#I did fall on it hard ice skating when I was a teenager

[finrays]

ok i think i missed something, if i may ask, what happened to your hand that you had to get Bones Removed? (and what do they do with the bones that you don’t get to keep them??? mmh)

hope it’s healing well and it’s not too bad <3

I had Kienbock’s Disease! The lunate bone fractures somehow, begins to die as the blood flow is cut off, then collapses and fragments. Very painful!

The only real solution is to have the first row of carpal bones removed from the wrist and let the other bones descend to fill the gap.

So I’ve had the very bad and squished and fractured lunate taken out as of today, and now I’ve got to start recovering and hope I’m one of the overwhelming majority who get good results from this; there’s an 85% chance the wrist won’t need surgery again!

Thanks for the well-wishes! It’s been a long-ass painful road from late April to here, but hopefully it’s starting to wind down now!

[rad-batson]

Damian Wayne: Figure Skater

or: Damian Wayne Fluff Because Damian Wayne Deserves Joy and Happiness <3

Damian Wayne prides himself on being good at everything he does. He never half-asses anything.

Damian has tried tons of different skills before. He’s mastered dozens of martial arts, become fluent in over thirty languages, earned several PhDs, and he’s not even a teenager yet. Why? He needs to be the best or it’s not good enough.

But there are only so many skills that give him the same joy as when he started. Studio art is his favorite and has always been a constant for him, but he’s yet to find something else. Something that truly invigorates him.

At 12, Damian watches the Winter Olympics with Dick. It’s his first ever time viewing the Olympics, and he doesn’t really know what he was expecting, but Damian is…kind of underwhelmed.

Everyone talked about how the Olympics are supposed to be this grandiose display of the world’s talents, but most of it’s pretty boring.

Curling is boring. Alpine is slow and monotonous. Bobsledding is repetitive, and sled dog racing seems unethical.

But then figure skating comes on. And Damian is captivated.

Without even realizing, he moved right in front of the television and watched an hour of figure skating uninterrupted. Dick notices and smiles.

“Aren’t they cool?” Dick asks. Damian, with his eyes still glued to the screen, nods. “Wanna go to the local rink with me and try it out? It’s even more fun than it looks.”

That pulls Damian out of his trance, and he closes himself off. “No. I don’t need to.”

He just thought it was cool, okay? And he totally doesn’t want to try it himself. And he totally isn’t worried that he won’t be good at it and fall like an idiot in front of his older brother if he does.

It’s just that…it’s so cool!!

Damian knows agility, okay? He can do flips and tricks with ease, and he knows how to do it with both grace and poise. But these people? They can do it on ice! With blades on their feet!!

OF COURSE DAMIAN WANTS TO DO COOL TRICKS WITH SHARP BLADES STRAPPED TO HIS FEET

Admittedly, he goes through a two-month-long period of pretending he isn’t dying to try it. He almost completely forgets. Then, by complete coincidence, Cass and Duke invite him to an indoor skating rink, and he caves. Maybe it’s not that hard.

Spoiler: Figure Skating is Hard

Within five seconds, he falls flat on his face. How do people do this? Cass and Duke say it’s normal, but he still refuses to leave the wall the whole time out of shame.

Once they’re home, however, Damian realizes how stupid that was. He’s Damian Wayne Al Ghul. He can’t just give up! What would the rest of his family think?! What if they go back one day, and he just falls flat on his face again? There’s no excuse the second time, and he doesn’t want the others to think he can’t do it.

So that night, he sneaks back into the rink after hours and tries again. And again. And again. And again.

On the fifth try, he is able to make it all the way around the rink. He realizes that he’s distributing his weight wrong. (Stupid mistake, of course. He’s essentially balancing on knives.) That makes it a lot easier, but he’s still flapping his arms around like a bird.

He spends two more hours improving his balance, then decides that’s good enough. He did what he came here to do, and he doesn’t need to come back.

Two days later, he comes back. (I mean, who knows? Maybe, he’s gotten better.) He didn’t, obviously. But what harm is there in spending some more time on the ice? Other than the collection of bruises he acquires.

He falls way more than he’d like to admit, but once he teaches himself how to do that safely, it’s actually kind of fun. He circles the rink countless times, figures out to start and stop (though it is admittedly a very ungraceful way of stopping.) He can even kind of control his speed.

So he’s done, right? He did it! He can now ice skate to a degree that isn’t mortifying for a beginner. He doesn’t need to come back.

The Short Program

One week and four visits later, he admits that he is hooked. He wants to see how far he can go with this. But he can’t just improve without proper guidance, so he decides to take Tim’s advice for once and use the internet.

That’s when he really starts improving. Exponentially. He pours over articles and videos and diagrams about gliding, stopping, pivots, crossovers, and finally some simple spins. Just basics, of course.

He also purchases his own pair of skates because the rental ones he’s been “borrowing” suck. And they smell. And he forges a membership card (you know, so there’s no paper trail.)

His original goal is to make it to free skate level, but once he’s there, he can’t stop. It’s just so gratifying to add another skill to his repertoire. If he can do front crossovers, then he can surely master them backward. Closed Mohawks shouldn’t be that bad if the open Mohawks were so easy. Before he knows it, he’s spending hours every week developing his skills.

After a few months, his improvement plateaus because the jumps prove difficult. He doesn’t know how to build up the speed, and his stealth and fighting techniques (which he’s been borrowing from thus far) just make him wipe out. So he works on that for a bit and tries to figure out what he’s doing wrong.

During a JL meeting, The Flash happens to mention a rogue who used to figure skate. Lisa Snart, or the Golden Glider, is a famous figure skater from the 90s, but she was kicked from the Olympic team due to her life of crime. Now, she jumps between both petty crime and vigilantism.

Damian tracks her down and claims to be researching the sport for a school assignment. Yeah, it’s a bit thin of a cover story. If she wanted to see through his lie, she’d only have to break into his school and check his teacher’s assignment book, but once he laments about how every other skater is busy, and he was so surprised to learn that she was no longer skating when she’s clearly so talented, Lisa happily tells him all of the secrets to the sport.

For a few months, he applies her techniques and even asks her to skate for him a few times, recording her from multiple angles. “I value the quality of my education,” he explains. She sees through the lie but doesn’t say anything. (And somehow, he doesn’t particularly care.)

In the coming year, Bruce notices a change in how Robin moves during patrol. If he had to describe it…well, there’s a lot more power behind his movement. He redistributes his momentum with ease, which proves extremely valuable. There’s more height to his jumps and speed in his attacks. On top of it all, he can reorient himself quicker.

Bruce praises Damian once they’re back at the cave and even allows him more freedom during missions. Damian totally doesn’t cry about it in his room.

The Free Skate

Damian refuses to let anyone watch him practice for YEARS to save his pride. I mean, yes, he’s at free skate level 5—thanks, Lisa—but he’s not at level 6 yet! And that won’t take too long, right? Maybe they can know once he’s mastered his quad axel (which is a totally doable goal. He’s not overachieving. He’s Damian Wayne Al Ghul.)

Next, he works on transitions. At first, he copies other skaters’ forms, then he slowly develops his own. It’s sharp in some ways and fluid in others like he’s been on ice his whole life but he’s got places to be.

At about 15 or 16, he invites Jon to come with him one day. He shows him “a few spins” (triple axels) and Jon immediately starts encouraging him to join some kind of showcase or competition.

Damian’s response is “No! I’m not good enough yet. I still can’t land a quad axel. That’s insulting.”

Cue Jon’s family-friendly “bitch please” face. He says, “Okay, but you need to show someone else. I can’t be the only person in the world who knows.” so they get Billy in on it.

He’s obviously good at keeping secrets, considering he hid his age and the fact he was homeless from the JL for five years.

Billy also loses his shit, but he’s more understanding about the “I don’t want to tell anyone else” thing. Thus, Jon and Billy become Damian’s cover for every time he’s caught sneaking out. (He was running out of excuses anyway.)

Bruce hears that Damian is hanging out with Jon and Billy every week, gives him a look, and tells him he’s proud that he’s making friends.

Damian nods along, thanking all the gods in Billy’s head that his secret is safe. If Bruce doesn’t have any reason to snoop, then he won’t. Simple as that. The greatest detective in the world doesn’t need to start snooping.

During the next Winter Olympics, Damian watches every single skating performance from the comfort of his room. (Tim can hear him yelling at his TV through the walls but doesn’t have the energy to question it.)

Jon and Billy are his cheerleaders. They go out for lunch then head to the rink with him and mess around while Damian practices. Sometimes, they spend all day together. Doing homework, gossiping, playing fun little games.

Damian keeps mentioning the quad axel to them until Jon looks it up and says, “Um, hey Dami? Apparently, the quad axel is like…almost physically impossible. You know that, right?“ “If Lisa Snart and Ilia Malinin can do it, so can I.” “Okay, Mr. PhD.” Still, they don’t doubt him for a second.

Damian teaches them some stuff during a public skate in Fawcett City. Jon cheats multiple times by floating a tiny bit to keep his balance. Billy falls a lot.

As much as he likes being with his friends, though, Damian finds himself skating more to clear his head rather than to improve or socialize.

When he has a bad patrol or gets into some trouble he could have avoided, he’ll sneak into the rink alone and skate for hours.

He’ll pour all of his frustration into the music and carve it out into the ice until he’s exhausted and lying down with the cold surface against his back, letting it sink some sense into him.

It’s a good outlet. Kind of like his art, but there are only so many pencils you can snap in anger before your dad cuts your art supply budget. Bruce doesn’t know about this yet.

Six months later, when Damian lands his first quad axel in front of Jon and Billy, they all scream for five consecutive minutes and celebrate with hot chocolate and sorbet.

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Tim asks when he’s back home. Damian tries to hide his smile but fails spectacularly. “Oh, nothing.” He’s never had a problem with schooling his emotions before, but anything is possible now. Even a quad fucking axel.

Competition Season

During patrol one day, Dick sees Damian spinning on the roof and says, “Hey, where’d you get those sick ballet moves? Did Black Bat teach you that?” Damian immediately stops and says, “Uh yeah.” Thankfully, Dick doesn’t ask Cass to confirm.

At 17, Jason catches him sneaking out at 10 pm and unknowingly opens an entire can of worms.

Damian, too tired to make a good excuse: “I’m seeing Jon.” Jason: “Like a date?” Damian, dying inside: “…Don’t tell Baba.”

At 18, he’s able to reliably land the quad axel and do it with style. It’s almost more gratifying than punching criminals in the face. (Almost.) That’s when Jon and Billy finally bring up the idea of telling others about it.

Damian is still hesitant, but he thinks about it.

I mean, he’s made a lot of progress in six years, hasn’t he? The only other thing he’s spent so long practicing was his assassin training, then his vigilantism, and his art. But this one is special because it’s just his. (And Jon and Billy. Kinda.) And getting to show off to them is fun, especially when he perfects another element, and they got batshit crazy together over it. That would be nice, wouldn’t it? Having a few more people to mess around with in the rink?

He just doesn’t know if it’ll be impressive enough. After all, his entire family is great at stuff. Bruce is the world’s greatest detective—how he hasn’t learned about this yet, Damian doesn’t know. Dick is a beyond incredible acrobat. Jason has one of the highest proficiencies in marksmanship ever. Tim is the best bo staff user on this side of the Atlantic...

...And Damian can do jumps and tricks on the ice. Wow, cool. Good job, Damian.

But then he’s twelve again. And he’s sitting in front of the TV watching Yuzuru Hanyu and Yuna Kim do triple axels, and Dick is inviting him to try it out together. And Cass and Dick are taking him to the rink because they thought it’d be fun. And Lisa is rambling about how she misses skating competitively. And Bruce is telling him he’s proud of the progress Damian’s made both inside and outside of patrol. And Tim is telling him he looks happier than usual.

He is happier.

Yeah. Maybe, they deserve to know.

He agrees to sign up for a free skate competition. But not one in Gotham. And only a small one. He wants to test out the waters first. They find one that’s a month away, and Damian signs up.

When the day comes, Damian is shaking in his skates. He did not account for a “small competition” still having over two hundred people watching. What the fuck was he thinking?

What Jon and Billy don’t tell him is that they snuck Dick into the crowd to watch. Dick has no idea what he’s doing there until he sees Damian skate out to the middle in a red and grey top with black pants and matching skates.

He performs to Beggin’ by Måneskin and starts the performance out with his quad axel.

Everyone loses their shit.

He looks so genuinely excited when he’s skating. He completely ignores the hundreds of people watching, doesn’t count points. He just jams out to the song until he’s breathless, spinning and gliding and jumping and turning to the beat, mostly showing off to Jon and Billy like he always does.

When it’s over, he just hears this massive crowd of people screaming, and then overtop of it, Dick shouts, “THAT’S MY BABY BROTHER!!” and Damian almost falls flat on his face.

Dick uses the Emergency Group Chat to send a video of Damian skating then screams into the phone to Bruce, who immediately drives out to the rink with the rest of the family, and his siblings make Damian do it over once the place is cleared out because they can’t believe they missed it.

Dick: When did you learn to figure skate?! Damian: After we watched the Olympics together. Dick: You’ve been hiding this for SIX YEARS?!?! Damian: …It looked fun.

Of course, Damian is still the son of Bruce Wayne so tabloids eat it up.

“Damian Wayne: Figure Skating Prodigy” “Wayne Prodigy Wins Gold at Regional Figure Skating Competition, Baffling Judges” “Is Damian Wayne fit to represent the US during the next Winter Olympics??”

A swarm of coaches ask Damian if he would like to skate competitively but he declines. He just likes doing it for fun.

Thankfully, the performance was recorded by the competition holders (after a suspicious request from the CEO of Wayne Enterprises last week. Wow, wonder why)

Leave it to Damian to spend his rebellious phase becoming an Olympic-level athlete.

[wolfiesmoon]

Ice skate date?

TWST x gn!reader

characters featured: riddle, azul, ruggie

since i am obsessed with the concept of teaching (almost) grown men how to skate, i return with brainrot (twst edition)

but then again i have a feeling that a lot of the characters have no idea how to ice skate (due to various reasons I'll get into here) . if there happen to be any events or lore where the characters actually know how to ice skate consider this to be a fun little au where they dont

｡°✩ ⋆⁺｡ Riddle Rosehearts

There's no time for useless things when you want to achieve perfection.

That's what Riddle's mom told him when he expressed interest in anything but studying. She had every minute detail planned out and a "useless hobby" would not fit in.

Therefore, Riddle never learned how to ice skate. You can imagine he has his reservations about going to the rink with you.

After a bit of convincing and lots of reassuring him that you won't laugh under any circumstance, he begrudgingly agreed to go.

As soon as he stepped on the ice, he felt unsafe, like he might fall over at any moment but you quickly held out your arm for him to hang onto.

"Thanks." He looked a little startled which almost made you laugh but you shouldn't break a promise.

His grip on your arm tightened as he attempted to glide across the ice beside you. Seems he's really afraid of falling.

"Relax, you'll pull my arm off if you squeeze it that hard." You reminded him gently. You have a feeling you understand why he's so determined to not fall even once and avoiding the stares of curious children.

His grip on your arm loosened but that made him stumble on the ice and almost fall over and he immediately gripped you again. At this point you're worried you'll lose circulation.

"Riddle, it's fine if you fall. You shouldn't worry too much." You smiled, remembering how you used to fall a lot back when you were first learning to ice skate.

"Even I still fall on the ice a lot. This is nothing like a magic history exam, you don't need to be perfect. There's no way to be completely perfect here, anyways."

"I know that. Do not patronize me." Riddle huffed, leaning onto you more and attempting to slide on the ice properly.

"I was not." You wondered if you were too vague with your advice. Did he even get what you meant to say?

Actually, now that you take another look at him, he looks more relaxed and at ease. "Riddle, you idiot. You don't have to act so modest when you're glad I understand you." You thought to yourself, looking lovingly at his determined face.

｡°✩ ⋆⁺｡ Azul Ashengrotto

Honestly, where would he learn to ice skate under the sea? He never even used legs until his teenage years, so ice skating was completely out of the question until now.

That being said, he felt less than confident stepping on the ice.

It was still water, but he didn't like it in this solid form. It was much too slippery and unpredictable for his liking.

"Come here! You can do it! Come on!" You were standing around 5 metres to his right, beckoning him to come over as if he's a toddler who's just learning how to properly walk.

"Drop the babytalking, please." he was definitely not amused which only made you giggle harder.

"Oh, but I was so benevolent as to help you learn how to ice skate. What a shame that my help is so unnapreciated." you did your best Azul impression.

"Wow. I would compliment your acting skills if this wasn't completely innacurate and used to make fun of me." despite that, he managed to somehow make his way to your side, stumbling a few times.

You smiled cheekily, pointing at the edge. "Hold onto that. And onto me too, if you want." He did as you insctructed, looking a little nervous and unsure.

A little kid passed by the two of you, staring curiously at Azul. It must be a little weird to see someone so old just learning how to ice skate for the first time. You anticipated the little children staring.

You could feel him squeeze your arm slightly tighter at that and he seemed to be looking outside the ice rink, avoiding your eyes.

You gently took his hand.

"It's fine. Don't think about it too hard."

You felt him stiffen for a moment.

"You're honestly pretty scary sometimes, you know that?" you had no idea in what sense he meant that since he still didn't look your way. But you have a feeling his cheeks are pink right now.

Doesn't matter either way since he squeezed your hand lovingly.

｡°✩ ⋆⁺｡ Ruggie Bucchi

"Aw man, I just can't get this right." You helped Ruggie up for what felt like the hundreth time. He had free time this weekend so you suggested ice skating, to which he immediately told to he doesn't know how to.

Thinking back on it, it makes complete sense that he wouldn't know how to ice skate. The Sunset Savanna is a very warm nation so snow doesn't fall there and Ruggie didn't exactly grow up in the best living conditions either so he wouldn't have been able to afford a trip to a colder nation anyways.

"You'll get it soon enough." He didn't seem dejected at all even after all the failed attempts to keep up with you, which was nice to see.

"I hope I do, or Leona will get mad at me for being late to tuck him in."

"I still can't get over how ridiculous that is. Tuck him in? What is he, a toddler?" You sighed, catching him when he stumbled over and he thanked you cheekily.

"King's orders, what can ya do." He shrugged. He thinks he's almost got the hang of it now. That's a good thing. Very very good.

"Why are you so determined to learn by today? You know we can always come back some other time." you held his hand, helping him keep balance.

"Isn't it obvious? It's cuz I wanna go on an ice skating date with you. A proper one!" he grinned widely at you, feeling proud of himself.

"Okay, you romantic." you rolled your eyes playfully. The closest you'll get to an "ice skating date" is a beginner skating class for teenagers. Atleast in this short time frame.

But you have to admit, the way he said it with so much determination was downright adorable and almost made you want to cover the rental ice skate fee. Almost.

He'll probably conjure up some insane scheme to avoid paying for them anyways. Which makes you worry about getting in trouble with not just the school, but also the law.

You should probably hold him back this time, huh.

[arvandus]

barbatos headcanons sfw or nsfw? totally fine if not <3 i love anything you write for barbatos <3

Ohhhh man, so many headcanons considering how much space he takes up in my brain. Most of it centers around relationships and, by proxy, NSFW stuff. It ties into what I recall of canon material, but take it with a grain of salt since I haven't finished the OG game yet (I'm on lesson 42 right now). I'm just going to put SOME of them since I have so many. Also, some of these will probably sound more like character analysis than headcanons.

WARNING: MINORS AND AGELSS BLOGS DNI; THIS POST CONTAINS 18+ CONTENT. DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT FOLLOW ME!

My Humble Barbatos Thoughts:

General stuff (SFW):

He smells like warm bread and spices due to all the baking/cooking he does and the tea he grows and brews.

When Asmo painted his and Diavolo's nails to match the brothers (per Diavolo's request), Barbatos let Diavolo choose his nail color for him.

His biggest worry is the mistakes of his past coming back to haunt him by inadvertently impacting Diavolo's reputation by association. If Barbatos's past sins became public knowledge, he would worry about how the Devildom might view him and how that would impact Diavolo.

Because of how incredibly old he is, and the way he seemed to come into Sol's life when he was a teenager (if I recall correctly?), and came into Diavolo's life when he was also young, I see his relationships with them as almost parental/guardian (at least initially).

Which means he probably doesn't really have any truly balanced/equal relationships with those around him, which can cause him to be somewhat isolated. He's there for others, but he's not very willing to let others reciprocate. He believes he needs to handle all of his troubles/worries on his own.

I can see his dynamic with Diavolo evolving into a more equal/balanced friendship over time, the parental/guardian dynamic falling away as he let's go of his protective role. I think this has already happened with Sol, since they seem more friends/equals than father/son (e.g., he allows Sol to have power over him not just in pact, but also with his grimoire); Diavolo is harder because Barbatos still sees the young prince as his responsibility (plus Dia is always trying to sneak out like a teenager 😂).

Barbatos has a LOT of talents and interests; he may be very proper and well-mannered, but he's been around for a LONG time. Canon things we've learned about him so far: he likes heavy metal music, he likes classical music, he is great at ice skating, fangol, and chess; he kills it at cross-dressing and dancing... he's a very diverse individual which tells me he did and tried probably literally everything when he was younger.

He's 10/10 middle-aged adult energy now. He's done everything, experimented with all the things, and now he just wants stability. He's still got some spunk to him and will engage in fun activities (especially for the sake of others), but if he had his way, I think he'd want to relax with his tea, his gardens, and his walks under the stars.

Relationship/Intimacy (including NSFW):

He had plenty of lovers earlier on in his life, but he didn't exactly have a lot of emotional intimacy. He's always been the oldest demon, and when he was younger, that simple fact made him arrogant and he saw himself as always being above others. It drove an invisible wedge between himself and those around him.

He's a greed demon, so I imagine that in the beginning he was more emotionally charged and selfishly motivated.

He has literally tried every kink under the sun moon. Young Barbatos was kinkier, hornier, meaner (due to his arrogance), and likely was not a very healthy individual to engage in relations with. Probably had lots of red flags. Was very free-spirited (our boy was hopping timelines will-nilly);

Young Barb had fuckboi energy, but in a quiet, intelligent sort of way (if that makes sense). He was hard to resist, yet very much untouchable.

As time passed, he mellowed out but also became more reserved. This made emotional intimacy even harder, and sexual escapades grew boring after a while.

Young Barbatos certainly got around, but he only truly fell in love once. But he had to leave that person behind when he made the decision to go back and fix his mistakes. He still thinks about them to this day.

In the past, when he saw the consequences of his recklessness and how it had impacted those he cared about (Dia, Sol) he had a change of heart and devoted himself to fixing his mistakes and to be in service of others before himself.

It may seem endearing and like excellent character growth; which it is, to a point. But it's also reactionary to the harm he caused. Barbatos sees his passions and desires as something toxic, something negative. As such, he sees them as being something that needs to be bottled up and controlled at all times.

Which makes it so much harder to fall in love, and when he does fall in love, it will scare him, because he feels that pull of selfishness, of wanting purely for the sake of wanting it. He has yet to figure out how to find balance within himself (i.e., trust himself), to allow himself to want without letting it consume him, and to give without self-deprivation.

Monogamous or poly? I could see it going either way, although I see him leaning more towards monogamous. It's the greed and also how he isolates himself; letting in one person would be hard, letting in more than one, especially to the same extent, would be nearly impossible. He's a VERY private person.

But poly can also work as long as its established that the relationship is exclusive between him and his partners (no open relationships/flings with outsiders). Poly might also be nice for him in that he can take comfort in knowing that his partners are there for each other when his work keeps him away from them (i.e., he'd hate for his monogamous partner to be alone all the time).

Either way, mono or poly, Barbatos does not like to share. It's the greed in him. They're his, and no one else's.

Barbatos would be very VERY resistant to entering a relationship in the present time mainly because he's dedicated himself to Diavolo. He knows his partner would not be able to be his top priority no matter how much he loves them, and not many people would be okay with that.

Barbatos used to be very sexually promiscuous in his younger years, but now he's completely closed off simply because has a reputation to protect for Diavolo. He doesn't want any jilted lovers/ex-lovers to try to cause trouble for the Prince of the Devildom simply to get back at Barbatos. Also, the man has no time for shenanigans.

If someone does manage to worm their way into his heart, it would be very slowly, over many years without him noticing until he suddenly realizes one day that he'd be lost without them. It'd be jarring for him, to say the least.

Barbatos is canonically VERY romantic. He's a giver, and his love language is acts of service. That includes not only errands/duties/chores/meals/dates, but also physical acts of service (massages, orgasms, etc.).

Loves LOVES to give oral. He loves making his lover(s) putty in his hands (think service dom).

Lots of kissing. So so much kissing. He's gonna worship every inch with his mouth and tongue.

Definitely does have a kinky side, but it only comes out to play with someone he really REALLY trusts.

He'd be down for nearly everything. Bondage, anal, edging, etc. He can even be a mean dom if you ask him really nicely (he needs to believe you REALLY want it before he lets that old side of himself come out to play); however, the only things I can see him having a hard no on would be anything in a public space where there's a chance of being seen/caught (remember he's worried about reputation) and hard degradation via name-calling (sorry, I just can't picture it - he'd respect his partner too much regardless of whatever nasty kinky stuff they do together).

Will most definitely use his tail on himself and his partner(s).

If his lover is human, he'd be constantly keeping himself (and his strength) in check out of fear of hurting them.

He'd be big on consent. He's a master at reading body language; the slightest hint of distress and he's stopping everything immediately. He's not one to lose himself in the moment.

However, this doesn't mean he doesn't have the capacity to be passionate; it's just that his passion can be a bit strong, so he's always worried about overwhelming his partner. But if his partner can handle it, then it'd open up an entirely different side of him.

Despite his capacity for kinky shenanigans, Barbatos's favorite type of intimacy with his partner will be more vanilla and filled with lots of love and affection. So think lazy oral on the bed or couch in the privacy of his room, missionary so he can see your face and feel your legs wrap around him, and you in his lap so he can let you have control and wrap his arms tight around you.

Barbatos is the KING OF AFTERCARE. Baths, tea, cakes, warm blankets, firelight, soft touches, gentle massages, kisses to your cheeks, your temples... and very heartfelt verbal confessions of his love for you.

Will snuggle you tightly after all is said and done.

Loves watching you sleep while he holds you in his arms.

He'd never say it out loud because he doesn't want to burden you, but getting up early each morning and leaving your warmth is the most painful, torturous thing for him.

[supermarine-silvally]

ice skater/ice hockey player au for portada (maybe)?

HELL YESSS I love the way your mind works, anon!

Hockey Player!Ace x Figure Skater!Yara

They both got into their sport because of their fathers. Gol D. Roger is an absolutely legendary hockey player and Mihawk is a multiple-award-winning world champion figure skater, who has won both in the men’s singles category and the ice dancing category alongside his partner Shimotsuki Akiko (Akiko herself was also a great figure skater but her career never gained the kind of international acclaim Mihawk’s did)

Ace uses his mother’s surname Portgas because he wants to make his own career without being tied to his father’s legacy. Rouge in this AU is alive and owns a nice little flower shop. Roger, now retired, helps her run it. (He gets a lot of “Hey, aren’t you--” to which he quickly cuts in “Ahaha I have no idea what you’re talking about :) I am just a humble flower merchant!”)

Ace started out on the same team as his sworn brothers Sabo and Luffy, but was drafted onto the Whitebeards, coached by Edward Newgate, a legendary player and old rival of Roger’s who had his eye on Ace ever since Ace’s rookie years coming up through the junior leagues. Marco is the current captain. 

Mihawk is now retired and is dedicated to training Yara. He and Akiko were married for a very brief period of time, but are now divorced. Despite this, they are on friendly terms and still make a good team when it comes to raising their daughter.

Yara (who still uses her birthname Dracule Yara in this AU) is quite popular, especially with people eager to see her continue her father’s legacy. She tends to receive a lot of gifts thrown onto the ice during every competition, and one of the things she always gets is a bouquet of hibiscus flowers. There is never any name attached to them but they’ve clearly been professionally-arranged and often come with a nice little typed-out note giving her really sweet compliments. They always make her heart melt a little bit every time she reads them and she really, really wants to know who is responsible (especially since hibiscus flowers are her favourite, which she vaguely recalls mentioning in an interview once at the start of her career before she gained any real fame). 

Now for the Portada. Yara and Ace train at the same rink, but rarely interact at first. Ace often watches her work through her routines before his own practice. His brothers and teammates like to tease him about the massive crush he obviously has on her and have tried to goad him into approaching her, but he chickens out every time because he just gets so flustered. He can be so smooth and cool when it comes to talking to women at a meet-and-greet or publicity event but when it comes to Yara, he totally falls apart. He’s a world-famous super rookie, but his crush turns him into an awkward teenage boy again. 

One day during training, Yara pushes herself a little too hard and over-rotates while trying to do a triple axel. She twists her ankle badly and has to go to the hospital. While there, she receives plenty of gifts and well-wishes from fans, as well as more hibiscus bouquets.

After the doctors clear her to return to the ice, Yara gets a little frustrated with herself as she is a bit out of practice and struggling to complete routines that once came to her so easily. Ace comes in early and sees her sitting in the middle of the rink, fighting back tears. All his shyness falls away as he skates over to her, offering her a hand and a shoulder to cry on as she admits that she feels like she’ll never skate like she used to again. Ace does his best to reassure her that she’ll be back to her old self in no time, and guides her through doing some basic warmups before he has to leave to attend his own practice, but not before promising her that he’ll come early every single day until she’s skating like she once did.

He makes good on his word and slowly helps her build her confidence back, skating with her and encouraging her when she starts to doubt herself. The two develop a friendship and bond over their time on the ice together, and occasionally even spend time together outside of the rink, too. (As friends do, when they want to be around each other while simultaneously fighting off their feelings for one another). When Yara wins her first competition since her injury, Ace congratulates her in person while Yara also receives another hibiscus bouquet with the most heartfelt, sweet note attached.

A month or so later, Yara decides to get Akiko some flowers for her birthday. She remembers Ace mentioning that his mom is a florist so she makes it a point to stop by Rouge’s shop. While there, she begins to notice something odd: there are hibiscus flowers everywhere, much like the ones in the anonymous bouquets she has been receiving for years now. She quickly puts two and two together and decides to confront Ace about it the next time she sees him at the rink. 

Ace confesses that he’s been in love with Yara since the first moment he ever saw her skate, but he was too nervous to talk to her, hence why he felt he could only express his feelings through anonymous bouquets (when he wasn’t available, he would get Luffy or Sabo or even Rouge to throw them onto the ice on his behalf). Yara is stunned to know that this hotshot young rookie had been admiring her from afar all this time. She always thought Ace was cute, too, but his public persona was just so flirty and silly that she had no idea he was this serious about anyone, least of all her. Sheepishly, Ace asks her out, which Yara accepts. As one date turns into two, three, four, etc. they decide to keep their relationship private. Only their close friends and family know.  

The Stanley Cup playoffs start for this year, and the Whitebeards make it all the way through to the final round. They are tied three games to three with their rival team, and the score has sat at 2-2 throughout the game when Ace scores the winning goal. He celebrates with his teammates for a second before skating over to Yara, dropping his helmet on the ice as he leans over the door to the ice and kisses her while the crowd goes wild. (Their moment of passion doesn’t end there, but continues in Ace’s hotel room all night long). 

Word quickly spreads through social media that hockey star Portgas D. Ace is dating figure skating legend Dracule Yara. Two years later, when the Whitebeads win the Stanley Cup for the third year in a row, Ace ends the game by scoring the winning goal yet again, then skates over to Yara and gets down on one knee. A very shocked, but very delighted Yara says yes.

Ten years later, Ace and Yara are both retired, and proudly watch from the stands with the rest of their kids as their son Shiro wins his very first figure skating competition.

[fabraies-archive]

BREAK THE ICE

notes n warnings ❅ *: figure skater! oikawa toorū x fem! figure skater! reader, mentions of diets and bad eating habits, this took a long time i’m sorry I literally wrote this while I was having a ton of exams, I hope the pacing is fine I feel like it’s a little too fast :( wc 5.3k

part one of snowflakes are kisses from heaven series

“WINNING IS FIRST PLACE, EVERYTHING ELSE IS LOSING”

The sentence keeps replaying in your head like a mantra, and you feel like you’re being suffocated. You were supposed to be able to master this routine. It’s nothing you haven’t encountered before, and the media portrayed you as a young, headstrong skater who succeeded in everything she undertook. So why couldn’t you do it? You’re the best. You’ve got titles and medals other skaters could only dream of having. At the very least, you used to be the best, because it just so seems that your best doesn’t cut it anymore. Soon enough, your previous achievements will be worth nothing, and your trophies will catch dust. So when your partner’s comments came flying at you, you feel as if they’re the straw that broke the camel. “Seriously? A toe loop made you fall?” Oikawa turns his head towards your choreographer, and snickers, “Looks like the program’s going to need a few changes after all.”

You had both been skating together for 7 years. Somehow, in 7 years, Oikawa hadn’t managed to be any less insufferable than he was when your coach introduced you both to each other.

7 YEARS AGO

The front door creeks open, and you turn around at the speed of light. ‘Mrs Coach’, as you used to call her, is holding a boy’s wrist, dragging him further into the training center. The boy himself didn’t look like he was too keen on entering the place, seemingly upset. He couldn’t be more than 14. That’s already pretty old to me, you cringe, I’m only twelve.

He looks down at you, eyebrow raised. “I’m supposed to skate with her? How old even is this kid ?” You feel your cheeks redden. Kid? Did he just actually call you that? Was your coach really about to let this slide? Surely not.

“She’s twelve, that’s only a two year age gap, there’s worse out there. And for the record, this is just a test to see if you guys work well together. You can keep your hopes up for a little while.” You can hear a hint of amusement in her voice, turning her back on you to walk towards the rink. “Let’s get going! I have a feeling you two’ll be a great match.”

Next to you, Oikawa grumbles.

-

Whatever your coach saw in you two, you didn’t. You kept bickering for the entire time, and you couldn’t manage anything more difficult than a few jumps in unison and a bad lift. Truth be told, the latter still makes you blush when thinking about it. As his despisable as his personality is, you couldn’t deny his looks. So when he lifted you in the air, you felt like you were about to explode. Your little twelve-year-old-heart could only take so much.

“You guys are truly great together, I was right. You’ll see, with more training, you two will make it to the Olympics!”

Your eyes sparkle at your coach’s outburst. The Olympics... You’d do anything to get there. And a grumpy teenage boy in the middle of a teenagehood crisis was certainly not about to stop you.

“Yeah, well, the Olympics aren’t worth it if I’m not competing in men’s singles. So feel free to do your best or whatever, but this isn’t what I signed up for.” The brow haired boy says crudely. Your coach’s smile visibly faints and you direct your eyes at him, ready to blow a fuse. “It’s not what I signed up for either. My dream was in the Ladie’s singles, but that’s not possible. The thing is, when I was handed another opportunity, I took it. Because to you, I’m only twelve and ‘still a kid’, but in the meantime, I don’t take things for granted, and work hard, no matter the conditions. Maybe you should try that some time. It shouldn’t be too hard, since you’re supposedly two years older than me.” You feel your partner’s eyes narrowing at you in embarrassment, but before he gets to get anything more than a small ‘smartass’, your coach intervenes.

“(Y/n), it’s fine. You both have done enough for today. I’m sure this all comes from pent up frustration, the bad blood will disolve quickly enough.”

Oh, if only she knew.

-

Ticked off, you hit the ice with your fist, and get back on your feet. You grit your teeth, and mumble a “Mind your business”, to which he answers with a scoff. You turn your head to face your coach with a disgruntled expression, in a desperate attempt to get Oikawa to keep his mouth shut, but she only shrugs and you brace yourself for the worst. If you could mostly handle Tooru’s remarks (keyword: mostly), the coach’s were different. She closes her eyes, and you can hear her voice echoing throughout the rink, “Look, you guys are young. Not too long ago, you both were competing for junior competitions. But this,” she points towards the countless medals and trophies you two had won over the years in the glass shelf, “Is over. You are about to head to Beijing to compete against athletes who are just as good, if not much better, than you. You cannot keep this up. The bantering off the ice is slowly transposing itself onto your chemistry while performing. Keep it up and the judges will notice this, and you’ll come back home without any medal at all. The basis of pair figure skating is the chemistry. If you lose it, you lose everything else. ” Her scolding ends, and you clench your fists. You hate that she has to say this. You hate that even your coach is willing to admit that you both aren’t doing enough to stand a chance. You hate that you know she’s right. You hate that you know Oikawa is right. At the very least, had you fallen while attempting a 4A, you would still be viewed as respectable by the public, and by the judges. But you hadn’t, and instead, the people around you would start despising you.

This isn’t fair, you think, I’ve worked harder than anyone else to be here! Your cheeks redden, and you can feel your eyes getting watery. “Stop crying, we gotta get back to the routine.” You notice that Oikawa’s tone has lost some of it’s initial glee, and you’re reassured to know you’re not the only one that has been affected by your coach’s harsh words. Oikawa skates back to the middle of the rink, waiting for you to finish sniffling like a child who has had her lollipop taken away from her.

The noise of a locker being harshly closed fills the empty changing rooms and makes you flinch. The rest of the training session did not go as smoothly as planned, even after your coach’s complaints. A sigh escapes your lips. While he could still blame everyone else for all the mishaps on the ice, you couldn’t. You only had yourself. Never had you been this discouraged, and ready to give up. Worst of all, you cannot seem to quell your inner turmoil, because everything you do seems to give it right, and feeds it, until you can’t control it anymore. You want to disappear. Sure, you’ve never gotten along with your partner, but you’d never go as far as ruin his dreams along with yours, even after what he said a few years back. A tired voice pulls you from your intrusive thoughts. “Get up, loser. I need to close the changing rooms tonight, and I want to go home,” as if the first sentence wasn’t already enough, he adds, “And I’d be damned if you were the one to keep me here longer than I have to.” Nevermind. Maybe you would be fine tearing his dreams apart after all. “Coming.” You mumble. You don’t have the energy to banter anymore today.

As you two leave the rink, an unexpected question leaves Oikawa’s mouth. “What’s up with you today ?” You don’t miss the slight edge to his voice, but answer regardless. “I don’t know-” “You don’t know?” He angrily interrupts you, “Your little problems might cause us to not even get close to the podium at the Olympics but you don’t know?” His anger is legitimate. You can’t just not know when the stakes are this high. It’s ridiculous. You know you’re in the wrong, but you get defensive either way. “I’m sorry, since when were you even rometely interested in going to Olympics ? Last time I checked, you were doing minimal effort because ‘your dream was in the men’s singles’. I’ve been working my ass off since we met. So don’t you start bitching. I worked so fucking hard, and despite it all, you were always behind me, waiting to fuck it all up. You couldn’t even count on your fingers how many problems I have to deal with- “

“Yeah, okay. Just get this fixed before the Olympics.” With that, he just walks away, and you can’t help the sobs that are bubbling up your throat. You want to scream. You’re gripping the straps of your bag so hard you might leave a permanent imprint on your fingers. And in this very moment, you’re considering letting your anger take you over. But, you know better. It’s for the coach, you try to calm yourself down, for the Olympics.

You hope that tonight will help you rest. Despite all your problems flying around your head, you still had a flight to Beijing to catch tomorrow.

-

You were wrong. If anything, this night brought you even more problems than you already had. You hadn’t been able to close a single eye for the entire time, for if you did, your mind would go wandering to back to your doubts and you would start feeling anxious again. Nothing seemed to calm you down. Not even the silence of the plane, or the cheap laughing backtrack of the movie you were currently watching. “Would you like anything to eat ?” The hostess comes up to you. You consider getting the nice salad for a moment. Knowing eating won’t help can’t stop me from trying, you think, and in a heartbeat, you find yourself ordering one of the salads that had caught your eye on the flimsy menu. Unfortunately for you, your coach passes by at the same time as your meal’s arrival, and while she doesn’t say anything explicitly, the look she shoots you says everything you might need to know. It’s on you. You’re supposed to be on a strict diet, and indulge a strict amount of calories each day, nothing more, nothing less. Just enough to propulse yourself into the air, and just enough to keep gliding on the ice at a good speed. Just as you reflect on your bad eating habits, the coach comes back, just as you feared.

“I know you’re stressed.” She starts, it’s a dead giveaway of the theme of the conversation you’re about to have, which makes you audibly sigh, “But you’re a skater. You signed up for it. The least you could do is have the strength to go through it, both physically and mentally. You’re no different than all the people that you are competing against. You’ve got the same skills, the same elements to work with.” Your chest tightens, and you look away. Your coach resumes nevertheless, “But you two have something special, something that only a very limited number of skaters still possess at your level.” She points to you, “this something, is passion. And, yes, Oikawa does have it. Even if he yearns for a spot in he men’s singles, he still has passion for what he’s doing right now, even if you don’t see it. Your competitors could only dream of having that. You want to skate, they have to. There’s a big difference. The only thing is, to showcase your passion to the best of your ability, you have to make amends with Oikawa,” You open your mouth in protest, before your coach speaks up again, “this isn’t an option. It’s necessary. If you want to win the Olympics, that is. You can start right now by the way, I believe he’s in the cabin right next to yours.” With that, she walks away, leaving you speechless. After yesterday’s fiasco, the last thing you want to do is talk to him. But this isn’t about doing what you want, but about what you have to do, you think, and open your cabin door, alright. Good luck to me.

You move, and knock on Oikawa’s cabin’s door. “Yeah ?” A horse voice answers to the dry knocking, and it’s deepness makes your whole body tingle. “I- um. It’s me.” The door slides open, and if his voice has gotten such a reaction out of you, his slightly messy hair and jogging attire almost has you blushing, just the way it did 7 years ago, on your very first lift.

“So ?” Your partner urges you to speak up, and only then do you realize you’ve been standing in front of him, completely silent. You end up babbling a mess of words, and take a deep breath as to start anew. “I know we started off on the wrong foot. To be very honest, it’s kind of your fault, but I forgive you. Yesterday was especially bad, even though I’m pretty sure I was right, and you were wrong. However, I come in peace. For this reason, I have decided to be the mature person I am, and graciously overlook your past mistakes. Are we good now? ” The handsome male eyes your hand you stuck out for him to shake, and you two find yourselves wrapped in a parochial silence. “That’s not how apologizing works” You bite your tongue in order not to give into his taunting, and respond, “About that, I thought things through a little before coming here, and I believe I have nothing to apologize for. Thus, I decided to give you a chance to apologize instead. You’re welcome, by the way. ”

He gapes at you, and quickly regains his composure., “That’s funny, because I happen to think you actually do have stuff to apologize for.”

“And what would that be exactly ?”

“Being bitchy.”

You scoff, and cross your arms, “Me? I was only being bitchy because you were being an asshole.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re excused.” Oikawa rolls his eyes, and is about to continue, when a man from the cabin next door groans. “Will you kids just keep it down? Some of us are too tired for your little lovers’ quarrel.”

At the mention of you and Oikawa being lovers, you both physically tense up, until the bickering starts again. “Look, I just wish you’d apologize!” You whisper-scream. “Apologize for what?” He insists, and you can’t believe your ears. “Are you serious ? Maybe apologizing for what you said when we first met? For not putting any effort in the skating just because it isn’t what you intended to do?” This time, it’s his turn to not believe his ears. “You want me to apologise for something that happened 7 seven years ago?” “That, and the no-effort thing.” “Oh so you really are serious.”

Be the bigger person. You take a deep breath, trying to focus on what to do in order to get Oikawa and you to make peace. Obviously, your partner is not able to see further than his own nose in this situation. So, it is up to you to make him understand that the stakes are too high for the both of you to simply go back and forth like children at around 35 thousand feet up in the air.

“Look. You’ve said it before, we can’t risk not being on the podium at the Olympics. What I’m trying to do, is restore our relationship, have good chemistry during the games, and win. After that, you can do whatever you want. I frankly don’t care if this isn’t your dream, it’s mine. I need to win. Just this once.” You plead.

This is humiliating. You’ve hit an all-time low. But it needed to be done. And by the look on his face, you can already tell this top 1 of your most embarrassing moments have not been in vain.

“Okay. Fine. I don’t promise anything but, ” he enters a fit of coughing, and tries his best to maintain his composure, “I’m sorry. What I said yesterday was kind of in the heat of the moment, I guess. But, sure. Winning. Totally.”

You open your mouth to thank him, but he pushes you out, and closes the door. Once again, you’re left frothing at the mouth. Maybe it was a sign not to thank him after all.

-

Oikawa has always hated the sound of skates rattling against the ice. But for some reason, he’s still standing on the rink, performing. He doesn’t know why. It’s the same with his relationship with you. You both hate each other, but you still skate together. It’s not out of a lack of opportunities; he was very coveted, and so were you. He couldn’t possibly count on his fingers the number of times you could’ve parted ways, and yet, here you both are, about to compete in the Olympic games. You’ve only got few days left to train and perfect the programm, but Oikawa still finds himself staring up at the windows of the rink. It was night, but he couldn’t spot any stars or the moon. Still, the sky was faintly light. He’d have to head to bed soon. “Done daydreaming ?” A voice calls out. It’s you. You were always pretty, but the faint glow around you due to the night sky makes you even prettier. Such a shame your beautiful face had to be paired up with such a horrid personality, he thinks.

“I’m talking to you.” You speak up, again.

“I can hear you.” Oikawa narrows his eyes at you.

“So you’re just ignoring me.”

“Correct.”

“Awesome. I thought we were getting somewhere.” You shoot him a look. Oikawa scoffs. He’s glad the dark manages to cover the expression he’s sporting, because you’d never let go of it. Oikawa flustered? What a scoop! “Getting where? We’re not a couple, much less friends.” If the night sky manages to cover him, it doesn’t do it for you. He wishes it did, because the saddened smile you’re wearing makes his stomach twist. He wants to take back the words he said. Over his lifetime, he’d take back practically half what he’s said if he could.

If only his pride could let him.

-

Thundersnows are, according to scientists, a rare occurrence. However they seemed common enough for you to have to live through one. It’s funny, in a twisted way. On one hand, you love snow, but on the other, you are absolutely terrified of thunders. Your first thought is to go see your coach. Around 5 years ago, while you were in a training camp, there had been one of the loudest storms you had ever had the horror of living. You had ran towards your coach’s room, begging her to stay with you. The thought still makes you smile, as a reminder of your friendship with her. You open your fist to reveal a white pearl, hanging from black thread, a token from your friendship. She had gifted it to both you and Oikawa after your very first gold medal.

A heavy knock on the door interrupts your soft moment, and soon enough, it creaks open, revealing a brown-haired figure skater, clad in loose fitting jeans, and a shirt.

“To what do I owe the pleasure? Thought we ‘weren’t even friends’? What happened to that?” You don’t even bother looking up at him.

“Don’t flatter yourself. Coach said you were scared of thunders. She can’t help you out right now, she’s stuck in traffic with Ukai, so she sent me instead.” He runs his hand through his hair, and sits down on your bed. “Ukai, huh ?” You hum, “Always knew there was something going on between them.” You make yourself comfortable, and lie down on your bed. Feeling generous, you invite Oikawa to do the same. “Since when are civil ?” He quirks an eyebrow, and you shrug, “Ever since I was too tired not to be.” He doesn’t question your odd change of behaviour any further, and a leans back on the bed headboard.

“Do you think Ukai and coach have already fucked?” He asks, suddenly turning towards you. “Don’t be crude.” You respond.

“Is that a yes ?” His last question gets a chuckle out of you, and you realise that you completely forgot about the storm ever since he got here. “Maybe.” “Maybe !?” He props himself up on his shoulders, “Are you kidding ? They totally have! Have you seen the way they look at each other ? Man. Disgusting.“

“I find them cute. It’s love.”

“You’re disgusting too”

“Says the guy who wore skates two sizes too small during a comp. Who the hell does that ?”

“Who the hell falls on a toe loop ?” Oikawa retorts.

You snort, “That was low.”

“Your world standing is low.”

“My world standing is also your world standing.” You look back at him, and you find him staring at you. “I’m gonna hit you with the pillow.” You don’t get to say what you were planning to say anyway, because a pillow is hurled at your face.

You take it off, and wholeheartedly laugh. “You’re not half as bad as I made you out to be.” Oikawa observes. “Well, you would’ve known earlier if you hadn’t been such an asshole since day one”.

“Oh, so now it’s my fault?” He retorts, “if my memory serves me right, you were being quite the asshole as well.”

“Excuse me?” Your mouth falls open.

“Sometimes I even wonder how you spoke like that. Weren’t you like, twelve?”

“I’m just well-spoken.” You prop your chin up. It was true. Your parents had always pressured you. Etiquette lessons, piano lessons, countless extracurricular activities. No wonder you managed to seem like a smartass to Oikawa.

“Sure.”

Silence makes its way in the room, none of you daring to disturb it, until a question makes an appearance at the back of your mind. So close.

“Why do you not do any effort in our routines?”

“Me?” Oikawa stares back at you with a dazed look, “Given everything we’ve won, you’d think the opposite, no?”

“I’ve asked you about this before, but you’d just ignore me. I want you to be honest with me. I mean effort as in, something more than what’s expected of you, stimulated by the happiness that skating brings you. You don’t do that. And I’m just tired of doing everything in my power in order to balance your lack of passion out.”

“Then don’t.” His simple answer makes you scoff.

“And lose all my chances at the games? No way. This is my dream. I’ve never wished for anything more than this.”

“Then why didn’t you switch partners?”

He’s right. Why didn’t you ? You don’t look at him in the eye, you wouldn’t dare to. Because you know the answer, but never in a million years would you ever willingly face it. Not in the kind of environment you’re in right now, you can’t take it or risk it. Besides, you’ve feigned feeling nothing but resentment towards him in the past few years. What kind of delusional would you be if you even thought of him possibly liking you back ?

“I.. I don’t know. Why haven’t you ?” Counter a question by a question. Great thinking. If only his question wasn’t as frustrating as his answer.

“Because I don’t know what I’d do without you. You said it yourself, your determination is essential to our performances. It makes up for whatever I don’t have. We balance each other out. And admit it, our little ‘lovers quarrels’ mean too much for you to ever let them go, don’t they ?”

The proximity and the subtle flirting make your chest feel warm, even though you know it shouldn’t. You can’t let these type of doubts eat you from the inside, but you can’t help it. You just know realize that you desperately need to keep yourself in check to have a chance to step on the podium.

“You’re too tired. Did you consume anything before coming here ?” You wave him off, in a brief attempt to cover your embarrassment.

“Love.” He grins.

-

The peace between you and Oikawa seemed to have only been an interwar period, because it only took a few hours for the animosity to come back.

A conversation you weren’t even supposed to hear. That’s all it took for your heart that was beating like crazy a few moments prior to shatter, once again, just the way it did over the years with Oikawa.

“Are you sure you want to leave the team, Oikawa ?” A feminine voice speaks up. The coach, you think.

“Yeah. I can’t do it anymore, this is just a lack of professionalism at this point.” Another one speaks. It’s a man this time. Oikawa, you realize.

“You do realize you could just talk this out, right? Consider it, at least, tons of athletes have dealt with this, you know.”

“It’s.. it’s not for me I’m doing this. Sorry.”

You don’t even bother listening to the rest of the conversation. You hadn’t even taken your own warning into account, and here you were, in the cafeteria, carelessly moving your food around, without plans to actually eat any of it.

The doors from the training centre close behind you and Oikawa, and he speaks up, “So? What’s gotten your panties in a twist ?”

“Nothing is wrong! Why do you care anyway? This has nothing to do with you!” You immediately blow up, and swear you could gouge his eyes out. One second you two find yourselves flirting, the next he wants to leave the team, and for the grand finale, Oikawa suddenly cares about your mental state. You tend to find it rather funny, since his antics make up around half of the reasons for your deteriorating mental state. On the other hand, you’ve had just about enough of him stringing you along and acting as if nothing’s wrong.

“First, you have got to calm down, holy shit. Second, I care because you’re my partner, and because we’re about to compete! Tomorrow!” He seethes.

You can’t help but laugh at his lousy excuse, “I call bullshit. You’re a horrible liar. You don’t care about the Olympics, much less about me. Stop fucking around, tell me the truth.”

“You know what? Fine! I give up! I don’t care about you, and I certainly dont care about the games. Good luck winning this alone. Knew I shouldn’t have listened to the coach.” He mutters, and almost walks away, until you grab him by the elbow. He makes a move to get rid of you, but you stand your ground.

“That’s why you asked me how I was doing? Because of the coach?” You look up at him. Anger is evident in your face.

“I thought you didn’t care? Make up your goddamn mind, (y/n)! Also, that’s not what I was even talking about. Stop assuming all the time!”

For the first time since this argument started, you’re at a loss of words. You couldn’t tell him you did care, you couldn’t tell him how betrayed you felt, you couldn’t tell how you felt at all.

“So what were you talking about then? Felt bad cause you’re leaving and wasn’t planning on telling me shit?”

“Where did you hear that from ?” You can see his face get hard, and you instantly regret what you said earlier. You’ve never seen him in such a serious state. “Nowhere. Forget it.” You try to wave him off and get on your way, but he doesn’t let you. You’ve definitely struck a nerve.

“No, I won’t forget it. Where did you hear that from? No one was supposed to know about this, especially not you. So, again, where the hell did you get that from?”

“I.. I just heard you and the coach speak about it when I passed your room in the hallway on the way to the cafeteria.” However, his outburst doesn’t stop you from getting defensive as well.

“So, are you happy? Stringing me along making me think we were finally doing well, and then just leave? Got want you wanted all along, right? How much of an asshole exactly are you? And don’t you dare tell me I’m the asshole, because that’s not true and you know it. You told me we were going to stick together, and then you just go, and you- you just..” you can’t help the sobs. You feel so incredibly stupid for letting your emotions take you over, and letting Oikawa know how much he hurt you. How much power he holds over you. Now there’s definitely no chance for him to genuinely try tomorrow, or even win. He’ll be too busy despising and avoiding you.

“Look at me. Come on, look at me.” The brown haired boy looks down at you, craddling your face with his hands.

“Cut the bullshit,” you sob, “I’m not falling for it anymore.” You tear his hands off your face.

“I’m not bullshitting you. I swear, god, I am not leaving the team, I did not mean to string you along, and I don’t hate you. At least not anymore.”

“So you did hate me!”

“So did you!”

“No I didn’t! You are such a moron, I can’t believe you. I like you. When I was twelve, when we first met, you remember the bad lift we did? Do you remember the way I looked at you back then? You thought treating me like shit was gonna be all it took for the feelings to magically disappear?”

“I can’t believe you’re calling me a moron when you’re truly not any better.” He says, and carefully cradles your face again. “Because I liked you, too.”

“You suck.”

He grins, and leans in. This time, you don’t fight him. You invite him in, and when he finally locks lips with yours, the fireworks are blowing up in your stomach. You throw your arms around his neck in an attempt to draw him close than you both already are, and his hands make their merry way to your waist. You could stay like this forever. Your brain goes haywire, and when Oikawa slightly pulls away, you can’t help but feel disappointed that it’s already over.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be many more to come,” Oikawa chuckles, in response to your obvious insatisfaction.

“I’m still mad at you for being an asshole for so long just because you were too pussy to tell me you liked me.” You point at his chest.

“Sorry, couldn’t resist the possibility of an ennemies to lovers with you.”

-

“Second place, (Country name), Oikawa Toorū and (y/n) (l/n)!”

Second place. It’s not what you wanted. You should feel sad and disappointed, but you’re not.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t win first place.” Oikawa murmurs. You let your foreheads touch, and whisper in reply, “I don’t mind. There’s always next time. Besides, even if I didn’t get first place, I got something else that I like way better.” Before your lips get to touch, however, a camera flash goes off, blinding the both of you, and you hear a few teenage girls in the bleachers whine.

“He’s taken now?” One of the girls indiscreetly whispers, and another one responds, with the same obvious disappointed tone, “I guess..”

You can’t find it in yourself to care. Looks like winning isn’t just about first place after all, because even if you haven’t won, you still feel more victorious than you ever have before.

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

[familyvideostevie]

𝟭𝟮 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀: 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 

day eight: ice skating with eddie | fluff, 1.3k 12 days of christmas masterlist

It's Eddie who convinces you that it's a good date idea. 

"I'll hold your hand so you don't fall," he assures you when you arrive at the ice skating rink. It's pretty large, put up by some Hawkins community organization on a patch of land that is usually baseball field. The siding looks a little haphazard, sure, and you have to bring your own skates -- Steve lent you both some pairs he found in his garage -- but everyone is laughing and the sun is shining despite it being bitterly cold and you like the idea of holding Eddie's hand for a few hours. 

"Why didn't we ask any of the kids to come, again?" you ask as you plop down on a bench to lace up your skates. They're a little big but you're wearing two pairs of socks. 

"I'm getting real tired of Henderson making gagging noises every time I kiss you," Eddie grumbles. You suspect he just doesn't want to fall on the ice in front of his younger friends. Your boyfriend is goofy, kind, and intimidating all at once, but he's got his moments of pride. You lean over and press a sloppy kiss to his pink cheek. 

"That's rich coming from him," you say, finishing your laces and tying them in a double-knotted bow. "Considering he and Suzy talk for hours. I mean, seriously, what is there to talk about?"

"We talk for hours," Eddie says, pouting. You lean close, his curtain of hair tickling your cheeks as he finishes his own tying. 

"No, we spend hours together but talk for a little and then make out and maybe have sex and then take a nap and then talk again." Eddie laughs, a booming, obnoxious sound that attracts attention but makes you smile. You curl a hand around his knee. 

"And it's a damn good routine," he says. "Alright, let's tear up this ice, huh?" He stands from the bench and immediately wobbles a little. You reach out to grab his arms but he's still grinning. "Just checking that you're paying attention," he says.

"Yeah, sure." You roll your eyes and grab his hand tightly before you shuffle to the edge of the rink. "Don't let go of me, okay?" you ask him. There are a few kids racing around the rink like they were born on it, some other couples moving along slowly, and a few teenagers actually doing jumps. You're more than a little intimidated even though you know you can skate. 

"Wouldn't dream of it, sweetheart," he says as he steps off of the plank boards and onto the ice. "Shouldn't be too hard, right? You just push--" Eddie overshoots his push, or he trips, or something, but he almost drags you down and you haven't even moved. 

"Eddie," you gasp. "Let's switch sides, okay?" You deftly skate around him so that he's able to hang on to the edge of the rink and he looks at you with wide eyes.

"How the hell did you do that?" he asks. 

"Do what?"

He waves his free hand in the air and sputters. "You just...you skated! I thought you hadn't skated before!"

"That's not what I said," you mumble, grabbing his hand out of the air and holding it firmly. "I said I hadn't skated herebefore. I used to skate on a pond near my house when I was a kid, though."

"Jesus Christ," he mutters. "Okay, well you make sure I don't fall, then." 

You show him how to make ovals with his skates, feet going apart then coming back together, which takes you about halfway around. He eventually lets go of the barrier and starts to naturally push off without thinking about it. 

"You're a pro, Munson," you tell him. "Quick learner!" His face is pink and you're not entirely sure if it's from the chilly air or your praise. Probably a bit of both. 

"I can't believe actual children are skating circles around us," he says. "I really didn't think it would be that hard."

"Well, you have other skills," you assure him. You tuck in close to his side and bring your lips to his ear. "Plenty of other skills. I mean, we both know what those hands can do."

What happens next seems to go in slow motion. He smirks at you and opens his mouth to say something but his skate hits a pockmark in the ice and his eyes widen before you realize what's going to come next. He waves his arms in the air and careens backwards, thudding on the ice so hard you wince. He sprawls on his back and you're worried that he hit his head.

"Fuck," he hisses, eyes closed, and you're on your knees next to him in a flash. People continue to skate around you but you know if he's really hurt they'll stop to help you. 

"Eddie!" you say, hands on his chest. "Eddie, are you okay?" You're panicking needlessly, but you can't help it. Eddie seems to get hurt constantly, from welts when a guitar string snaps to pinched skin and blisters from his work at the garage, and you hate it. You want to encase him in bubble wrap and tuck him safely away so the world stops being hard on him. 

He inhales once and you feel his heartbeat on your palm. "Yeah," he groans, then his eyes pop open and he grins. "Hey, you look really pretty from this angle." His ringed hand comes up to bump your chin and you sigh exasperatedly. 

"Did you hit your head? It sounded like you fell hard." He shifts so that he's sitting up, the hand that tapped your chin moving to rest heavy on the side of your neck. You feel the cold from the ice start to seep through the knees of your jeans. 

"Nah, I don't think so. You look cute when you're worried, though." If he didn't compliment you all the time you'd be concerned he was concussed. 

"You're giving me wrinkles, Eddie Munson," you tell him sternly. He gets on one knee and you slowly, carefully pull him up. 

"Just don't worry so much." He doesn't look sorry at all for your suffering. 

"It's not that easy!" you huff. "You're my boyfriend and you have a propensity to hurt yourself and you clearly can't skate for shit."

He smiles at you and pulls you in to press a kiss to your cheek. "Big word, sweetheart. Propensity." His lips are warm on your skin and his tone makes your stomach flip.

"Let's get off this rink before you actually injure yourself." You wrap an arm around his waist and slowly guide him back to the little door to the planks. 

"It did kinda hurt, actually," he says. "My ass is sore."

"And what do you want me to do about it?" you grumble. He pinches your hip and you yelp but keep you both upright.

"Oh, you know what I want you to do about it," he says softly, right against the shell of your ear. 

"That's enough from you, Munson," you say. He laughs and you smile at the sound like you always do. Eddie's laugh is warm, genuine, and contagious. You're so close to the exit when he tugs on a lock of your hair. 

"Hey, hold up," he says. You want to get him off the ice but you bring both of you to a stop. 

"What?" you ask. 

He turns you so you're looking directly at each other and he snakes his hands up to cup your face. "Sorry for scaring you," he says. 

"Are you really?" 

"No," he says. "But still." You sigh. "How about a kiss, huh?" he asks you. 

You roll your eyes at his boyish behavior but lean in and he kisses you softly, sweetly. And then it becomes less so, his tongue tracing the seam of your lips and then you part them and he --

He almost falls, taking you down with him. "Jesus Christ, Eddie!" You manage to right both of you and smack his chest lightly. He laughs again, but you keep a frown on your face. "Off the ice, now. Or...no more kissing!"

He's suddenly very serious about getting off the rink. 

thank you for reading <3 reblog, send feedback, masterlist here!

[macaroni-rascal]

Oh I am watching everything and taking names. Nobody is safe from my fashion takes this weekend, I don't have to work until Tuesday. I could go back and cover whatever I missed if you guys want, was it only the pairs SP?

The women's event was such a struggle in the outfit department. Before I say anything, I'd just like to emphasize that I'm not dragging the girls themselves, most of them are teenagers and we all know what they go through in this fucking sport. No, who I have beef with is the grossly overpaid adults in their lives who are advising them or even outright controlling what they do and wear. I might have to do this in 2 parts, we'll see.

Seoyeong Wi, sigh. There's a reason no one has managed to make a truly successful P&P 2005 program when even Marina tried - the soundtrack is too short and too specific to the scenes (as any good soundtrack should be). They just played a light and bright piece before a tense and very much period-sounding one and called it a day, no transition, no nothing. A composer would have to sit down, deconstruct and have an orchestra re-record a bespoke P&P program for it to work. The dress, while okay, had nothing to do with the theme, and muted neutrals just don't look great against the cool white of the ice and the harsh TV lighting.

Nini, my long-suffering child. Her mom better pray our paths never cross. Wildly inappropriate music choice and opening pose for a 16yo. The outfit I can only describe as goth Coachella. Great body alignment and mechanics into the elements but knowing the expense at which it came kinda ruins it for me. I hope she can be free and fly away one day soon.

Clare - yet another Tammy victim. Why is the V in the front of the dress so sharp and deep when the one on the back is much softer and rounder? What are those bedazzled flowers at the hip and why do they exist? Why the second strap across the hips? The dress is a strawberry macaroon, it does anything but elongate her lines, and the music is equally saccharine. They should've kept her in junior.

I'm so proud of Mana's dress for surviving that tiger attack to be here. No, but seriously, who did this? The color isn't the worst but paired with the black edges and the not-quite-matching mesh, it's a hard miss. Don't even get me started on the music - she was skating through it, not to it, and disappointingly, this wasn't the only case of electronic music that would be playing at a daytime DJ gig in a riverside cafe in any major city in the world rn. It only made sense after I saw her coach wearing a crocheted blanket over a checkered tablecloth.

Hana - god help me. I actually thought the cut was great, it really flattered her figure, but why that color, why that pattern, and most importantly, why the randomly placed black straps? Ka2sh straight to jail for the music choice too, did she even listen to the lyrics? Bury this song next to Big Spender, if you ask me. We've seen so many programs trying to replicate the success of Wakaba's Energia and just falling flat, just give up already, none of you are Shae-lynn or Wakababy.

It's awful that I knew Mone was skating to Dark Eyes as soon as I saw her in the warmup. The top of the dress is at war with the bottom, the sleeve length is truly random, and why are we doing a Russian song this particular season? The top is overbeaded like last year and I was worried it would rip under the arms every time she lifted them. I like the shape, movement and length of the skirt but it's all just sooo outdated, I'm literally begging these coaches to not underserve these talented girls like this.

I'll be back with Part 2 after I put myself through the men's event.

Fasionista nonny!

Agreed on you caveat, I have gotten lots of weird/angry messages from people when I criticize anything about young women's skaters under the guise of 'they are just kids' as if I am attacking them personally just because I think their jump technique is bad.

I think one day a 2005 Pride and Prejudice program will be possible, the music cut just has to be right, as you said. Clare 100% should still be juniors, she wasn't ready for this. I did not understand the Mana dress or music choice, she is not performing to it, the movements don't match the music, there was a weird dissonance on the ice the entire program, she just had a bland smile on her face the whole time. I actually liked Mana's dress, I just wish there was no blue on the bottom, that was weird, should have just made it simple black.

[greer-morgan]

Greer finished up with her own laces, pulling them tight to keep the ankles of the skates stiff like they'd been told by the teenager working the rental counter. When she was done tying them, she stood, pulling out a pair of gloves that were stuffed inside her pockets and slipping them on. "Jus' kinda hoist yourself up and hobble around 'til you make it to the ice, I guess," Greer answered with an easy shrug. This didn't seem like it was supposed to be the hard part yet.

She reached for Mahlon's hands that were already stiff from the cold. "Did you not bring gloves?" She asked, wrapping her fingers more tightly around his-- partially to warm them and partially so she could be a counter balance while he stood up. "I ain't sharin' mine 'less yours start turnin' blue," she protested a request Mahlon hadn't made. They walked together, Greer laughing at the two of them practically waddling the whole walk from the bench to the rink. If they hadn't been holding on to each other, there was a good chance either one of them would've been on the ground before they ever even touched the ice.

Greer stopped where the door to the rink was open, watching a gaggle of kids step on and take off at full speed. "Okay, so, how hard could it be?" She asked, gesturing to one of the kids who couldn't have been older than six or seven and was already skating laps. Her confidence was short lived, though. As she stepped out on the ice, her skates moved unexpectedly in opposite directions. Her one hand flew out to grab the wall, while the one closer to Mahlon wrenched into the fabric of his giant coat to keep herself from falling. "And apparently it's real fuckin' hard," she scowled.

"Yeah, I'm jus' gonna bop back to Twelve; grab a coat--" he called, slipping up the stairs. When Mahlon appeared a moment later, he was wrangling one on. He was of the opinion that clothing shouldn't have sleeves, so having to wear the clothing-equivalent of a down quilt made him feel like a goose. "After you," he muttered, waddling into the elevator.

If he thought trying to walk around in a big-ass coat was bad, Mahlon had no idea what fresh hell awaited him when it came to bending over trying to tie skate laces in one. He was pink in the face, tongue between his lips, brows furrowed with focus as his frozen fingers tugged the laces taut. "So, uh, how the fuck do ya get up from here?" he asked, and despite his uncertainty, there was a wide grin on his face knowing they were a pair of fucking dumbass fools.

[xiaq]

Like Real People Do is now published with NineStar press!

You can buy it from any of these ebook sellers.

You can get a print copy (warning, pricy) from Amazon or Barnes and Noble or whatever your favorite local bookstore is.

The cover is illustrated by fandom's own @it-is-ineffable who did an absolutely stunning job.

And here's the blurb if you missed it the first time:

Nineteen-year-old hockey phenom Alexander Price is the youngest-ever captain in the NHL. With a polarizing social media presence and a predilection for dirty play, he typifies the stereotype of young, out-of-control athlete. But away from the cameras, Alex is a kid with an anxiety disorder and the expectations of an expansion franchise on his shoulders. And maybe he tries too hard to fit the part of asshole playboy, but it’s better than the alternative; in his line of work, gay is the punchline of an insult, not something he can be.

Eighteen-year-old vlogger Elijah Rodriguez is a freshman in college recovering from an injury that derailed his Olympic figure-skating dreams. Mixed-race, disabled, and out of the closet since he was fourteen, Eli is unapologetically himself. He has no qualms about voicing his disapproval of celebrity jocks who make homophobic jokes on Twitter and park their flashy cars in the handicapped spaces outside of ice rinks.

After an antagonistic introduction, Alex and Eli’s inexplicable friendship both baffles and charms the internet. But navigating relationships is hard enough for normal teenagers. It’s a lot harder when the world—much of it disapproving—is watching you fall in love with your best friend.

And here's another reminder that my (totally free) Substack is here .

Edit: I got a notice from AO3's Policy & Abuse committee that they received a complaint about LRPD promoting a commercial product. I thought as long as I didn't include direct links to a commercial product I was good, but apparently, I can't even say the word "published" without breaking the rules. Whoops. So if you came from AO3 confused, sorry for the super vagueness!

[taeyamayang]

hello i am joining your 1k event :) i choose manjiro sano from tokyo revengers. the numbers i choose are 7, 23, and 4 thank you 🦩

a/n: thanks for joining! and i apologize in advance 😭

• manjiro sano ; friends to lovers

• "ice skating sounds like a cute idea for a first date with lots of hand holding, but not if they both can’t actually skate and are lying more on the ice than anything"

• major character death

---

one, two, one, two...

your mind automatically counts in rhythm. you cannot possibly forget the time that this repetitive pattern saved you from hitting your head against the cold ice.

or did it?

manjiro sano, the tough infamous fighter in town, asked you out after months long of exchanging looks; sharing couquettish smiles like teenagers when you're halfway through 20s. it was stupid, as draken used to say, that you wasted days of keeping your feelings to yoursleves instead of confessing right away when it's clearer than day that you like each other. and when he finally did, he uttered the most unexpected date idea.

"how about we skate?" the moment the words leave his mouth his face grow warm. he continues, looking away briefly. "there's one near the mall. i think they had it decorated for winter."

"sure." you say through a bashful smile which rendered mikey to shoot a glance at you, eyes sparkling against the grey sky. he didn't expect you to agree at once. needless to say, he's thrilled that you liked his idea. he thought you'd laugh at him for picking a typical romantic spot that may seem out of his character. but you have your eyes on him since day one, how could you pass a romantic date with him?

you're thinking of every scenario that could go about during the date. hand holding as you both glide through the ice, hot cup of coffee and he cups your cold digits using his hand, him giving you his scarf when he figures you're cold, and a warm embrace to wrap the day. it is all you could ever think of.

but the date wasn't exactly how you imagined it.

he didn't know how to skate.

and neither you! you both look like new born penguins stumbling in your feet, arms spread outwards, and shrieking when fall on hard cold rink. he told you that he thought you knew how to skate since you said yes to his date and idea. as for his lack of skills on ice, well, he assumed it was an easy task to learn but he was proved otherwise.

still, it was romantic in your own way. it was the only time you witnessed a careless mikey, throwing his head laughing at your clumsy feet but soon gets tripped on his own too. you recall the days you saw him smile, but never this big and natural. he was having fun and so are you. since then, his happiness becomes yours.

now, with your backs against the ice and laughing at each other's pathetic state you two grace your eyes to a single spec of star glimmering in the sky.

"the next time skate again we should at least learn how to walk without falling every ten seconds." mikey says. you turn your head to peer at him, smile never washing off your face.

"you're asking me out again?" a cheeky tone coats your voice and he immediately whips his head to look at you. horror in his face intensifies as he realizes what he just said. albeit, you laugh it off.

"'course, we'll do this again." your eyes turn crescent moons as you jest. "if you don't ask me out on a second date by the of the night. i'll ask you out myself." he mirrors your grin as he nods.

"hm, let's do this again."

again...

one, two, one, two...

"mikey, i know how to walk without falling on my knees." you say into the air as you lie against the ice. the corners of your mouth quivers. "are you watching?"

you stare at a blank yonder, searching for something or someone that is long gone.

"you're unfair." the air begins to choke you as you scream. "you're so fucking unfair, manjiro!"

as a stream of tear rolls from the corner of your eyes, your chest heaves and breathing burns your lungs. you ask quietly, palms pressed to the sockets of your eyes.

"why do you have to die when i already love you?"

a/n: and i apologize again.. heh ;)

masterlist | tr.list | join the event!

[doggernaut]

A Zimbits Cutting Edge AU?

Every once in a while I see the idea of a Check, Please! Cutting Edge AU make the rounds, usually with Bitty in the role of Kate (the figure skater) and Jack in the role of Doug (the hockey player). I was thinking about it again today, and here’s how I think a Cutting Edge AU with the roles reversed could work.

First of all, let’s do away with this AU taking place against the backdrop of the Olympics. Let them be students at Samwell, as they are in canon.

Jack is an ice dancer, the son of legendary ice dancing pair Bob and Alicia Zimmermann. He has a lot of natural talent and the same tendencies toward anxiety and perfectionism he has in canon. Because of this, he’s had a hard time keeping a partner for more than a year or two.

With Jack being so focused on his career, he only attends Samwell part time and doesn’t live on campus.

Bitty is a hockey player with a checking issue. This wasn’t a problem in the rec league he played in during high school, but it’s definitely a problem now that he’s in college. He’s by far the fastest skater on the ice, but he’s at risk of losing his scholarship if he can’t get it together.

He can’t get it together.

Meanwhile, Jack’s most recent partner has quit in protest after he blamed her for their fourth place finish at the World Championships.

Jack’s parents are not pleased with him.

(Did Jack still overdose earlier in his career? Did he sleep with Kent as a teenager? These can definitely be part of his backstory.)

For some reason Bad Bob (he can still have his nickname even if he was an ice dancer) is at the rink on campus and his pal the hockey coach tells him they’ve got this kid who is going to be dropped from the team. It’s a shame, because he’s going to lose his scholarship, but good skating will only get you so far.

He’s a good skater? Hmm. This gives Bob an idea. If this Bittle kid is as talented as they say he is, it shouldn’t be too hard to teach him to ice dance. And if he agrees to partner Jack for the upcoming season, well, perhaps the Zimmermanns can see to it that he has enough money to finish college.

(Let’s pretend this is a world where two men can partner each other in international figure skating competition.)

Bitty definitely does not want to ice dance. He worked hard to get where he’s gotten in hockey, and his father is finally proud of him. What will everybody in Georgia say when they find out he’s ice dancing? They’ll say it’s what they always expected from the little gay kid who got locked in a supply closet overnight.

But it’s ice dancing or going home to Georgia to his old part-time job in the Publix bakery, and Bitty really wants to finish college, so he reluctantly agrees to meet this Jack Zimmermann.

Their first meeting does not go well. Bitty brings pie, Jack refuses it. Bitty is fast but clearly has no idea what to do in figure skates. Jack tells him to get with the program or go home.

Bitty very nearly does go home.

But this is a Check, Please! AU, and also a Cutting Edge AU, so that doesn’t happen. Things progress the way you would expect them to, with Bitty and Jack reluctantly becoming partners, then friends, then eventually falling in love.

Do I kind of love this AU? I do, a lot. Will I ever write it? Maybe?

[moonlightsweatheart]

Chapter Twenty-Eight - I'll catch you if you fall

"Are you sure it's a good idea ?" you ask, unsure of yourself.

"Yn, you are the one who choose to go ice skating..." Kaeya repeats you for the sixth time in twenty minutes.

You frown a little, but you also know he's right. When Kaeya asked you to choose the place you two would hangout, you didn't have any idea.

So, you did the thing that seemed the most logical in your head : you asked Ajax what Kaeya likes to do.

You never imagined you would finish on a skating ring, trying to not fall.

Well, actually you didn't put a foot on the skating ring yet. You were only going to do it right now, but you probably seemed a lot more anxious that you thought.

"Yn, are you okay ? We can go somewhere else if you're feeling uncomfortable, don't force yourself. There is a bar at the end of the street."

"No ! No, it's okay. But uh...Can you hold my hands ? You know how to skate, right ?"

He chuckles a bit, taking your hand in his.

"Yeah, obviously. You asked Ajax what i liked, so you know that i like skating."

Your face becomes as red as Diluc's hair as you realise that Kaeya knew you choose this place for him.

"Sorry but Ajax can't keep his tongue. He told me you were stressed about not chosing something i'd like. I should have told you that anything would be fine by your side."

The warm of your cheeks doesn't go away.

"But since we're here anyway...I'm going to learn you how to skate. Just take my hands and trust me, alright ?"

You nodd, taking his hands for good and placing a first step on the ring.

Your leg lean too much forward and you let out a little scream.

"Yn, if you scream each time your foot advance a little too much we're gonna have problems. I told you to trust me, i'll never let you fall."

"You're saying that as if you can control if my body falls or not..."

"I'll phrase it otherwise then. I'll catch you if you fall, not matter what."

These words seem to reassure you a lot as you take a second step on the ring.

"Perfect, you're doing great already. Just hold my hands and keep your feet straight forward. Don't be afraid of rushing into me, i can amortize the choc."

Step by step, you start to make your way on the ring. Children, teenagers and adults spin around you two but Kaeya makes sure you never bang into them.

He helps you to stay up, not letting you fall, just like he said.

"We're going to get faster, yeah ?"

"What ? Uh no, no, no !"

"Come on, it'll be fun ! Just follow my lead."

He smirks before letting go of one of your hand and speeds up the rythme. You hold tighter on his hand as you have a hard time staying up.

But Kaeya seems to enjoy the moment and you don't want to break it to him, so you shut your mouth and try to follow him.

That, until you finally break and loose his hand. You start to fall and expect it to hurt but nothing.

"Are you alright ? I'm sorry i shouldnt have speed up like that..."

He caught you. Exactly like he said.

"Thanks...for catching me."

"I told you. But are you ok ? For real Yn."

"I'm cold as hell but otherwise it's ok. We can stay a little more."

"Hm, no, there is too much people. We'll come back another time, when there will be less people, so i can actually teach you something instead of just guiding you."

He smiles at you and take your two hands again before making his way to the exit of the skating ring.

"We're done for this time." He says to the man keeping the equipement. "They're too cold."

The man smiles at Kaeya then look at you.

"There is a bar with coffee and hot chocolate down the street, if you want. I heard it's really good."

"Thanks for the suggestion. Do you want to go there, Kaeya ? You told me about it before."

"Yeah, of course."

.

.

.

"I'm sorry we didn't stay long because of me..."

"Why are you apologising ? We stayed on the ice for an hour and a half. That's a really good time for someone who never skated before. Plus, the time isn't important as long as every moment was fun."

"And was it ?"

His eyes look right into yours for at least 10 seconds before he answers.

"Yeah. It was really, really fun."

You don't have the time to answer before a waitress comes to take your order.

"Two hot chocolates, please."

Masterlist | Chapter Twenty-Seven | Chapter Twenty-Nine

Taglist : @orionicchaos @mayasshitposts @roguebox

[teddyhallowell]

✦ JOE KEERY, CIS MAN, HE/HIM ✦ THEODORE TEDDY HALLOWELL the TWENTY-SIX year old has been in Hidehill for his ENTIRE LIFE and was a FORMER STUDENT to Jade Parker, the missing person . Whispers on the streets are that the REGISTERED NURSE who lives in HORWICK. He is said to be EASY-GOING and GULLIBLE but I guess we’ll find out for ourselves. { MAX, 26, GMT, ANY PRONOUNS. }

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full name: theodore jason hallowell jr

nicknames: teddy, teds, tj, teej, grizz, theodore junior (if you want a smack)

faceclaim: joe keery

birthdate: may 6th, 1996

gender: cis male

pronouns: he/him

occupation: registered nurse at hidehill general (volunteer skating teacher at the local rink)

neighborhood: horwick

sexual orientation: bisexual disaster

relationship status: single

height: 6'2"

TRAITS: EASY-GOING, CHARMING, VAIN, LOYAL, GOOFY, BRAVE, SELF CONSCIOUS, GROUNDED, DISORGANISED, JEALOUS, BLUNT, OBLIVIOUS, GUARDED, ADVENTUROUS, SELF-SUFFICIENT, CLINGY, RECKLESS, AIMLESS, FACETIOUS, FAIR, HONEST, OVERPROTECTIVE, ARROGANT, WOOLLY, SELF-SABOTAGING. 

hidehill born and raised, teddy is the second eldest of four kids. full of sunshine from the moment he appeared and at his most happy when surrounded by other people. 

when he turned ten his then fifteen year old brother, luke, died in a quad biking accident while on vacation with his friend from high school. 

once luke died the family slowly started to fall apart at the seams. big theodore quit his position as the chief of the local fire station and started to take long-haul jobs crab fishing or on oil rigs to get away from the house full of memories. his ma went to bed one day and didn’t get up again for the next eight years, like a zombie when she could peel open her eyes.

teddy shouldered the burden. he showered his younger siblings every morning, made them breakfast, got them to doctors appointments and ran the house though they hated him for acting like a parent when he wasn’t. though he always showed up for the younger two, he wouldn’t do the same for himself and nearly got kicked out of high school a few times for his acting out and ditching. 

miss parker was one of the few teachers that called him on his bullshit and actually wondered why he was falling asleep in her class and skipping lunch. had a huge puppy love crush on her at the time and doodled her name in hearts in his notebooks. she was also instrumental to him working out that he has dyslexia during his senior year.

theo is used to being completely reliant on himself and appreciates but isn’t the best at accepting help. has come to terms with the fact that passing on his scholarship was one of the worst things he ever did and that he’ll probably never make it out of hidehill. 

tj hates being alone more than anything and doesn’t really know who he is when he’s by himself. teddy tends to just mirror what he thinks people want from him and is easily taken advantage of because he’s always giving and giving. 

worked doubly hard to qualify as a nurse and is genuinely good at what he does, has an excellent bedside manner. (offers under the table medical care to those without insurance/in dangerous situations)

takes too many shifts at the hospital because he can’t stand the sound of an empty house, can’t stand having no one left to take care of. 

talented offensive ice hockey player, had dreams of going pro in minor leagues when he was a teenager but he had to work until his siblings left home. still skates all the time and often takes volunteer shifts at the rink to teach people how to ice skate. 

plays the bass and used to have a band in high school that inevitably wound up going nowhere. 

seeming happy-go-lucky to those around him and able to “i’m fine.” his way out of answering questions or by deflecting back to the other person, teddy is viewed generally as a good time and pretty untroubled to the reams of acquaintances that would slap him on the shoulder after a game in high school. 

has a rescue dog, a bull terrier mutt with three legs named spud who he loves more than anything. always wears a daisy yellow neckerchief. 

drop me message for plots and we’ll figure something out!

loose summary of relationships plotted in his connections tab, sorry to those on mobile ://

[dreamescapeswriting]

BTS Reaction | Future Daughter Visits You [Request]

A/N: Follows alongside the first one I did where the son visits the member, you can find that HERE 

SEOKJIN:

"After all the lectures you've given me over the years," You heard someone scoff, you slowly lifted your head from your desk to look at whoever was sitting in your dorm room. There was a girl around your age sitting there with a bag of popcorn in her hands, 

"What?" You mumbled, wiping the drool off your cheek wondering who she was and why she looked strangely familiar to you as she continued to watch you. 

"Who are you?" You shook your head looking around to see if she was just one of your roommate's sisters or something but none of them appeared to be home, 

"Your daughter. My brother came to see dad and I decided I wanted to see you, I can't believe you lecture me for staying up late to study when you're doing the exact same thing," She scoffed but you only frowned more as she claimed to be your daughter and that she'd come to see you,

"I think you must be confused, I don't...I don't have a daughter," She started laughing while nodding her head, 

"Of course, not yet anyway. Not for another-" She looked over at the calendar and laughed, 

"Six years, then I'll be with you," She smirked looking at her watch as an alarm began to go off, 

"I've got to go but dad will be at the door in like four seconds so you might want to go and brush your teeth really quickly!" She yelled right before a flash of green light happened and she was gone, nothing but the bag of popcorn she'd been eating left behind as you tried to wrap your head around what just happened. 

"Y/n?" You jumped when you heard the door to your apartment open and Jin appeared holding snacks and drinks for you. Dad? Jin...You and Jin had a family in the future?

YOONGI:

Right as you were about to walk into Yoongi's studio there was a teenage girl standing outside the door looking around nervously, 

"Hi? Are you looking for someone?" You asked softly thinking she might have been lost but as soon as she looked at you she jumped, 

"No! Yes! No?" You frowned as she questioned herself, 

"Well, I can help you look if you want...Is it your dad? Brother? Uncle?" You glanced around to see if there were any staff members she could have been related to but she kept nervously looking back at the door behind her which was Yoongi's room, 

"Did you sneak in to meet Yoongi?" You laughed softly as she shook her head, 

"My brother is in there, I just- I wasn't expecting to meet you...I told him we didn't have to come but I just-" She stopped speaking as though she was taken back at the sight of you, 

"I never thought I would see you this young, mum it's great to meet you," She hugged you tightly as you frowned at the way she called you mum, you patted her back. 

"Did you hit your head? Do you want me to call a nurse?" She shook her head as she snuggled into your chest, 

"No, it's fine. It doesn't matter just...You and dad are so happy now and in the future, we wanted to come back and well...Dad grounded him so we used the time machine to come and see you guys," You blinked at her not knowing you were believing it or if you were just so sleep deprived you were seeing and hearing things. 

"Right...Well, I'm going to go into the room now," You mumbled opening the door to see a teenage boy with Yoongi,

"I didn't know you had a friend-" You were cut off when the boy turned to look at you, he was almost the spitting image of Yoongi,

"I was just leaving, have fun." The boy got up and headed to the door, you stared over at the girl who hit him over the back of the head, 

"That's dad," She mouthed before dragging her brother by his ear lobe out into the corridor, 

"Weird." You mumbled sitting down on the sofa.

HOSEOK:

After getting back from your date with Hoseok you smiled to yourself, falling down onto your sofa with a giant smile across your face. 

"Dad's right, that smile is contagious," You sat up and stared over at the kitchen to see a teenage girl pouring milk into a bowl, 

"How did you get into my apartment?" Your voice cracked and the girl smiled, 

"I know about the spare key under the frog outside, you told me it was where you kept money too, you should be careful what you tell your kids mum. I mean who knows when we're going to come back from the future to steal you cash," You blinked at her and then touched your head, maybe you'd bumped your head when you were ice skating on your date. 

"Don't worry, you and dad go on another date soon, it just takes him a week to call you because he's so worried, but don't give up on him." You tried to question what she was talking about when she mumbled a bunch of curse words, the next thing you knew was the bowl she was eating from was on the floor and the spoon was clanging around on the side, 

"What. The. Fuck." You mumbled as you got up to clean up the mess, wondering what had just happened.

NAMJOON:

"Careful! You might fall!" Someone yelled as they steadied the ladder that you were standing on, you looked down to see a teenage girl smiling up at you. 

"Hi, thanks." You laughed as you climbed down, holding a box of books you were attempting to unpack up onto the top shelves, 

"Maybe I should call my friend Namjoon to come and help me, it's too tall for me." You laughed nervously, taking the box over to the counter and asking if the girl needed anything but she was playing around with a watch on her wrist, 

"I put the stupid thing wrong, I meant to add another two years on." You frowned watching her struggling around with it before she smiled in achievement, 

"You're not going to remember a word of this so this doesn't matter, hi mum. You and dad will start dating in about six months so stop calling him your friend, Namjoon will walk through that door in like two seconds." The girl pressed something down on her watch and a flash of green happened in front of you before the bell above the door sounded, then everything was gone and you couldn't remember what you had just been doing, 

"Joonie? Here, can you help me?" You called out as your best friend walked into the shop.

JIMIN:

"Hey, Jimin didn't tell me he had a sister," The girl in front of you froze as she slowly put down the photograph she was holding and turned to look at you, no one was supposed to be home she'd come back to this date thinking it would be safe so she couldn't be seen. 

"Hi, I'm Y/n...Your brother's girlfriend, he said he introduced me to everyone but I guess he forgot you," The girl laughed nervously as she shook your head, not taking her eyes off you as she teared up a little. 

"Sorry...You're just...You're so beautiful, dad is always telling us how pretty you were." You frowned at her as she used past tense and mentioned her faster, 

"Your dad is too kind, I can't believe Jimin never introduced us-" You stopped speaking as she suddenly wrapped her arms around you, hugging you so tightly you couldn't move. 

"Oh, Hi." You laughed hugging her back as she cried against your arms. 

"Everything okay? Are you having boy troubles...I can beat them up if you want? Maybe you can talk to me about it?" She shook her head before glancing up at you, 

"I just...It's weird seeing you at this age, it's nice but weird." You frowned before nodding along with her, the front door to Jimin's house opening as he called out your name, 

"I'll be right there! Hey I just met your-" As you were about to say sister she was gone, leaving you alone with an empty head wondering what you had been doing on the landing.

TAEHYUNG:

Taehyung walked away after asking you out on a date and you couldn't help but smile uncontrollably, 

"You know he's always going to be crazy about you, it's quite cute to see how you guys interacted before you were my mum and dad," You turned to see a teenage girl watching you from the doorway of the studio you were standing in, 

"Mum and dad? What's this? A joke?" The girl shook her head, 

"My brother convinced Taehyung to finally talk to you so I decided I wanted to see your reaction in person, I've heard all the stories but having a front seat is so much better," It was hard to make sense of what she was saying, 

"What are you talking about?" 

"You're my mum, Taehyung is my dad...You guys end up together, live happily ever after and all that," A flash of green happened behind her and a teenage boy was standing there waving at you, 

"We have to go, dad found out we were using the machines again," 

"Bye mum," They said in unison before vanishing without another word, you stumbled backwards and leant against the desk you were near for support. 

"Mum?" You mumbled as you rubbed your temples.

JUNGKOOK: 

"This isn't going to last forever, Taehyung forgives you both." You stared over at the teenager that was sitting in your living room, you were surrounded by tissues and empty ice cream tubs having just cried your way through a breakup with Taehyung. You told him you were in love with his best friend and he didn't seem to take it so well, not that you blamed him. 

"Whoever you are, can you just leave?" She handed you a tissue and you took it, wiping your eyes as you thought back on everything that had happened that morning. 

"Just try to stay positive...Taehyung comes around to the idea of you guys and you and Jungkook end up very happy together, trust me." You had no idea why you were trusting someone who was in your house who you'd never seen before a day in your life but you nodded your head, thanking her for the tissue before thinking on the idea that you and Jungkook had a future together.

Tagline: @lyoongx @mitzwinchester @rjsmochii @taestannie​ @kneel-begyourpardon​ @sw33tnight​ @sweeneyblue1​ @innersooya​ @agustdjoon​ @jin-from-the-block​ @acciocriativity​ @mwitsmejk​

[wri0thesley]

May I request some La Squadra childhood headcanons (upbringing/family/habits/demeanor) :)) Maybe Mista and Abbacchio too if it’s not too much trouble since we already saw a bit of baby Bruno and it made me so curious about the other two! I always imagined Abbacchio to be a bit of a teacher’s pet as a kid lol. Your writing brings me life tysm!!!!

warnings for abusive family, human experimentation, misogyny, illness, hospitals, death, etc! 

Risotto’s family did not care much about him. He’s the middle child of five - they grew up in a rural part of Sicily, in a house that used to be a farmhouse but was merely a house by the time Risotto came along (aside from a flock of chickens constantly in the gardens). He had a traditional Italian family full of people - various aunts, uncles and cousins - but his cousin was his favourite, seeing in Risotto’s quiet nature something similar to his own. Risotto was uncomfortable with there being too many people around and found his home life cramped and uncomfortable and loud. At the local village school he was often hunted out for games of sport (his height and muscle growing in at an early age), but he shied away from making friends, not sure how to handle himself around people who shouted and laughed, envying his siblings for everything seeming so natural. He often stayed with the cousin, and it’s through them he discovered metal music and his now signature look. His parents didn’t have time for him, but his cousin always did, becoming a makeshift father figure where Risotto’s failed. He grew very attached, and as we know, his cousins death hit him hard. 

Formaggio grew up with a single father; his mother simply disappeared in the middle of the night and he never heard from her again. He was always loud, brash and cocky - his father was much the same way. They moved around from place to place, his father taking odd jobs to sustain them and never really getting the hang of them. His father was fairly young and a perpetual teenager, and Formaggio was much the same way. Despite living in occasional poverty, he always had a smile and he and his father were close to one another. He did not really make friends - other children were aware of his unwashed clothes, the fact his lunch was not made as neatly as theirs, the fact that his address was a one-bedroom apartment on the bad side of town - so he turned to acting out and violence, gaining a reputation as a Badly Behaved Child. His father fell into Passione in the need to support his son, and like father like son, Formaggio followed in his footsteps at fourteen (finding a camaraderie and sense of responsibility he never had at school and subsequently just stopping going there). 

Illuso got into Passione for the money and the power. He was an only child and he had a nice upbringing, honestly - he just found himself not special at anything, and he desperately wanted to be. He flitted from hobby to hobby and interest to interest; he was clever and he noticed things, and neither of his parents really knew how to deal with their sharp-tongued child. He was a bit of a bully at school, but not the kind that is ever found out - Illuso’s bullying was quieter than that, whispered words and rumours that never seemed to find their way back to him. He was well-acquainted with blackmail before he turned sixteen. He knew how to sniff out weaknesses in other people - he was always surrounded by people, but it was a lottery as to whether they liked Illuso or whether they just didn’t want to be on his wrong side. Always willing to volunteer for things, too confident for his own good - eventually, he stopped caring about being ‘special’ at something, and just worked on being the ‘best around him’. 

Melone’s backstory can be found here. Both of his parents were academics and lecturers in genetic science, and he’s the eldest child by eight years. His family moved around rather a lot. He has two younger sets of twins as siblings; one set of boys, and one set of girls. Growing up, his parents considered him less interesting and a little slow - he turned to science and genetics as a way to get their attention and praise; despite the fact he showed a natural affinity for it, by this time, they were far more interested in experimenting on their younger children and Melone was ignored. His nature is curious and insistent - he learnt to insist or to be ignored. He had to look after his younger siblings a lot growing up; they were home-schooled where he was not, and the strange separation of them and him and all of the children at school (Melone not quite fitting into either group) meant that he always seemed just a little off. 

Prosciutto is a mafia man through and through. His family are entrenched in old bloodlines and uninvestigated deaths - unfortunately, though, they are a family that had somewhat fallen from grace by Prosciutto’s birth. The definition of faded glamour and keeping up appearances; rooms in a big, drafty old house that have an old bed and a falling apart dressing table. His father always talked to him about how it was his and his brothers’ job to keep the bloodline going - a traditional chauvinist of a man. His mother was very quiet and pretty; she encouraged him to small interests like old music and fashion, but was always silent around her husband. He grew up knowing his life was expendable. Youngest son of two; his elder brother died within months of finally being given his assignment within Passione and honestly, Prosciutto knows his father would rather he have died. A quiet little boy who did not make friends (he had a tutor) and had too much of the weight of the world on his shoulders in the knowledge of how many of his mother’s jewels were pasteboard, where the guns were kept, and just how many people he saw regularly were murderers. At his assignment at sixteen, Prosciutto had to learn exactly how to blend in, because many of the mafiosos he was suddenly surrounded by did not appreciate what they saw as his superiority. 

Pesci was an only child of a single mother; his father passed away when he was young. He was rather sickly growing up, and it made his mother indulgent - despite growing up fairly middle class, he never wanted for anything, and they lived well beyond their means. His mother fussed over him, always afraid that he was going to have a relapse into his childhood illness - very much a child wrapped in cotton wool. It gave him his own complex about taking risks; he didn’t want to get hurt. He didn’t want to be rejected by other children. He was slow at his schoolwork but devoted to his mother, and other children saw him as a prime target to bully. He was kicked around a lot at school and it eventually made him too easy to subdue when he suddenly filled out and shot up and became a threat; found himself, too often, a henchman to more articulate, meaner children. Grateful to be accepted, he went along with the flow, despite feeling in the very core of his gut that he was disgusted by them. He ended up in Passione because his mother needed medical treatment and in trying to sort it out realised just how much debt they were in.

Ghiaccio just had a normal run-of-the-mill described as ‘average’ by everyone upbringing - both of his parents, an only child, a mother with a professional job, middle-class. His father was partially deaf - in my experience, people with deaf parents either speak very loudly or very quietly, and Ghiaccio has gone for the former. He learnt LIS at a very early age, and it’s part of the reason he can be so anal about pronunciation and language as a whole - he’s utterly fascinated by it, and that fascination started in early childhood. His parents were also indulgent of him, but having a younger brother meant that he didn’t get the full brunt of that indulgence - his brother was a little more of a ‘rough and tumble’ boy. He liked football and weights, and when he took up a sport Ghiaccio’s parents decided Ghiaccio should learn to do something too and asked him what he thought - they were surprised when he said ice skating, but figured he would go into ice hockey or something. He didn’t. For a while, he was fairly well-known in the competitive figure skating under eighteens circuit. It gave him two things; one, a competitive need to win and be good at things (and a propensity to tantrum when he lost) and two, a taste for flashy, expensive things (have you seen this man’s car). His parents eventually didn’t know how to deal with his arrogance, and he fell into Passione based on a ‘sponsor’ he ended up embroiled with at nineteen when his parents didn’t want to fund his ‘hobby’ anymore (they kept pouring resources into his younger brother, of course - Ghiaccio always felt a bit like they didn’t take him seriously). He left ice skating competitively behind, but he couldn’t leave behind the nice things or the anger issues he accrued. 

I’ve written about Sorbet and Gelato’s childhood/backstory here! But a brief, shorter version:

Gelato had a loving family and a privileged upbringing. Always enough money, always enough to eat - an only child, who perhaps was a little rowdy at school but whomst his parents were very proud of. Both of them were traditional types; thinks a man should be strong, should be the real driving force of all relationships - they were extremely proud of him going into the army. Cleverer than people tend to give him credit for, sharp-eyed, a constant humming need to be doing something with his hands. 

Sorbet was orphaned at a young age in a house fire and taken in by a church orphanage. He’s quiet but equally clever; his cleverness tends to be a little less in your face. He was a comforting presence to other people and took care of the younger boys (even now, he feels a sense of duty to some of La Squadra) - being low-voiced, soothing and commanding. He spent a lot of time reading. The church orphanage was poor; Sorbet has learnt to appreciate luxury where Gelato takes it for granted and it’s part of the reason he’s so concerned with finances even in his forties. 

Abbacchio grew up in a houseful of women. His father left when he was still young; he was . . . not a nice man, and Abbacchio has vague memories of his mother carefully applying concealer over black eyes. It’s part of the reason Abbacchio became a police officer - knowing that he was still out there, not paying for what he’d done . . . Abbacchio wanted to ensure other people did not go through it. He had a little sister (by six years) who adored him, and his grandmother (who had once been an opera singer and still had a touch of that old-time glamour). He was fairly well off; at least, after he and his mother went to live with her mother again. His grandmother was EXTREMELY indulgent of her serious pretty-eyed grandson (his affinity for opera comes from her) who wanted so hard to be a Good Man. He was made fun of as a child for being a teacher’s pet and a nerd, you’re right - he adopted being a goth and dressing like that fairly early in his life. Nobody was going to threaten to punch him in leather and black lipstick, he thought - and nobody, too, needed to know that his CD player was blasting Monteverdi and not heavy metal. 

Mista was the only child of an unreliable mother and a father who left when he was four (he kept very vaguely in touch; Mista has three little sisters who he sees occasionally but keeps quiet about his employ to. After the events of VA, he’s established a fund for each of them, but he wasn’t really permitted to see them much growing up). Even after his parents leaving and his neighbour’s loss of an eye (and the subsequent setting in of his fear of the number four), he was an easy-going child who made friends easily and smiled at all and sundry; he was never particularly book-clever, but he was good-natured and had many friends. His mother’s lack of reliability meant that he became very fond of simple things other people took for granted - when she died, he was sad, but his life did not change much. He’d already learnt to fend for himself when it came to food and the like; often coming home to an empty house and simply making do. (The lack of food in the house is part of the reason he gained such an affinity for things he saw as luxuries like wines and cheeses). He learnt to use his dark eyes and charming smile and warm nature to win sleepovers with schoolfriends and evening meals with their parents. Always a little bit behind his peers in having cool gadgets or interesting stories, Mista was content just to have a simple life and good health.