossible. Most people she spoke to believed it to just be an urban legend. The people who didn’t think that didn’t want to talk to her because she was Japanese, no matter how much money she was able to offer them. Being the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company in Japan came with plenty of perks but it couldn’t combat the bias against her race. It was only then that she decided that she was going to have to change up her tactics if she was going to find this Front Man that was only spoken of in whispers by an extremely small minority of people in the know. 

As she continued to work and travel she also began to learn Korean. Seeing as how she had a functional understanding of the language already and spoke several others to enable herself to handle international clients better it wasn’t that hard of a task. The real challenge was getting a dialect coach to help her modify her speech so it would seem as if she were a native to the city of Seoul and not a foreigner. The only problem after that was her look but she could take care of that with masks, and sunglasses, or only keeping her communications through phone calls, texts, or emails. 

Soon after she felt she was fluent and authentic sounding enough to fit in as a local did she get the right information. It hadn’t been easy or cheap but it had eventually led her to a man who was able to get her onto the guest list of a very interesting party for the right price, in cash, upfront. He was suspicious of her since she didn’t want to meet him in person lest she give away that she wasn’t one of them but when she offered to double the price for the invitation to be dropped at a secure and remote location he finally gave in and agreed with the deal She knew it was a huge risk as the man could take the money from the drop point and leave her a worthless piece of paper or nothing at all but it was her best chance of getting to where she needed to be. The only problem after that would be figuring out what man she was looking for. 

The party was to be at a privately owned BDSM club with a very hidden entrance where almost no one would think to go without knowing the exact location in advance. The invitation was supposed to get her in, nothing else would. Not even money. Contained within the envelope that held her ticket inside was a list of rules that would be enforced at all costs. The very first one was the mandatory dresscode of a mask. Not just any mask but that of an animal. It could be a choice between a prey animal or a predator. She had ended up going with a very expensive fox mask as that animal fit her intentions the best. An animal which could be both predator and prey. Plus, her alter identity while in Seoul was Yeou, which meant fox. It had been a very lazy choice of alias since it was just the Korean version of her alternate ego in Japan, Kitsune. Luckily for things like this her legal name was of no importance to anyone as the second rule was all about anonymity. No real names were to be used at the party. 

During the course of the night the attendees would have a chance to mingle with each other. At midnight, a partner would be named for them. If they were prey then they were to be ‘captured’ by a predator and have no choice in the matter. As a predator they would have a choice to do the capturing. She wasn’t exactly sure where her animal would put her in the foodchain but she didn’t see it as one of the animals that had been prohibited for whatever reason so she could only assume it wasn’t against the rules. The only other things that the rest of the invitation detailed was that this was an adult oriented event, specifcally for enthusiasts of BDSM, and entering the compound was also consenting to taking part in the prey and predator dynamic. There would be a non-disclosure agreement to sign upon entry and no drugs, alcohol, or other mind altering substance were permitted to enable that no one was too intoxicated to be able to consent to what was going to happen. At the very bottom was a safeword listed should she want to end the situation early but she wasn’t ever planning on using it. 

The only thing that she could hope to do was find who she was looking for and catch his eye enough that he would want her by the end of the night. How she was supposed to do that was not something she knew. In fact, there wasn’t even a guarantee that this “Front Man” would be at the party but she believed that her intel on this was solid enough that it was a good bet. The rest would be up to a little luck and a little fate. All she had to do was keep her eyes and ears open while appearing casual enough to fit in with the rest of the crowd. As nerve-wracking as it was, she believed she could do it just fine. However, there was only one way to find out and that would be by going to the party. 

Thankfully, the invitation did what it needed to do to get her inside. She was quick to sign the NDA and find her way into the back room. This area was muti leveled with music playing. Some random K-Pop stuff she didn’t like nor was she ever very interested in. It was loud enough that the people who wanted to dance were dancing but soft enough that if someone wanted to have a conversation over by the bar or in another corner away from the dance floor, that could be done easily as well. It was a good thing since there would have to be quite a bit of volume to her voice in order to get it to travel over the sound of the music and the muffling of her mask. Other than the fox face that she wore she was dressed in tight black leather. A mini dress which had the addition of knee-high stiletto boots The heels gave her a bit more of a vantage point since on flat ground she was only five feet tall. Now she was five foot seven and she hoped the relative darkness of the place would make people miss that. 

She ordered a sparkling water with a twist of lemon at the bar since there was no alcohol permitted and glanced around her. She saw various other animals, a lot of the same ones were common. Most of the females, or the people presenting as female were wearing kitten or bunny masks. Very few women were wearing predator disguises, though there were a handful. She saw snakes, bears, and wolves that were definitely females. It was the opposite for the men, most of them were predatory, though none of this surprised her. What did give her a surprise was that from where she was standing she couldn’t see a single person, male or female, that had decided to wear a fox mask. It hadn’t been against the rules she’d triple checked it and even had her assistant make sure she didn’t mistranslate anything. She guessed this wasn’t the most creative group of people which sank her heart as she started to consider that this Front Man wouldn’t appear in a group of morons, would he? 

The one thing all of them had in common was money to get in there. The entrance fee was ridiculous and in her case it was double. At least she knew that everyone was a high roller or being bankrolled by one. If she couldn’t find this Front Man here she may be able to find someone who knew him. She had to figure it would be one or the other and she had quite a bit of time to figure it out since it was three hours until midnight when the predators would get their choice of prey. 

“A fox?” The man sitting near her at the bar spoke up. She turned to look at him. 

“Yes, as far as I’m aware that’s not breaking any rules.” 

“It’s not, just haven’t seen a fox around for quite some time.” He chuckled and took a sip of his drink. She wasn’t able to tell from his tone if that was a good or bad thing and there was no way to tell from his expression. She decided to keep her tone neutral as well since she didn’t want to seem too eager or too bored. 

“The mask was a gift and expensive. Thought this was the best use for it.” 

“Name?” 

“Yeou.” 

“So just what you are. Fox. Clever.” 

“Like a fox.” She picked up her drink and pushed the straw just under the mask so she could take a few sips. “And you? Or will I get much the same answer?” 

“Something like that.” He nodded. 

“Do people not like the foxes, is that why it’s uncommon?” 

“Mmm I wouldn’t say that. There are some men here who are very particular and the rare times I have seen a fox they don’t get picked as no one knows what they are supposed to be. Predator or prey. People know what they want at parties like this and it’s not confusion.” 

“Makes sense.” She took another sip of her drink, “Pleasure meeting you.” 

“Same.” 

She nodded at him and stepped away from the bar to walk around a bit and see if anyone gave off the right vibe for the man she was looking for. It most definitely hadn’t been the guy at the bar who was wearing a wolf mask, though with the dominant way he spoke to her and his general physique she couldn’t say he wasn’t attractive. However, his information about foxes not being chosen was disheartening. The only way to find out was to wait and see. She glanced at the digital clock on the wall which was just above a countdown timer. If she was wrong then this would turn out to be a gigantic waste of time so she had to make the most of it. 

Over the course of the next few hours she made her way to every different area of the large club room that she could. She mingled with people, had small talk, danced with a few others and kept her eyes open. There was an odd feeling of being watched after the first hour. As if there were eyes on her and only her but she didn’t believe the idea was too far fetched as her choice of mask really did make her stick out like a sore thumb. As the countdown drew closer to the end the music was lowered and so were the lights. A man at the DJ booth came on at the five-minute mark to make an announcement. 

“May I have your attention ladies and gentlemen,” He started and she realized he was also wearing a mask though it was hard to tell what he was supposed to be from where she was standing on the floor in the back. “In five minutes time the lights will go off. Prey will stay still and predators will tag their catch for the night. If you do not receive a tag you are welcome to stay here and party until closing. Should you find a tag you will follow the instructions on it for the start of the hunt. Predators should note you only have two minutes to tag your prey so keep an eye out for them. Once tagged they cannot be claimed again, get there first, get there fast, and get your meat.” 

After that, the music started up again and people started to cheer. Though everyone had been nice to her, some people overly so, she still didn’t get the vibe that anyone was going to pick her in all of this. She felt as if she was being stared at as an outcast and it was more or less a very subtle way of just telling her to leave. Hopefully, it wasn’t because anyone had figured out she was Japanese. The mask was doing a good enough job of hiding that, right? It was hard to tell because she knew what she looked like, none of them did. Whatever, it was dark enough and she was keeping her head down as much as possible. She realized how annoyed she was that she hadn’t really gotten any further on her search for the Front Man. It would have helped if she had a name or even a description, but even so, she doubted people would outright tell her especially not on a night that was supposed to be all about anonymity. 

She took a seat in an empty booth in the back just as the countdown timer hit thirty seconds and finished her drink. What she really needed was a cigarette but there wasn’t any smoking allowed in there and it wasn’t as if she could leave right when the party would be getting started. If it would start at all for her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath just as the lights went out completely. She wondered how these predators were supposed to find their prey in the dark but she had to assume there were some night vision glasses or something available for those who had registered as a predator. She hadn’t so all she could do was sit and wait as she allowed the hands of fate to take care of the rest. 

It was announced that only sixty seconds were left and so far she hadn’t been tagged. Either it wasn’t going to happen at all or whoever had been staring her down all night was stuck in the crowd somewhere trying to get to her. She swirled the ice that was left in her glass with a straw as the timer ticked down to thirty seconds. Just as she felt like this was all pointless and was entertaining the thought of getting up and leaving she felt something press against her arm as a body moved past her quickly. Had she really been tagged? She brought a hand up to feel there was definitely something stuck to her arm. It had to be a tag, right? Whoever had put it there had moved away so fast it wasn’t as if she could ask, but no one else was talking either. The silence was eerie yet exhilarating and the adrenaline rush of possibly being chosen by someone in the very last moments of the process had very much heightened her arousal. 

When the lights came on again she looked at her arm to see that there was a tag on there. One that kind of reminded her of the toe tag left on bodies in morgues. At least in shape, size, and design. It was stuck there with a light adhesive so it was easy to pull off of her skin and read. 

Your scent has been caught by the black panther. You have a fifteen-minute head start to make it out of the city and hide. Once he catches you there is no turning back. 

Black Panther? Had she even seen someone dressed like that? It was possible. A lot of people around there were some variation of cat, jungle cat, or otherwise. There was also no way she had seen every single person who had attended as she was sure some people came in after she’d gotten there or had left at certain points. Still, fifteen minutes wasn’t a lot of time and even if she didn’t know if this man was the one she had been looking for she figured that she was going to at least have some fun while she was there. Worse came to worst she could always try again some other time. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have the money and resources to keep looking for the Front Man until she was granted an audience with him. She tucked the tag into her handbag and headed out of the club with a myriad of other people who had been tagged as prey while they were following their directions. She wasn’t sure what those were, if all of them were similar or what but it didn’t matter. The game was afoot and she was plenty excited for it. It would be interesting to see how long she could out smart him and stay one step ahead even if he did have much more of an advantage than she did. It was, after all, one of the laws of nature and nature could be very cruel. How cruel would it be to her tonight? 

[hopefulromances]

Long Time Coming I Chapter Four I Jump Then Fall

Summary: Being hired as the first female assistant coach in the league was a challenge of it itself. Being a football protigy and University Football Legend was easy enough. Coaching Jamie Tartt was a challenge all on its own.

Word Count: 3.6k

Warning: I have literally no clue how football works.

A/N: Enjoy!

Prologue One Two Three

Roy was back. I love Roy. Roy was straight forward and honest. The boys responded well to him. Maybe it was because he was one of them, but Roy understood them better. The Roy Kent effect they were calling it. Of course, that didn’t come with a fair bit of jealously. As much as I tried not to be jealous, of course Roy was getting more recognition for his work than I ever did. His dramatic return at the beginning of the Sheffield game was something to be inspired by.

But Roy and I got along. We had an understanding of the game that Ted and Beard and Nate just didn’t have. We were able to communicate in our own way. We stood on the sidelines, watching the boys scrimmage when Colin whiffed a shot at the goal. I rolled my eyes and glanced over at Roy who nodded at me in agreement.  

I was about to say something when Nate stepped forward.

            “Come on, Colin. You dolt!” he shouted at him.

My eyes widened in surprise at him. Even if Colin wasn’t my friend, which he was, that’s no way to speak to your team. Roy seemed to feel my discomfort and stepped forward in front of me.

            “Colin, you're leaning too far back. Head down, fucking whip it!” Roy instructed, in his aggressive yet endearing way.

            “Thanks, Roy,” Colin called back, grateful for the advice. “I am a strong and capable man.”

I was about to mention my concerns about Bumbercatch when Roy continued. “Bumbercatch, great pass, but it don’t mean shit if they see it coming. The rest of you in the box, when the shot goes, you fucking follow it in!”

            “You smell that, lads?” Isaac asked, letting in a dramatic sniff. “That’s the Roy Kent Effect.” The lads laughed, and I thought I saw the ghost of a smile on Roy’s face as he stepped back to stand by me.

I felt my smile fall at their praise. It was stupid, it really was. Roy was new. Roy was loud. Roy was funny. They flocked to him like he was their savior. And he was! The four-game winning streak was enough to convince anyone of that. I shifted to stand up straight.

            “Anything for me, coach?” Jamie ran up to the front of the group, looking desperately at Roy for his advice.

But Roy ignored him, clapping his hands and instructing the boys to start up again. I let out a low breath. Forgiving Jamie wasn’t easy. Especially when Jamie had all but single-handedly ended his career.

Jamie looked over at me, the disappointment rolling over his features. I gave him a sympathetic smile, shrugging indifferently.  I was jealous. Jealous of Roy Kent because he was so fucking wonderful and great at his job.

I stewed as I sat back in my chair during lunch. I tuned myself out of the conversation that Keely and Ted were having, trying to convince myself to not be jealous. Jealousy was not my favorite emotion, and it was downright embarrassing. What caught my attention was when Jamie walked into the room half dressed.

            “Hi (Y/N),” he greeted. I felt my heart speed up as he singled me out in a greeting. “Hey Keely.” And back to normal speed. I shook my head at myself. I was all out of wack today. Jealous about Roy, disappointed when Jamie greeted Keely, his friend. Just silly. “Gotta tell Roy he needs to start coaching me.”

Of course, he was here about Roy. I tried not to roll my eyes as I stood up, grabbing my bag.

            “Oh, wait, you want me to tell Roy Kent what to do?” Ted retorted quickly. “That’s a great idea.”

            “Yeah, he’ll love that,” Keely giggled, shooting Jamie a side eye.

            “Yes, I’ll totally drop it into one of our conversations where Roy talks about his life and asks me for advice,” Nate chimed in.  We all laughed before Beard turned and blew a raspberry at Jamie.

            “Philistines!” Oh! Big word for Jamie. “I’m asking for help here!”

In his defense, he did truly seem desperate, but the whole situation was just so hilarious to me, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

            “Philistines? What is that your word of the day?” I jabbed, moving to lean across from Keely. He glared at me, crossing his arms. I found myself looking over his features, his tense jaw, the way his shirt hugged his biceps. Were his biceps always that big? Oh, god, what was I doing. It was just Jamie. Yeah, he was attractive, but so what? I tuned back into the conversation just as Ted and Keely were leaving. I sent them away and hit Jamie on the shoulder.

            “Grab your lunch, and lets go,” I told him as I walked out of the room.

Jamie and I liked to enjoy our lunches sitting on the pitch. It's where we enjoye most of our free time together. Usually, he would ask me advice on some football technique or play he was trying and I would help where I could. But today, Jamie sat across from me, stabbing aimlessly at his salad. I shook my box, getting the dressing nice and mixed into mine.

            “Jamie, what is going on with you?” I questioned. “You’ve barely touched your summertime strawberry salad!”

I reached forward with my fork and tried to stab at it, but he warded me off.

            “It’s Roy! He just knows how to get under me skin,” he complained, finally shoving a strawberry in his mouth. “I thought I was finally making headway here.”

I couldn’t help but let out a groan. “Jamie, it’s Roy. You two have always hated each other.”

            “I don’t hate, Roy!” Jamie exclaimed, stabbing particularly hard at his food. “Well, I think he’s a pretentious old twat, but I don’t hate him.” He leaned back, setting his fork down. “I just want him to coach me.”

            “For fucks sake,” I burst out. I was sick of everyone looking for Roy’s approval, he was just a man. “He’s just Roy! If you want something from him, just be upfront. Don’t go looking for something in any kiss uppy, or brown nosey way. And anyways, aren’t four coaches enough, why are you all so desperate for Roy’s attention?”

I couldn’t keep the desperation out of my voice and Jamie could tell. He cocked his head at me.

            “Why do you care? We all listen to you anyways. It’s getting you to shut up that’s the problem!” He smirked, sticking his tongue out at me. But I was not in the mood for jokes. No matter how much I felt my cheeks burn watching the way his eyes squinted when he smiled. But no, I was angry.

            “Fuck off, Jamie,” I mumbled before standing up. I turned on my heel and left, heading back inside.

            “Wait! I was just joking,” Jamie called after me.

I didn’t turn around and I heard him curse loudly as I went inside. I walked back to my office and saw Ted sitting there, on his phone. I slumped into my chair, starting to spin. Everything was so fucked. I felt like my emotions were out of control. I was so angry. It felt like I was spiraling out of control. For some reason, the only thing in my head was Jamie. Jamie and his stupid smile, his cocky, smug, stupid smile. Why didn’t he want my coaching? Why wasn’t he fighting to get my attention? God, I felt so stupid.

            “(Y/N)!” Ted’s voice broke my chain of thought, and I stopped spinning. “Hold on there! If you spin any faster, you’re gonna whisk away a little girl and her dog.”

I felt the aftereffects of the spin setting in and leaned back, staring straight ahead. “Isn’t it a little corny to make a Wizard of Oz metaphor? Seeing as you’re from Kansas?”

            “No! That adds to the charm!” Ted exclaimed. “Now why don’t you tell me whats wrong?”

I weighed my options. I could tell Ted everything. He was great at listening and usually gave good advice. But what if he laughed at me or told me to get over myself. Though that thought along was ridiculous enough. Ted was kind. He would never laugh at me.

         “It’s just…” I began, taking a deep breath. “I feel so… weird? I’m jealous! And I’m not a jealous person. But with Roy being back, it feels like… no one needs me around anymore. Like I never got any of the kind of attention that Roy is getting now. ‘The Kent Effect?’ What about the Clemen’s Effect?” I shook my head, realizing how stupid I sound. “And now I’m realizing that I sound like a jealous third grader.”

Ted chuckled.

“I was gonna say you were turning into that giant green bean fella but jealous third grader works too.” I let out a breath laugh, closing my eyes and shoving my face in my hands. “Hey, though, don’t beat yourself up! I get it. I do. But don’t let that make you forget just how much we need you here.” I looked up from my hands to look at Ted. He gave me a smile. “The boys respond to you well, they always have. Heck! You know more about this game than Beard or Nate or myself. Roy is just… new. But there’s one thing that you have that Roy doesn’t.”

            “What’s that?” I asked, looking for an answer.

            “The ability to show by doing,” he stated. “Ever since you showed Jamie that trick about dragging his feet, he’s made more free kicks than ever. Roy’s too old and crotchety to actually be able to do anything anymore. But you! You’re in the prime of your career. You can teach these boys in a way none of the rest of us can.” He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. “And one thing I want you to understand is that we need you. We will always need you. Don’t forget that.”

For some reason, his words really hit me. My eyebrows furrowed together and gave him a sincere smile. I opened my mouth to say something, thank you, or anything, when Roy and Jamie flew in from the hallway.

            “You fucking asshole!” Jamie shouted.

            “I know you are but so are you,” Roy grunted back, starting to walk into the coach’s room. Ted and I shared a glance before both of us started to rise from our seats.

            “I’m trying to build bridges here!” Jamie’s exasperated voice called out.

Roy turned on his heel, rounding on Jamie. “You couldn’t fucking build Jeff Bridges.”

He pushed Jamie back. I flew up forward and raced out into the locker room, getting in between Roy and Jamie. I stepped in front of Jamie, feeling a rush of protectiveness flooding through me.

            “Hey, hey, hey!” Ted joined, spreading his arms between them. “What’s going on here?”

            “This man refuses to coach meh!” Jamie accused pointing over my shoulder.

            “He refuses to stop being an asshole,” Roy retorted.

 “Hey, we both know Jamie has come a long way in his journey to not be an asshole,” I defended.

“Thank you, (Y/N)!” Jamie chimed in.

“Okay Roy, you’re not going to like this but, right now, Jamie here is being the mature one,” Ted began, moving to standing next to Jamie.

“It’s true. I’m being super mature, you big, dumb, hairy, baby twat,” Jamie whined. I turned and gave Jamie a side eye. Roy suggested that it was Ted’s fault that Jamie wasn’t as good of a player as he used to be.

            “Cause, Jamie, deep down, at your core, you are a prick,” Roy stated, firmly. “So just be a prick.” I tried to glance over at Jamie, trying to wage his reaction. But he wasn’t giving much away.

We decided on a signal. A signal to give Jamie when it was time to be a prick. Or I should say, Roy decided on a signal. One we would find out about later, I suppose.  

Nonetheless, it seemed to qualm the fight that Roy and Jamie had built, and the rest of the day went smoothly. I was packing up my stuff to leave when Roy cleared his throat from behind me.

            “Hey Roy, what’s up?”

            “You’re a good coach.”

I pause and turn to face him. “What… what do you mean?”

Roy rolled his eyes. “I mean, you’re a good fucking coach. The boys respond well to you. You know what you’re doing. Which is more than I can say for Ronald McDonald.”

I laughed, looking down. “I think Ted knows what he’s doing.”

            “I was talking about Nate, but the point stands.” He reached out his hand for me to shake. Maybe it was my crazy emotional whirlwind of a day, but I knocked his hand aside and pulled him in for a hug. His arms didn’t warp around me at all, but he didn’t immediately start to growl so I took it as a success.

As I walked out to my car that night, I saw Jamie leaning against his car, scrolling on his phone. When he saw me coming out of the door, he put his phone away and shot me the biggest smile. Not his normal, cocky one, but a softer, for sincere one.

            “Hey (Y/N),” He started, walking to meet me. “I wanted to apologize, for before.”

            “Jamie, you have nothing to apologize for.” I shook my head, holding my hands up to stop him. “I was being so moody earlier. Just a weird day.”

            “S’lright, just wanted to make sure you was okay,” He said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Seemed upset.”

Goddamnit. That was so fucking thoughtful.

            “Yeah, I was… I was having a bad day.” I shrugged. “But, I’ll be okay.”

He stared at me for a moment longer before nodding his head. We stood there, staring at each other in a not-too-uncomfortable silence. Finally, I popped my lips.

            “Alright! I guess I’ll see you this weekend. Tottenham won’t know what hit them!” I moved passed him, walking backwards towards my car.

Jamie smirked, turning with me to leave. “That’s for sure, already told Colin you’re filling in for him.”

            “Hah! That’s- that’s really- “I bumped into my car, slamming my hip against the handle. “Ah, fuck, ouch.”

            “Shit, are you-“

            “Yep! I’m fine!” I cut him off before he could be concerned. “Just great, I’ll see you Saturday.”

I opened the door to my car and got in before he could say another word. What was wrong with me?

…

This Saturday filled me with so many feelings. If I thought my emotions were out of wack at the beginning of the week, the anxiety that filled me about Tottenham just made things worse. We were one win away from going to Wembley and playing Manchester for the FA Cup semis. If we won, it would be to the excellent coaching of Ted Lasso and stellar skills of our players. If we lost it would be because of the female coach dragging the team down.

My normal routine of cheering on the lads in the locker room was replaced with my anxious twirling in my chair. Not even Ted tried to get me to stop. What did get me to stop was when Jamie came into the door way.

            “Mornin’ Coach,” He stopped when he saw me, clearly frazzled in the corner of the room. “Should I ask?”

            “Definitely not,” Beard answered for me.

Jamie cocked his head, pursing his lips at me. “Bit scared about the game, yeah?”

I shot him a glare as my feet planted themselves in the ground before twisting so I was facing the wall away from them.

            “I just told you not to ask!”

            “What do you need, Jamie” Ted interrupted before Beard could escalate things forward.

Jamie’s eyes stayed planted on me for a moment longer before he dragged them over to Ted.

            “I was just wondering if you decided on a signal for me?”

            “I told you; you’d know it when you see it.” Roy entered the room coming over to spin my chair to face them again. “You, need to stop spinning or you’ll blow chunks on the field.”

I frowned at him but stood up and brushed past Jamie into the locker room. As I did though, he grabbed my arm. My breath caught in my throat as I turned back to look up at him. I never realized how much taller he was than me. To my surprise, there was no hint of humor. Just a sea of concern.

            “Are you okay?” he murmured; his face so close to mine I could feel his waiting breath.

I bit my lip, suddenly overcome by my emotions. The same emotions that had been drawing me to his body, his lips, his eyes, every single day this week. I found enough breath to reply a soft: “I’m okay.”

At my reply, he let go of my arm and shot me a comforting smile instead. “Good, ‘cos I was beginning to worry that my salad choices had come back to haunt you.”

“No, our salads were fine.” I chuckled at his concern. “But I am concerned about your ability to play well after too many strawberries.”

“Don’t you worry about me Strawberries,” he smirked. “In a few hours you’ll be begging for my strawberry salad recipe”

He shot me a wink before turning and heading back to his locker. Why were my cheeks burning?

The game was more mediocre to say the least. Nearing the half, the score was nil-nil with only a few attempts at a goal. I could feel the energy leaving the players as Jamie passed the ball to an unprepared Sam. A Tottenham play swiped the ball, kicking it out of bounds. I groaned, running a hand through my hair.  

            “Fuck,” I spat under my breath, turning to Ted. “What’s the plan?” Roy suddenly appeared beside me, causing me to jump slightly. “Christ.”

            “Reckon it’s time to use the signal, huh?” Ted asked, hesitantly.

            “Yep,” Roy answered.

            “Yeah, okay…” Ted looked around nervously. “You didn’t by any chance come up with a better one, did you?”

            “No”

            “Alright.” Ted sighed before cupping his mouth and shouting. “Hey Jamie! Jamie!”

On the field, Jamie turned to look at us. In unison, the five of us all raised our middle fingers at him. I didn’t know how to react when Roy told us the signal he had come up with. It wasn’t exactly surprising, but I wasn’t sure how the crowd would react. Of course, the second we made the signal, the crowd burst out in laughter. Jamie’s face contorted in confusion before a look of realization dawned on him.  

He quickly ran over to one of the Tottenham players, Barnett, and started chatting to him. Whatever he said to him must have pissed him off cause soon the two of them were racing towards the ball. Jamie took control of the ball when, from out of nowhere, Barnett slid into Jamie’s legs, causing him to fall and roll to the ground.

            “REFEREE” Beard shouted, throwing his hands up.

Of course, the ref blew his whistle giving Jamie a penalty. Jamie hopped up off the ground and on his face was his signature cocky, sideways smirk. He approached Barnett and got in his face, saying something snarky I’m sure, because the next second, Barnett was pushing Jamie and having to be pulled away by his teammate. Jamie ran backwards, throwing his hands up in mock surrender.

            “Hmm, glad he’s on our team, you know?” Ted nudged me, but I found myself unable to take my eyes off of him. I muttered an agreement as Jamie turned to face us for a moment as Barnett was cleared off. His eyes were shining with mischief as he raised his eyebrows at me. I shook my head at him, unable to keep the smile off my face.

            “Hey, what do you think? Trick play?” Ted huddled us in a moment. I shook my head. It was a long shot for sure, but one I knew he could make. In fact, it was the same distance I had shown him how to hit that day after training. He could do it.

            “You don’t need it,” Roy, as usual, could read my mind. “The little prick’s gonna fucking score from there.”

Nate scoffed in disbelief.  But I knew what Jamie could do. I watched as he placed the ball on the ground in front of him and took a breath. Then one by one, he dragged his feet backwards, just like I’d shown him. The turf disrupted slightly as his red boots tore up the soil. Then, it was like the world stood still, he jaunted forward, hit the ball with the side of his foot and watched as it flew through the air. Then, with the sweet swish of the goal, the world exploded into cheers. The stadium flew into a state of celebration as the team ran to Jamie’s side.

            “YES!” I cried. “FUCK YES JAMIE!” Jamie turned again, to look over at us. In one swift motion, he flipped us off with both of his fingers. I laughed and shook my head, feeling that flutter in my stomach again. Then it hit me. Just as quickly, as if it was a football to the face. It hit me, staring at his tongue sticking through his lips, as he celebrated with his teammates. It hit me that I was most definitely in love with Jamie Tartt.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think!

Tag list: @optimisticsandwichgladiator @oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo @ajax-petropolus-wife

[the-sun-and-the-sea]

Odesta Week Day 1: Modern AU Monday

"Did you hear the news?"

Annie digs into her locker to find her coat, only half listening to the girls on the other side of the lockers. Whatever news they're sharing can range from somebody lost a paper clip to the world is ending outside, and she probably wouldn't believe them either way. The girls at Panem Skating Club have a penchant for gossip that is more frequently false than true. 

"What news?" the other girl asks. Annie can only see flashes of dark hair every so often from where she's standing, but she can't tell who's speaking. Somebody a few years younger than her, probably. 

"Finnick Odair is looking for a new partner."

Annie almost laughs aloud, but refrains at the last second. Finnick Odair is something of a legend in their skate club. His older brother Adrian was a former Olympic solo skater who took home the silver a few years ago. In their small town, that basically makes you a hero. Finnick himself is a great skater, but hasn't gone to the Olympics yet. Still, he and his partner Cashmere are pretty unshakable. The thought of either of them retiring so early is ludicrous. 

"No way," another female voice calls, as Annie pretends to not be listening. "Cashmere's only twenty-three. That's a pretty early retirement."

"Age isn't the reason," says the first voice. Annie's brows furrow. Injury, maybe? "She's pregnant." 

Whatever is said after this point, Annie doesn't hear. Her coat and scarf are wrapped firmly around her body and there's no need to listen to the gossip any longer. Even if it is true, listening in on the details of another woman's pregnancy just feels invasive. 

Her ankle aches dully as she walks out the doors of the skating club. She's recovering from a minor case of bursitis in her ankle. It's kept her at home for the past three weeks, and Annie hasn't been back on the ice until today. Today's practice had left her sore and exhausted. Apparently, it would take a few days for her body to get used to skating again.

That's one of Annie's biggest issues with solo skating. There's nobody there to compensate for your faults, or to support you in your successes. There are coaches and other skaters who may be friendly, sure, but come competition time, it's just her on that ice. 

These days, Annie's beginning to wonder if she even wants that. 

***

Annie can't be certain why she does it. 

She sits in her car, parked in the diner's parking lot. Maybe it's because the rink started to fill up and she had nothing to practice with no coach. Or maybe she's just curious. 

Okay, back up. Earlier this morning, she had made it to the rink for a practice session, although that quickly proved to be useless. The one highlight was meeting Mags Flanagan, Finnick’s coach. She was an Olympian back in her day before retiring from competitive skating to coach others into the same success she had. When asked about it in interviews, Mags says she'll quit when Finnick does.

So it was quite the surprise when Mags asked Annie to consider being Finnick’s new partner. 

The offer didn’t completely come out of nowhere. It’s not like Annie has anything better to do, and Mags had said that her technique was almost perfect. Her flaw in skating wasn’t about the jumps and spins. It had always been about emoting. Her coaches have been telling her that for years, but their vague instructions have never made sense to her. She can do almost any jump they ask of her, and her spins are basically perfect. What else is she missing?

"Finnick, on the other hand, feels the emotions of the performance very deeply,” Mags had told her. “Sometimes, his technique gets...lost."

And if Mags Flanagan thinks that she and Finnick can balance each other out, it’s probably not a bad idea to at least consider it. 

Taking a final deep breath, she leaves her car and walks into the diner. 

Finnick Odair isn't hard to find. Not only is he one of the most well known faces in their skating club, but he has a sense about him that radiates life. He sits with his back to her in a booth, idly stirring sugar into a cup of coffee. 

Before Annie can talk herself out of it, she slides in the booth across from him. 

"Hi, Annie," Finnick says, like he's known her for years. "Coffee?"

"No," Annie says. "Thank you."

She's expecting the silence to linger, but Finnick picks up the slack easily. "Mags told me you might be coming. I know you probably have questions, but if you want to know why Cashmere's retiring, you should probably go to her for that."

She shrugs. "It's not my business."

"Oh," he says, showing his first hint of surprise. "Cool. Okay. Well, I know this would be a risk."

Annie pretends to peruse the diner's menu, but her mind is on anything but breakfast food. "That's an understatement. Most pair skaters have been together for at least a decade. We'd be at a major disadvantage."

Finnick sips his coffee, wincing at the heat. He pushes it away. "True. But it's not like we're doing so great right now. I mean, my partner just left. And you're..."

She's what? Washed up? Obviously not making it anywhere beyond the confines of her own rink?

"You're a good skater, Annie," he decides on. That was diplomatic of him. "I've seen you perform, and I agree with Mags. But forget about that for a second. If you're happy where you're at, I can respect that. But if you're even a little unsatisfied, what do we have to lose?"

Annie's throat constricts. When she can finally get words out, she asks, "Don't you want to go to the Olympics?"

"I would love to go to the Olympics," he answers automatically, without thought. "More than that, I want to skate."

The same can't be said for a lot of skaters. She doesn't know many people who would be satisfied through the sport alone. There's a certain buzz that comes from competition. Watching her scores climb, standing on that podium. It's intoxicating. Sure, they love the sport, but they love more than just the skating. 

Finnick's unasked question still hangs in the air. "Okay," says Annie, because Finnick's right. Why the hell not? "Let's try."

[ao3feed-piltovers-finest]

Lessons in Pleasure

by Ragingsparrow

Caitlyn never goes out. It just simply wasn’t her. Ever since the ripe old age of five, she had been taught by her mother that school was the most important things in her life. She did not have friends, did not go out, and did not—under any circumstances–have sex.

But now Caitlyn is in college and she realizes what she has been missing out on. While she was stuck at home reading textbooks, everyone else had partied and hooked-up. At first, she shames those who participate in such activities, but when she overhears her long-time crush Maddie talk about how she likes someone with experience, Caitlyn decides to dip her toe in the thing that she always avoided: sex.

Except she has no idea what she’s doing. She’s never even had her first kiss. So she decides to enlist the school’s most notorious fuck-boy: Vi Lanes. Vi resigns herself to becoming Caitlyn Kirammans sex coach, agreeing to the deal so she could be tutored in science. But when the lessons start working a little too well, they both must determine if it is just the coaching that makes them inextricably drawn to each other—or something else

Words: 4398, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen

Characters: Caitlyn (League of Legends), Vi (League of Legends), Mel Medarda, Jinx (League of Legends), Jayce (League of Legends), Viktor (League of Legends), Maddie Nolen, Ekko (League of Legends), Vander (League of Legends), Cassandra Kiramman, Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character(s), Original Characters

Relationships: Caitlyn/Vi (League of Legends), Jayce (League of Legends)/Mel Medarda, Ekko/Jinx (League of Legends), Caitlyn & Vi (League of Legends), Caitlyn & Jinx (League of Legends), Caitlyn (League of Legends) & Mel Medarda, Caitlyn & Jayce (League of Legends), Jinx & Vi (League of Legends), Ekko & Vi (League of Legends), Caitlyn (League of Legends)/Maddie Nolen

Additional Tags: Kissing Lessons, Lesbian Sex, Lesbian Character, Useless Lesbians, Gay Caitlyn (League of Legends), Gay Vi (League of Legends), Oral Sex, Sex, Gay Sex, Alternate Universe - College/University, College, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Canon Lesbian Character, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Smut, Eventual Smut, Shameless Smut, Gratuitous Smut, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Fluff and Angst, Fluff, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff, Funny, This Is STUPID, Love Confessions, Idiots in Love, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Falling In Love, Uptight Caitlyn, Caitlyn is annoying at first, Caitlyn is mean at first, Character Development, Vi is a Little Shit (League of Legends), Caitlyn is in love with Vi (League of Legends), Vi is in love with Caitlyn (League of Legends), Mel Medarda is an icon, We hate Maddie Nolen, Bad Parent Cassandra Kiramman

Read on A03. from AO3 works tagged ‘Caitlyn/Vi (League of Legends)’

[odinsblog]

The criticism of Angel Reese is an old but consistent story in sports. When white athletes are demonstrative, they’re playing with passion and showing their love of the game. When Black athletes reveal their feelings, they’re disgraceful and “classless.”

Black women receive especially harsh scrutiny when they show confidence, cockiness, or any other strong emotion. Serena Williams dealt with this throughout her entire career. Remember the pearl-clutching that occurred when the tennis legend did the “C-Walk”—on the grass court at Wimbledon, no less—after beating Maria Sharapova at the 2012 Olympics? Also known as the “Crip Walk,” the dance originated with the Los Angeles Crips gang in the 1970s before crossing over into popular culture. A lot of non-gang-affiliated Angelenos—including Williams, who grew up in Compton—do this dance as a tribute to the L.A. area. When the NBA player Brent Barry, who is white, did the C-Walk during the 2003 NBA All-Star Weekend’s three-point shooting contest, nobody accused him of irresponsibly promoting gang culture.

Reese has dealt with these double standards and hypocrisies throughout her career, even back in high school, when she was one of the top-rated players in the nation. On a website that covers women’s basketball, an opposing high-school coach questioned “celebrating a player (w god given height and talent) and zero humility or impulse control. As a female coach of female high school ballers, I find this behavior repulsive, unacceptable, unflattering and unnecessary. You can have swag while not acting like a punk. Highlight some other girls in the conference who aren’t as genetically gifted.”

In January, during LSU’s narrow 79–76 victory over Arkansas, Reese received a technical foul after blocking a shot with one hand while holding her shoe, which had come off, in the other. After the block, Reese stared down Arkansas’ Samara Spencer. The two exchanged words and Reese was given the penalty.

The spectacular play went viral, but an intense debate broke out among fans about Reese’s behavior—even though male players are often celebrated when they make similar moves and jeer their opponent. Despite the significant advancements women have made in sports, they are still sometimes told that it’s unseemly for them to be as aggressive and in-your-face as men.

Reese’s bold play and her appearance—she wears long hair and long lashes and carries herself unapologetically—has made her a target. “All year I was critiqued about who I was,” Reese told reporters after LSU’s championship victory. “I’m too hood, I’m too ghetto—y’all told me that all year. When other people do it, y’all don’t say nothing. This was for the girls that look like me.”

Black women are constantly stereotyped as overly aggressive and confrontational. A couple of days before the controversy with Reese unfolded, the University of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, who is Black, scolded reporters for characterizing her team, most of whose members are Black, as bullies. It was as if she was forecasting what Reese was about to face. “We’re not bar fighters,” Staley said. “We’re not thugs. We’re not monkeys. We’re not street fighters. This team exemplifies how you need to approach basketball on the court and off the court … Some of the people in the media, when you’re gathering in public, you’re saying things about our team and you’re being heard.”

(continue reading)

[lady-lazagna]

i hope u dont mind me throwing in three little guys for thr oc ask

ashton vita and acec >:3

I mind very much how DARE you >:0 /j

I’ll start with our resident Filipino legend Acec since he’s in the same timeline as my gang. Xe’s a very OuO guy, so I think at first Ash and Kylie would be a bit put off, maybe try but struggle to hold conversations with him. They may eventually they warm up to him when they realise xe is just A Guy and not a changling of some kind. But fellow autism Madina knows there’s no need for flowing conversations when you have funny little pictures to share. They’d hit it off best with their simultaneous lack of seriousness and genuine sincerity. They snoop around team Dungeon collecting The Goss. They sit quietly and watch mcyt videos for hours on end, eyes dead and legs bouncing. Madina would pick him up and swing him around like Mario swinging Gay Bowser. Also they both like beautiful men. Maybe they can double date and re-introduce Tsubasa and Bao to each other, since they definitely do not remember each other at all. God bless amercia o7

Trucker Dave is the person who’s most likely to know Vita and the crew since he's Coach Steel’s husband. Idk if Steel’s still the main coach in the Zero Era but ain’t no way he’s out of there completely, so Dave still passes through from time to time. And if he notices a kid having a rough time, he'll try to offer a bit of Queer Trucker Wisdom. With Vita being the leader of her team and also queer, it's likely Dave could notice her going through some Stuff and give some good ol' advice, maybe let her pet his dog while she vents a bit. They both seem to have very calming and trusting presences so I think they'd get on quite well.

Now, ASHANTI. Ash would LOVE Vita. In her time, she was the only female team leader in the championships, so seeing an up-and-coming female team leader would be absolutely delightful. At that point she's also a beyblading coach, so maybe she could reach out and give some advice? Offer some training or even a mentorship if she can stand being in the US for that long? They're both sort of "older sister" figures, so she could also help Vita navigate the feelings that come with that (also them combined with Aria and Kylie?? Slay).

The Birrung girls would see Ashton Angsto and think "man aren't we glad we had no dudes on our team" or maybe "wow the kids these days have problems. we had problems once." But they don't see him as a threat to anyone as much as just a dickhead who'll hopefully learn about the magic of friendship, as all other minor dickheads in the championships tend to do. So long as he stays in his lane and doesn't join any evil corporations, they won't sick any wild hounds on him (although if Ash is also Vita's mentor... then that might change. Go full Madina mode if you know what I mean (I really don't care that you're a baby, I'll snap your neck like a twig)).

[etes-secrecy-post]

Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

���️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

#OnThisDay: May 9th, 2017

Title: Meet the Speedster's Parents

The Speedster Parents, particularly Bonn and Rita Speedster are now 7 years of appearance since their inception. To this day, Bonn and Rita are still labeled as 'Mentors' to their Speedster Kids (Spot and Riya). As for their bios, they're both old and forgotten. So, let's refresh their biography information because things change for Bonn and Rita.

Name: Bonn "The Spot" Speedster 🐰🚹 Age: 35 Gender: Male Species: Puppy-Bunny Color fur: Blue w/ dark spots Nationality: American 🇺🇸

Information: • Bonn "The Spot" Speedster is a blue-dog hybrid creature, who won numerous motorsport titles in his resume of accolades, from reigning 8-time race kart champion at the age of 12, to pro-stock car racing (3 times), to world rally championship (2 times), to F1 world champion (1 time), and even drift car championship (1 time). He's currently signed as the Le Mans Hyper Car Racer for the World Endurance Championship and has a part-time boxer career with his boxing license. Bonn is also a great athlete who always loves to shape up in the morning with his wife. He'd also been the owner of the "Bonn's Auto Customs Shop and Repair" established in 2011, the same year as Spot and Riya was born.

Other interest: Watching Anime and Cartoons (depends, especially adult-rated cartoons), loves pet bunny rabbits (all kinds of breed), playing video games, tuning/fixing automobiles, and gadgets.

Fun fact for Bonn: Bonn was idolized with the former Boxer and Philippine Senator, Manny Pacquiao (among other well-known iconic and respective Boxers, both legend and veterans). Even though, Bonn was a pure American blood, he always respect at Philippine foreigners, including his wife Rita.

Name: Rita Frias Speedster 🐶🚺 Age: 35 Gender: Female Species: Puppy-Cat Color: Light Magenta Nationality: Dual Citizen; Filipina 🇵🇭 (Philippine Citizen) and American 🇺🇸

Information: • Rita Frias Speedster is a Magenta puppy-cat hybrid who migrated to the United States as an OFW, which stands for "Overseas Filipina Worker" (For male "Filipino"). She's an Olympian sprinter who represents the Philippines at the Summer Olympics, and she takes home two silver medals, at the age of 20 & 24. At 25, she became a teacher/coach of the sprint runner before she retired at 30, and switched to a professional biker (who won 3 times at the superbike championship and won 5 times at the motocross championship on her resume) and a part-time MMA fighter. She holds two careers, to this day.

Other interest: Learning Philippine-related cultures such as language, food, and others to their foreign neighborhoods (e.g. Americans, Latin Americans, etc.), loves pet dogs (all kinds of breed), adventuring nature landscapes, riding bikes.

Fun fact for Rita: At age of 16, she used to ride motor tricycles, while on her sprint training break. The motor tricycle was inherited from her late father, and to this day, it is still operational by her numerous family members.

Bonn and Rita Speedster - created by ME!

[boarseye]

Ancestors/the Dead

As I work out who to include and what role ancestors/the dead play in my local cultus, I decided to make this glossary for study and comparison of different cultures and traditions- this is not implying that these cultures should all be combined or borrowed from, as the boundaries of those traditions will vary.

I've decided to included house spirits in this list, as they often overlap a lot with ancestor cults, household worship. Or I may put them in a different list.

apotheosis- Greek- elevation of a human soul to godhood

Dii Manes- Roman- Divine Dead

disir- Collective of Norse female divine ancestors- cognate with the German idises, Celto-Roman matronae- associated with fertility, childbirth, dead, often depicted with fruit, grain, cornucopias, distaffs, spinning wheels. Some specific goddesses that may be related to the matronae include the Frisian/Dutch Nehalennia, the Gaulish Rosmerta.

euhemerization- the view that deities were once historical people. Some we have myths explaining that a human was deified or became a bodhisattva

hero (fem- heroine) Greek- a legendary person known for great deeds. Sometimes deified, often seen as semi-divine or a demigod/dess that is more powerful than a regular ancestor spirit.

folk saint- a saint that is venerated but not officially recognized by the Roman Catholic or an Eastern Orthodox church.

kula devata- in Hinduism, the guardian/patron deity of a family, clan or village. Sometimes an aspect of one of the major Hindu deities.

martyr- Greek- someone who died for their beliefs (religious and/or political) While typically associated with Christians there are a number of polytheist, pagan & heathen martyrs.

Mighty Dead- used for spiritual leaders, clergy, founders of traditions honored in modern Pagan and Witchcraft traditions (I'm not sure of origin of this term- I recall it first being used in British Traditional Witchcraft (BTW) but not positive.

restless dead- Spirits of those that died angry, with unfinished business, trauma. In some traditions they may be approached with caution and calmed with particular rituals, offerings and prayers so that they can move on to the afterlife, and bless descendants. They also may cause harm.

transcestors- modern portmanteau for transgender/transsexual ancestors/dead coined/used by some Pagans, polytheists, witches etc. especially for honoring folks on Trans Day of Remembrance. (TDoR)

Wild Hunt- legend/belief in a procession of spirits and other beings riding horses led by a deity, hero or legendary being. Legends of the Wild Hunt are found all over Europe and have many regional variations.

House Spirits

[trannyradfem]

League of Legend's first 'female' LCS player was Remillia, a really talented support player. I think she actually was already trans by the time she got big on the scene, and iirc she was pretty chill. Unfortunately, in addition to severe bottom surgery complications, the relentless harassment led to her taking her own life. I didn't follow her super closely, so I'm sure there's much more to be said about that. It was genuinely really sad, usually people don't get much popularity for being in support roles but she was genuinely just a damn good support player. Every now and then I'd see one of her plays be highly discussed and criticized, even if it was ultimately a really good play. But there were at least some people standing up for her, and it was nice to see that because in my case, nobody stood up for me.

It simply just wasn't the same exact experience of the typical dynamic when you're biologically female. These experiences are simply different.

When you're biologically female, you can't even GET to the LCS no matter how talented you are, because all eyes are on you 24/7 and suddenly every little failure is your fault. You experience the bipolar nightmare of the Madonna-Whore complex on steroids. It's always either sexual harassment or condescension, a deeply sick hatred or a toxic obsession. And the worst part is that it's not just the fans, your teammates and your coach are also like this. And your role as "woman" is to suffer silently and pretend to enjoy it, while never ever living outside of that so long as you are perceived, lest you be over-criticized and denied opportunities and benefit of the doubt again. It's fucking miserable and overwhelming all the time.

Even if I had better equipment, supportive parents, more time to practice, and got my collegiate esports team and scholarship back, AND my sponsors finally agreed to ban the asswipes sexuallly harassing me, I would still NEVER ever go back into esports ever fucking again because I know for sure that it would slowly and tortuously kill me before I ever even saw any success at all. The best chances of success only ever come from degrading opportunities of male servitude, such as titty streaming with an advertised OnlyFans attached to the account.

It's not possible because we're inferior, it's because we're sabotaged by males at every step if what we're doing doesn't uniquely benefit or serve them. And that's simply not the same thing.

[spearzreloaded]

spEarz2DaStreetz on Royal Rumble XXXVIII

Sports are a propaganda tool in the U.S., and the WWE Universe just got put on notice that DEI is over at Royal Rumble 38. Charlotte Flair got shotgunned for the Royal Rumble win to set up the Blonde of All Blonde matches against Tiffany Stratton at Wrestlemania. But, this comes as no surprise, as throughout the match the finish was telling : For the past month Flair has been teased on Smackdown with her eventual return and in the actual match the U.S. Champion Chelsea Green started the eliminations out by dumping my favorite, B-Fab followed by Lash Legend. The final elimination was Roxanne Perez receiving a kick in the ass to get her over the rope for Flair to get her win. The symbolism was too obvious, what with ICE running wild like Hulkamania removing illegal immigrants that could easily be Roxanne Perez's "primos" and with complaints being fired up on vlog after vlog from wannabe Meta-Four members, worried about getting knocked off their hustle because of DEI repeal. More obvious was Cole's commentary when Niven (who has a secret service character) was tricked into eliminating Green, the U.S. champ - comparing that to the Trump shooting over in PA earlier last year. This spot found itself with other great spots in this Rumble like Nia Jax eliminating six women at once by default, Belair and Naomi's amazing teamwork with their new Double K.O.D. finisher, and Io's acrobatics throughout the match showing she was more than a high-flyer. Green, even though getting a few early eliminations, was the chief jobber in the Rumble yet again, even with the U.S. title on her waist - which should have rendered her as well as Naomi and Belair (tag champs) unable to compete. Yet, there they were, taking up space, instead of further down the card as fighting champions.

If they wouldn't have been in the match, there could have been more time for story finishes and builds like the satisfying Dupri and Nile spot - where McAfee compared Nile to an American Ninja Warrior, but Jakara Jackson - an actual Ninja Warrior vet - could have easily filled one of those champion slots, but I digress. Royal Rumble's are known to be special because of their guest competitors, but there was no one who stood out that wasn't already on the weekly roster. Trish Stratus - a milf who's at least half a century by now - just had bulldogs in her back pocket and mostly worked with her fellow Canuckle countrywoman Natalya - but just because your old, that doesn't make you the B.O.A.T. !

Alexa Bliss returned with a nose job and not much else. Between Bliss, Liv Morgan, and Candice LeRae - I finally understood what Coach Greg Adams meant when he lifted the term "stock factory issue" and applied it to the female sex. Nikki Bella returned and delivered a dope spear spot, but by the time she made her entrance I got tired of seeing women that were popular when I was reaching pubescence. Add in the fact that Flair (the woman who retired the Diva's title) won the contest, and the Diva's era just got a revival in the ugliest way possible. This is why the brief Horsewoman team up between Flair and Bayley had no chemistry because Bayley came in as an anti-Diva. Becky Lynch returning at this spot would have made more sense, but she's presumably at home with her kid, like Bliss and Trish should have been. Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer were tanks. Though Cole was trippin' when he said Giulia was and Io were the best wrestler's from Japan, they did have some of the best chemistry in the contest when they finally came face to face. The spot where Naomi showed respect to Grace could almost be excused (though Michin deserves the credit as a former Knockouts champion more than those two) given her performance until she threw over and mocked Jaida Parker - another NXT bruiser her better in every way. Roxanne Perez entered in third and was the last to be eliminated. Out of all the women in the Rumble, the biggest standouts were signed to NXT - yet the spotlight was on the Divas of yesterday down to the finish.

There would be no royalty in the annual Rumble without pageantry and Zelina Vega - shedding her LWO ties - was the best dressed in her Star Sapphire inspired grey and pink garb. Bayley looked like a Turtle School student, and there wasn't a moment in the Rumble where Roxanne Perez wasn't seen painting the ring pink and black. Yet the Indianapolis crowd gave the biggest pops to the women that best resembled the Midwest demographic mixed with that Tampa tan and Brickle boob job. The Royal Rumble is the starting point for how the rest of the year in WWE is supposed to go and if this is the case it looks like with the limited time that the women received on the card (no title or grudge matches - just the one Rumble contest) it looks like WWE hit daylight savings early this year. The clock has been set back on the women's division as the WWE Universe now will be forced to endure Charlotte Flair building her story as she awaits Tiffy Time at this year's Wrestlemania. As the post show promo had Rhea Ripley non-plussed and basically handing Flair's challenge over to Stratton, it isn't hard to empathize with Ripley's lack of enthusiasm.

DEI is dead. Divas are back - and that means shotgun wins through nepotism and Blondes over All in the WWE Universe. Somebody call the Anti-Monitor.

C.V.R. The Bard 2nd/Feb.2k25

[byliviajanes]

what i read this week, pt. I

last year, I fell out of the habit of reading before bed and into the habit of doom-scrolling before bed instead. not to say I stopped reading, period—it just turned into sitting down and reading an entire book in one sitting once of month, instead of being a consistent habit.

so! 2025 resolution! start reading consistently again. to help with this, I thought I'd start keeping a log of what I read each week, with some of my thoughts included. thus, what I read this week is:

Gwen & Art Are Not In Love, by Lex Croucher

impeccable vibes.

love the way that Croucher pays homage to Arthurian legend without the book being an official retelling of any of the legends!

basically the premise is that the two main characters are betrothed, but neither of them are heterosexual OR interested in each other. after a series of mishaps they decide to pretend to fall in love with each other to disguise the fact that they want other people who may not be socially acceptable (although homophobia is NOT over-emphasized in the book, it does exist)

to elaborate: Gwen and Art are not romantically in love (as indicated by the title lol). however. HOWEVER.

I do think that their relationship is very close to the enemies-to-lovers trope. they start out absolutely despising each other, and throughout the book get closer as they learn more about each other, ending in a very sweet (and dare I say loving?) friendship

tl;dr, I think the best way to say it is, Gwen & Art is an excellent inversion of the enemies-to-lovers trope!

10/10, would recommend, GO READ IT NOW

Hat Trick, by Ali Spooner & K.L. Gallagher

DISCLAIMER: I’ve not finished reading this one yet!

I’m about five chapters in, so I’m still getting a feel for the characters

it’s a hockey romance! except with wlw! which is exciting because I feel like all the hockey romances I’ve read have either been heterosexual or mlm.

one of the characters, Janelle, is the first female hockey coach (HEAD coach, specifically) in the NHL—for the Islanders, but we’ll forgive her for that

Alex is a badass New York lawyer who knows nothing about hockey, but I imagine Janelle’s going to be teaching her a few things about that :)

again: emphasizing: only five chapters in!

that being said, our two main characters’ backstories are incredibly fleshed out, and I have an excellent idea of where they’re coming from as they enter into this new romance/relationship

tune in next week to see if I manage to finish reading it, or if I get absolutely killed by the first week of classes!

[hopefulromances]

Long Time Coming I Chapter Seven I Hits Different

Summary: Being hired as the first female assistant coach in the league was a challenge of it itself. Being a football protigy and University Football Legend was easy enough. Coaching Jamie Tartt was a challenge all on its own.

Word Count: 3.2k

Warning: Talk of death, angst, angst, and oh yeah, angst

A/N: The absolute love that's been coming from yall this week has made me so soft! Thank you! Enjoy this chapter ;-)

Prologue One Two Three Four Five Six

When I got the call that Rebecca’s father had passed and that we would all be going to the funeral, I didn’t know exactly how to react. Daddy issues aside, what was I meant to wear? What do you say to someone who’s father passed? I was never good at these types of things.

I came late, purposefully. Trying to avoid as much awkward small talk as possible. As I stood outside the church, I felt my palms getting sweaty. The last funeral I’d been to… well let’s just say it hadn’t gone well. Man, I could really use Ted right now.

I walked in quietly, trying not to attract attention. Unfortunately, the door closed much hard behind me, making a rather large noise as it closed. It caught the attention of Keely who was standing with Sassy inside.

            “Hey babes!” She greeted, reaching out her hand to me. “Welcome to the party.” I grabbed her hand and entered the group, giving her a side hug. “I thought this was a funeral.”

            “Holy shit, your tits look great!” Sassy complimented, motioning to her chest.

I looked down subconsciously, trying to fix my dress to cover up my cleavage “Oh, is it too much?”

            “Definitely not.” Keely reached up and adjusted my dress again, so it was back to how it was originally. “You look great.”

            “Oi, what were you saying about Rebecca secretly dating someone?” Sassy interrupted. I turned wide-eye to Keely.

            “Rebecca’s dating someone?” I removed my arm from around Keely and turned so I was standing next to Sassy. “And you didn’t tell me?”

            “I don’t know anything for sure, but I’m pretty sure it’s been going on for like weeks now,” Keely whispered. Now that she mentioned it, Rebecca had been acting differently. She wasn’t coming out as much or spending as much time in the locker room. It was like she was hiding something.

            “Now.” Sassy’s eyes gained a mischievous look on her face. “Is today an inappropriate day to inquire/badger her into telling us who?”

            “We’ll never know unless we try!” Keely responded, giggling. Suddenly her gaze turned warning as she looked over my shoulder.

            “Keely.” Jamie’s voice surprised me from behind. I turned around and was surprised to see him in a suit, with a shirt on underneath.

            “Jamie. Wow! Nice suit!” She greeted, turning to see him. Then as Jan and Nate approached as well “All of you. Look at you!”

I felt like my voice was caught in my throat. This was a funeral, a really bad time to be thirsting over Jamie but he just looked so damn good. I swallowed hard, glancing down at his feet.

            “And no trainers! On any of you,” I chimed in. “Making me proud.”

Jamie looked surprised when he saw me, and I didn’t miss the way his eyes darted down and back up.  “Hi (Y/N). I didn’t see you come in.”

Ever since the night club, I’d tried to avoid Jamie as much as possible. I woke up the next morning, unfortunately sober, and remembered how lose my lips were the night before. And the fact that we had almost nearly kissed on the dance floor. Our morning practices were short and I had begun taking my lunches with Keely and Roy to avoid spending anymore unnecessary one-on-one time with Jamie.

It hurt, of course, to be away from him. I had become really attached to him and his presence in my life. I don’t know if he felt it, but to me it was like there was a giant Jamie sized hole missing.

I glanced over at the door. “Oh, yeah, I was… late, I guess.”

            “Well, you look great,” he commented. “It’s a nice… err… dress.”

            “Yes, your breasts look very nice in that dress,” Jan agreed, giving me a warm smile.

Jamie turned and smacked Jan on the back of the head. “Now is not the time to be commenting on her breasts, twat.”

            “Oh! I did not mean to be offensive.” In his defense he did look apologetic. Well, as apologetic as the Dutch man could muster. “I simply meant your dress fits you well.”

            “And Nate!” Thank God, for Keely. “Is that the suit that Ted got you.”

            “What, this?” He looked surprised by the question.

            “Yeah!”

            “Um, I can’t remember… uh, yes! Yeah,” he stumbled through his answer.

I nodded at him. “it’s a really nice suit!”

            “Another man buying you clothes is infantilizing, yes?” Jan Maas interjected, a curious look on his face. There was an awkward pause as we all tried to figure out how to answer.

            “Fucks sake,” Jamie muttered. He turned to me. “Want to go find a seat?”

I glanced over at Keely. She had heard all about that night from me and had insisted that it was a sign. She was fully on the (Y/N) x Jamie train and told me that I just HAD to confess my feelings for him in the most romantic way possible. I, however, felt like every time I spoke with Jamie, I ended up sticking my foot in my mouth.

Right now, she was giving me a not-so-subtle signal to go with him. God, why did it have to be a funeral.

            “Sure! Let’s go. Let’s go find a seat!” I said, coolly. Though not that coolly. More, oddly than coolly.  But Jamie didn’t seem to notice as he started to lead me further down the aisle. I turned back to look at Keely who was giving me a big thumbs up. As if I would confess my feelings to Jamie right now. ‘Hey Jamie, I know there’s a dead body in front of us, but do you want to make out with me and have lots and lots of babies?’ Didn’t exactly roll off the tongue did it.

He stared quietly ahead of us at the crucifix above the alter. I couldn’t read his face. I wish I could tell what he was thinking in this moment. But instead, I found myself looking over the delicate features of his face. His eyes, his mouth, his lips. I was going to burn in hell.

            “I didn’t know you owned a dress shirt, Jamie,” I decided on saying, giving him a smile.

            “I didn’t. Had to go buy one,” he told me, looking down at his shirt. “Did you know that you can buy these in bulk for like 20 quid?”

            “Yeah… yeah I did know that.”

            “Fucking wild,” he muttered. “Had to go with Colin and Dani to a shoe store down the street to get dress shoes.”

I was suddenly overwhelmed with softness at the thought. The boys all got together and decided to come to this all on their own. They came, dressed to the occasion, to support their owner even though she didn’t ask them to.

            “Well, it means a lot,” I said, softly. “To Rebecca, that you all came.”

He looked over at me and shrugged. “Yeah well… we’s a family, ain’t we?”

He truly was a completely different person than when we first met. I knew that, but it really hit me in this moment. I opened my mouth to respond to him when we were interrupted by Spanish cursing. Dani came up from behind us, praying and cursing under his breath.

            “I hate dress shoes so much, Jamie,” he whined, leaning on Jamie for support.

            “I know, muchacho,” Jamie responded sympathetically. “Cause remembers, they ain’t made for people like us. They’re made for sheep. They’re made for Muggles. They’re made for twats.”

            “Thank you for your sacrifice, Dani,” I encouraged.

            “When I get home, I will set them on fire, and their memory will burn in hell.”

Jamie and I stared at each other. “Jesus, Dani.”

Dani looked at us, an incredulous look on his face. “Jesus has no place in the conversation of these damn shoes.”

With that he began limping forward, resuming his frantic praying. I watched him leave, feeling his pain from where I was standing.

I suddenly felt really hot and my palms began to sweat again. Then in an instant, my heart began to race as a sense of panic washed over me.

            “You alright?” Jamie’s voice broke through my sweat.

I swallowed, trying to get some moisture back in my throat. “Uh, yeah, I’m fine I just… I need to step outside.”

I began to walk off towards a side door. I turned over my shoulder and saw Jamie watching after me, concern lacing his face. Got I wanted to go back and hold him. Tell him everything that was bothering me and let him comfort me. But now was not the time or the place. Instead, I pressed on and walked outside.

As I did, it felt like I was coming up for air after taking a dive into the deep in. I covered my face as I tried to ground myself in the current moment. If only Ted was here. He would know how to help me right now.

Suddenly, I heard loud laughter. I looked around for the source of the noise and saw a back room. I wandered over to the room and saw inside Keely, Sassy, and Rebecca along with her mother and Nora.  

            “What is going on in here?” I laughed, coming in to join them.

Keely stood up and clapped her hands. “Someone is secretly shagging a footballer!”

I gave Keely a look, there was no way they were talking about Jamie and me. “We aren’t shagging!”

There was silence in the room as the women a looked at each other. Then they burst out into another round of squeals and screaming. I looked around, realizing my mistake. They were not talking about me.

            “Wait, wait, if you weren’t talking about me, then who-“

            “No, you’re not getting out of this,” Rebecca cut me off, pointing at me. “Who are you talking about?”

            “Rebecca is shagging Sam,” Keely blurted out, giggling like a toddler.

My mouth dropped. Not what I was expecting. “Wait, what?”

            “Shut it, Keely, that is old news! Tell us who you are shagging.” Sassy tugged on my arm, practically pulling out of its socket.

I waved my hands around, trying to get my mind wrapped around the situation. “Okay, so Rebecca is shagging Sam, which is true. And I’m not shagging anyone, which is also true.”

            “But you implied that you SOMETHING going on with someone else,” Nora pointed out. I glared at her. “What! I’m just saying!”

I looked over at Keely, begging for any kind of help in the situation but she was too caught up in the excitement to offer a diversion. Sassy came over and grabbed my arm.

            “C’mon, anything you say in here, stays in here, we promise, right?” She comforted looking around at the other women for encouragement. I don’t know how much I trusted Sassy though. She could be a bit unpredictable, but honestly, I felt so safe in this room with these women. And fuck it, I was having a bad day.

            “Okay…” I wavered, closing my eyes. “I have serious feelings for Jamie.”

The room broke out into screams of excitement, a thousand questions being thrown my way. I glanced over at Keely who was just smiling at me. Luckily, before I could start answering questions, the vicar came in and kicked all of us out.

Rebecca gave me a look that said We’ll talk later, and we walked out. Keely caught up to me and locked out arms together.

            “You doing alright, babes?” She asked, tugging on my arm a bit.

            “Me? Yeah. I’m doing great!” I shrugged, looking straight towards the church. “I mean who doesn’t love a good funeral.”

            “Not me,” she grumbled. “Roy’s been giving me a hard time all day. I hate death.”

I laughed. “Bold statement, ‘I hate death.’”

            “I don’t need shit from you too!” She protested, but she was smiling just as well.

We reentered the church and Keely went to join Roy. I started to make my way to the back of the church where I could sit in one of the empty aisles when I heard someone whisper call my name. I looked around and saw Jamie waving at me. When he saw he got my attention, he pointed to an empty spot next to him. He saved me a seat. My heart fluttered as I made my way over to him. He scooted down to give me a bit more room as I side stepped through the aisle past Isaac.

            “Thanks for saving me a seat,” I murmured to him.

            “Don’t mention it,” He replied. “I just got sick of listening to this one.” He pointed over to Dani who was sitting across the aisle. “I don’t know what padre he’s praying to, but I hope he fucking listens.”

I snorted, covering my mouth to keep my laugh in. Jamie smiled down at me as I regained my composure. I looked over at him and nudged him with my shoulder.

            “You’re ridiculous.”

The funeral was interesting to say the least. Rebecca gave a unique but moving eulogy to her father that contained more Rick Astley than I was expecting and afterwards we all went back to Rebecca’s place for a reception.

Somehow, I lost Jamie. He started acting weird after the eulogy, like he was deep in thought. Which for Jamie, was never a good sign. Once we got to the house, he completely disappeared from me. I instead, found myself rounding the snacks table by myself.

            “(Y/N) (L/N)!” Ted’s cheerful voice came from behind me. I was relieved to hear him. As much as he could get on my nerves with his constant optimism, right now, it was exactly what I needed. When I turned and saw him, I felt myself overwhelmed with emotion. Despite his voice, his eyes were sad.  

            “Hi Ted.” My response came out hoarser than I meant it to.

His eyes immediately flooded with concern. “Hey, you alright?” That was a question I had heard a lot today.  ‘You Alright’. And I kept saying yes. Despite the turmoil in my head about the millions of emotions I was feeling about today. About funerals. About fathers.  But hey, join the daddy issues club, I guess.

            “Yeah,” I assured him, thinking on the issue. “My dad died six months before I started at Richmond.”

Ted raised his eyebrows at me as he took in my statement. I hadn’t told anyone that in my time at Richmond. I’d barely told anyone outside my family. But I told my dad that I got my job and a month later he was dead.

            “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that,” Ted consoled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

I shrugged. “I haven’t told anyone. But… the funeral… it’s just…”

            “Brought up memories?” Ted offered. At my look, he let out a breathy laugh. “Join the club.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what he was referencing but I’m sure it was his explanation for showing up late today. I decided not to press further and opted instead to pass him a beer bottle.

            “To dads?” I beckoned, holding my own beer up to his.

            “To dads!” He joined. Then paused for adding. “And to the things we left unsaid.”

I held my drink for a second thinking on his words before taking a sip of my beer. As I did, I finally found Jamie. He was walking across the living room to approach Keely. Everything that had happened between us in the past few months went through my head in an instant. From the early morning practices to the encouragement during training, to the bus ride and the club. He was someone I wanted in my life for the foreseeable future. He was someone I wanted in my life permenantly.

Things left unsaid.

            “If you’ll excuse me a moment, Ted.”

I didn’t listen for his response and instead walked straight towards Jamie. I was going to do it. I was going to tell him. His back was to me as he chatted with Keely and I approached walking quickly, with a purpose. As I got closer, Is started to hear what he was saying.

            “I didn’t just come back to Richmond to get away from me dad. I also came back ‘cause of you.” It felt like all the air in my lungs was knocked out of my in an instance. Keely’s face was frozen in one of shock as he spoke to her. “I finally think that I’m becoming the best version of meself, the kind of man that you always knew that I could be.” He was saying all the right things. All the wonderful things I had been thinking about him for weeks now. He was saying all the right things, just not to me. “And I know that this is a mad, shitty thing to do, but… I love you, Keely.”

Keely’s eyes lowered a bit and finally they met my eyes. My brain couldn’t process exactly what was happening. The relationship I had created with Jamie truly was all in my head. I had created the idea that he had leaned in to kiss me that night. It was all a lie.

Before he could turn around, I left. I left as fast as my feet could take me and get outside. My palms were sweaty again and that feeling of panic that I had felt in the church returned. I finally made it out the front door and took a big gulp of fresh air. I sat down on the porch and shoved my head in my hands, trying to ground myself once again. Vaguely, I heard the door opening behind me. I knew it was Keely without even having to look.

            “(Y/N), I… I’m so, so, sorry,” she said as she sat down next to me. “I have no idea where that came from.”

            “No, it’s alright, it’s not your fault.” I felt a laugh bubble it way out my chest. “It’s all my fault! It really is.” Keely looked at me like I was crazy. “I’m used to this! I’m used to getting my heart broken. I’m used to hearing the ‘love is a lie’ speech from my friends.” Finally, I took my head out of my hands and rested my chin in my hands. “But… it just feels different this time.”

And with that the laugh left my voices as my disappointment caught up with me and it was replaced by a sob. I covered my mouth, surprised by the noise that had just come out of it. Then my lip was shaking, and my eyes were shimmering with unshed tears.

            “Oh, (Y/N)…” Keely cooed.

She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into her. I rested my head on her shoulder and let myself cry.

Taglist: @heletsmelovehim @higherthanheroes @ajax-petropolus-wife @oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo @optimisticsandwichgladiator @kno-way-home @sleepy-time @wigglegiggle

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[theultimatefan]

Global Fight League Announces Initial Funding and Sets Launch Plan for New Team-Based MMA Property

The Global Fight League, a new team-based MMA property, today announced that it has successfully closed a multi-million-dollar seed round and is set to launch its first season in April 2025. The league will hold a virtual selection process to determine the fighters on each team on January 24, the details of which will be released in the coming weeks.

The GFL will combine team and city-based competition with a new level of empowerment for male and female fighters across all stages of their career, offering profit sharing on all events from the very start.

“Our new league is a logical evolution for MMA,” said Darren Owen, longtime global MMA event promoter, entrepreneur, and Founder of the Global Fight League. “Our mission is to embrace fighters as true equitable partners from inception and, together, create a format that can be understood by any sports fan. I’ve had hundreds of conversations with MMA legends and rising stars and our business plan is an extension of what I have heard from fighters who want a new way to compete and excel in the world’s fastest growing sport.”

Many of the sport’s most notable fighters have been assembled to compete in the inaugural GFL season including: Tyron Woodley, Luke Rockhold, Wanderlei Silva, Anthony Pettis, Fabricio Werdum, Junior Dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski, Frank Mir, Benson Henderson, Gegard Mousasi, Alexander Gustafsson, Hector Lombard, Kevin Lee, Abubakar Nurmagomedov, Hannah Goldy and Marlon Moraes, who will serve as the Head of the GFL’s Athlete Association.

The GFL is pioneering a 50% event-specific revenue share model that ensures athletes benefit from the league’s success. This revolutionary structure prioritizes fighters’ financial security and professional well-being.

The GFL is committed to providing unparalleled financial benefits while prioritizing fighter health and safety. Additionally, the league will actively work to eliminate extreme weight-cutting practices to foster a healthier and more sustainable environment for athletes. This initiative reflects the league’s commitment to protecting its athletes and promoting longevity in their careers.

The league will launch with six teams based in major global markets. Competitions will span the world, culminating in a playoff and a championship that will establish the GFL’s position as a world-class experience for athletes and fans alike. Teams will be coached by some of MMA’s most respected figures, including Rafael Cordeiro, with team managers such as Lyoto Machida bringing exceptional expertise.

Marlon Moraes, Head of the GFL Athlete Association, remarked, “This is a new chapter for fighters. The GFL is built on fairness, respect, and opportunity. Fighters now have a voice and a stake in the sport’s future.”

With MMA’s undeniable global popularity, the GFL is the natural progression of a sport that transcends borders. By combining a historically proven team-based league model with a commitment to athlete equity, the GFL aims to help the MMA industry innovate and set a new gold standard in professional sports.

[ejesgistnews]

Ballon D'or 2024 Ceremony: Key Details You Need to Know.  The 2024 Ballon D'or signifies a fresh chapter in football, as it will be the first year without nominations for Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, two icons who dominated the award for over a decade. Collectively, Messi and Ronaldo secured the prestigious accolade 13 times over 16 years, with Messi clinching his eighth and final Ballon D'or in 2023 after leading Argentina to World Cup glory. With Messi and Ronaldo absent, new contenders are in the spotlight. Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior is a strong favourite following an outstanding season. Other noteworthy nominees include Erling Haaland from Manchester City, Rodri, and Jude Bellingham. This shift reminds us of the pre-Messi and Ronaldo era when winners varied widely, featuring legends like Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho. The Ballon D'or, awarded by France Football since 1956, recognises the best footballers from the past season. Voting is conducted by journalists worldwide, who rank their top ten players. In addition to the men's award, accolades will also be presented for the best female player, goalkeeper, coach, and young talent. Who are the Men's Ballon D'or 2024 Nominees? The nominees for the 2024 Ballon D'or include: Vinícius Júnior (Brazil, Real Madrid) Erling Haaland (Norway, Manchester City) Kylian Mbappé (France, Paris Saint-Germain / Real Madrid) Rodri (Spain, Manchester City) Jude Bellingham (England, Real Madrid) Other contenders: Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Dani Carvajal, Rúben Dias, and more. Who are the Women's Ballon D'or 2024 Nominees? The nominees for the women’s award include: Aitana Bonmatí (Spain, Barcelona) Ada Hegerberg (Norway, Lyon) Alexia Putellas (Spain, Barcelona) Other contenders: Barbra Banda, Lucy Bronze, and Caroline Graham Hansen. When is the Ballon D'or 2024 Ceremony? The 2024 Ballon D'or ceremony is scheduled for Monday, 28 October (or 29 October in India). Where is the Ballon D'or 2024 Ceremony? The event will take place at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. What Time is the Ballon D'or Ceremony? The ceremony kicks off at 1:15 am IST (or 9:45 pm Central European Time (CET)) on Tuesday, 29 October. Where to Watch the Ballon D'or 2024 Ceremony? Fans can catch the Ballon D'or award ceremony live on the SonyLIV app and on Sony Sports Network channels. As we look forward to the 2024 Ballon D'or, the anticipation builds for who will emerge as the next top footballer in the world, marking a significant transition in football history. Stay informed with Ejes Gist News – Your Source for Credible News in Nigeria.