#al graziadei

[hot-glue-burns-hurt]

R.I.P. Zero and Kovy you guys would've hated the PlayStation networks being down.

[chronic-optimistt]

YOU WRITE ICEBREAKER FANFIC OMG BEST NEWS EVER!!!! also lol fo you have any other family headcannons your enjoying cureently its no big deal if you dont!

I DO!!! my user on ao3 is imdeadsirius and i’m dedicated to exclusively icebreaker fics :)) got my first little au almost finished and should be up this month! soooo excited for yall to see this one !!

Now here’s some headcanons ! I’ll share some more in the future if that’s what yall want

I’ve made a post of this before but Mickey wears a necklace with a “J” charm because he can tells everyone it stands for “James” but the real ones know it’s for “Jaysen”

Whenever Nova + Mickey don’t like someone they call them a “3-in-one” (calling them unhygienic; a user of 3-in-1 soap) ex. some asshole: “I agree with the All Lives Matter movement.” *walks away* Mickey and Nova: “what a fuckin 3-in-one”

Dorian doesn’t wet his toothbrush before brushing his teeth. he says the saliva in his mouth is enough. diabolical.

I touched on this briefly in a fic, but Cauler is a naturally good artist. He’s got doodles for days and they’re all surprisingly lovely. Sometimes he draws in the corner of the page of Mickey’s homework when he’s not looking and Mickey finds it and secretly thinks it’s so fucking cool how genuinely talented he is without even having to try

Novas a huge swiftie. Like. Huge. I mean this chick is a straight white girl with a thing for hockey boys and a canonical ao3 addiction. There’s no way around it.

^ Cauler absolutely hates Taylor Swift. Like. Rolls his eyes whenever the name is uttered. Is visibly disgusted when her music plays in a public facility. The second someone outs themself as a swiftie he’s putting at least 8 feet of space between the two of them and sanitizing his hands in fear

Mickey’s shoe size is legitimately oddly small. Like when Barbie joked that he had fetus feet he was borderline right. Bro’s a men’s 8 on a good day

Mickey falls asleep during class alllll the time but when he does in their public speaking class Celeste and Nathaniel make a game out of stuffing as many pens in the hood of his sweater as they can before he wakes up and then letting him walk around all day with pens falling out of his hood and internally confusing the fuck out of him as he wonders which of his pockets he has pens falling out of unknowingly

^ when his teammates pick up on this they start to do it during the team study sessions except instead of pens it’s like tupperware containers and tissue boxes and stress balls and instead of in his hood it’s them balancing random shit on his body so Mickey’s eventually just like got his head resting on his arm snoozin with everyone’s stuff stacked on the back of his head in a giant tower on the verge of toppling

Delilah is obsessed with asmr and it annoys the shit out of everyone because she’ll just be sitting in the corner listening to *tappy tap tap* when ppl are trying to sleep

Mickey’s mom used to tend to his hair when he was little and it now brings him so much comfort when people play with his hair. Sometimes when he’s chilling with his sisters they’ll sit behind him and take out a comb and brush it out of his face and he’s like falling asleep. The first time Cauler runs his fingers through his hair he absolutely fuckin melts. (Cauler does it a whole lot more after noticing how much he likes it.)

[seaglasstortellini]

Icebreaker was such a fun read!

[cryingoverrandomstuff]

Dude i read icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei and wrote non self insert fanfiction for the first time so it might be shit, feel free to leave advice, but like be nice alright?

Pet Names

(An Icebreaker fic about Mickey James III and his boyfriend Jaysen “Cauler” Caulfeild)

Words: 856

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Warnings: none this is a fluff fic where they kiss and I push my internal monologue onto Mickey James III, swearing, first person POV

Summary: During a rare visit from Jaycen (fuck his name is spelt annoying) Mickey is falling asleep on his chest and Jaycen unintentionally calls him “baby.” Mickey freaks out about it. (There is making out and hopefully canon typical banter)

Authors notes: like i said this is my first ever published fic, its short as fuck, and i don’t know if its in character at all, but i tried, i’m gonna post this on ao3 once i get an invite so fingers crossed that happens soon.

Its in first person perspective because that’s how the book was written.

And the only reason this isn’t smut is because I chickened out…oops i don’t really care.

Anyway please enjoy and feel free to leave WRITING advice!

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

I pull on the first hoodie I find and eagerly crawl up onto my shitty apartment’s double bed. Flopping onto Cauler’s chest in a way that doesn’t hurt him, but he smacks my shoulder for it anyway. I grunt in protest. Shifting and writhing until I'm comfortable. I bury my face into his chest, he’s always so warm. 

After a few minutes, sleep is settling over me in a rolling haze muffling every sense except the feeling of the hand Cauler snuck into my hair carding through loose curls. I realize I’m falling asleep when I try to open my eyes and find I can't…

“Baby?” 

Okay! I’m awake…

…and I think my brain just melted. 

The word was a purr on his tongue in that truthfully cruelly attractive way that I don’t think I’ll ever get over. Especially not now. 

Cauler calls me plenty of things other than my name of course but those aren't pet names, he calls me stuff like “Terzo,” or “little shit,”  and when I’m being an asshole he occasionally calls me “your grace.” And sometimes he calls me Mickey, but that's kind of limited to like…sex or when I'm having a breakdown or whatever tender shit. But “baby?“ I've never heard baby it—

 Oh shit, he wanted my attention. 

“Huh?” 

Cauler laughs at me lazily in the way that makes my cheeks warm; an honestly welcome addition to  Cauler’s quietest playlist as it screams into my bedroom’s cool night air. To be honest I’ve missed his music, I’ve missed all of him. 

“You fallin’ asleep on me, Terzo?” He hums, the nickname only working to make me remember what he’d said before I got lost in thought, *” baby”* and when I shift my head to look at him, it looks like he’s just as hung up on the pet name as I am. I ignore his words and lift my head to look at him. 

“What did you call me?” Because I’m probably hallucinating, I know I read the bottle but do antidepressants do that? 

He lifts an eyebrow cocky demeanor coming back, “What? Terzo?” 

“Don’t play coy, the other thing,” I mutter back unamused. 

“Oh, baby,” he stretches out the words in a way that makes the two syllables roll across his tongue over his piercings. He’s about to say something else but something in me jolts to kiss him muffling his reply “Mhf.” 

I regain control of my actions and pull back slowly, meeting his eyes with the electric intensity that usually comes with much more sexual situations… I guess. 

“Oh did you like that?” He badgers. 

“Shut up” I slump back into him, suddenly embarrassed. He cups my jaw and tilts my head so he can examine my face, I lean into it. 

“For someone who claims to have a ‘one emotion per week limit’ you sure are moody,” Cauler says as he kisses my head.  I grumble in response because he knows it makes me feel stupidly fluffy. “Baby fits you, though. You’re all small and whiny” he teases. 

“It does not- I am not!” 

“Yes it does and you like it too,” he pauses, “don’t you, baby?” 

Stupid taunting gorgeous asshole. In retaliation, and not at all because it was hot as fuck; I kiss him again and bite his lip, avoiding his piercing with practiced ease.

 He pulls me back by my hair. “You little shit” 

He pressed his lips against mine again taking advantage of the way his vocal cords growling when he spoke, turns me to mush.

 I give into the kiss pressing back with a slow eagerness as he licks into my mouth, breathing through our noses in increasingly labored puffs.

 Shit, I can't even remember what bothered me in the first place. 

Because his hands moved from my hair to my hips, he’s flipping me over disconnecting our lips with a grin.

 My back hits the mattress as the music hits its peak and his mouth is on mine again hot and heavy, I slide my hands up and down his shoulders. 

“Hm Baby…” I barely notice him pulling away until he brushes the hair off my forehead, he’s breathily chuckling and I manage a dazed, confused glare. “There’s nothing wrong with liking being called ‘baby’ Terzo,” I roll my eyes indignantly but the way he says it so soft and loving sends sparks up the back of my neck; “do you want me to call you that?” 

His voice is so tender it breaks down my disgruntled act and I concede nodding while making embarrassingly submissive eye contact. 

“Yeah, but, just- just when we’re alone,” I croak. The thought of being called that in public is mortifying.

 He pecks my lips, too frustratingly chaste for our previous engagements. 

“Okay, baby.” he hums, settling back down. 

So he got me all riled up for nothing huh? To prove a point. Damn him. 

But he is pulling me back into him. 

Laying on our sides now. His hand is back in my hair and my eyes are closed again. I love him, everything is so much better when he’s here. 

[chemtrailsoveroceanblvd]

“Mickey scowls. He always seems to be on the verge of scowling. “I’m only going to see Cauler do his impressions and then I’m leaving.”

awwwww i've just started reading In Repair and mickey is just a grumpy chihuahua🥺🥹🤲😽太萌了宝宝，女神还给我产品售后🥰谁又幸福了被我一口亲死

[skinnybrits]

You know it’s a good book when it makes you wet 💦 and then it makes you wet 😭

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

[perfectbananaglitter]

The Talk part 3/3

Part 1: https://www.tumblr.com/perfectbananaglitter/701297777559355392/the-talk-part1?source=share

Part 2: https://www.tumblr.com/perfectbananaglitter/703470832957210624/the-talk-part2?source=share

“-I’m sorry, they did what? Do you want me to beat someone up?”

I was expecting this reaction when I decided to tell my sisters about the bet. What I wasn’t expecting, however, was Jade threatening my teammates with her 50 kg on a good day.

I gaze at my sisters, who seem to be in a silent conversation.

Jade turns to Bailey, “Sidney and Karim will help me, right? They wouldn’t miss the chance to mess with the hockey guys. How dare they? That’s so insensitive of them. Who do they think they are? They’re supposed to have your back!” Delilah drops her hand on her thigh, trying to calm her down even a little.

“I just felt so betrayed, not even mad. It didn’t cross my mind they could do something like that. I wasn’t expecting to be welcomed with open arms like we’re heroes. I was worried they would be homophobic assholes. But I didn’t think they would have held a bet on a potential relationship months ago. They didn't even bet to know if we were together or not; No! That was a given. They bet on whether we were going to expose our relationship. Nobody doubts that at one point we’ll sleep together. The question was when, where, and how we’ll say something.

“I mean, it was insensitive of them. They shouldn’t have, and you and Jensen have every right to be mad at them and feel betrayed. But at least, now you can be all mushy with your boyfriend. You need to look at the bright side. You’ll be able to cuddle up on the bus. No more having to twist your shoulder at a weird angle to hold his hand while he’s sitting behind you. And the team won’t think you’re going to tear each other's heads off every five minutes.” Bailey tries to reassure me. She has always been the rational one.

“No, they’ll have to worry about them jumping each other every chance they get…” Jade says with a smirk.

Both my sisters make disgusted faces at the idea of their baby brother having a sex life. And I get it; I don’t want to know what any of my sisters are doing with their partners. I shake my head, trying to get rid of those terrifying images that are unfortunately forming in my mind.

I’m so lost in my fight against those ideas that I don’t realize Cauler is joining us until he’s sitting next to me, his hand on my knee, his voice whispering a hello in my ear.

I freeze for a moment, not expecting him to be here. I turn to face him, my sisters' words still ringing in my head. Cauler looks at me with concern, noticing my hesitation. "Is everything okay?" he asks, his hand still on my knee. “Nobody can see us.” I take a deep breath and nod, trying to push away the anxiety of being in public. "Yeah, everything's fine," I say, hoping to sound convincing. I smile at him and intertwine our fingers.

Cauler looks at me for a moment longer, trying to analyze my face. I can see his brain going miles an hour, trying to know if I’m lying to him. But he nods and squeezes my hand before turning to my sisters and Jade and saying hello to them.

As I watch him asking Jade questions about her latest art project, I can't help but feel grateful for Jaysen’s presence. He always knows when something's wrong and tries his best to make me feel better. I take a deep breath, trying to forget about the bet and our teammates for a while. Maybe a good meal and some company will help me clear my head. For once, I feel hungry and like I could eat the whole menu, so when the waitress arrives to take our orders, I don’t stop myself from ordering everything my heart desires.

But when Bailey asks him how he’s feeling after the bet, the previously light and nice atmosphere switches to something heavy and uncomfortable.

“Hum… I’m… Okay, I guess. It wasn’t nice of them. Terzo was really upset. I get why he was, though. They really betrayed his trust, and he doesn’t give it easily.”

My sisters share a look.

“His trust? Do you mean ‘our’ trust?”

“Hum… I guess?”

“Jaysen, darling, you do realize you were betrayed too? You don’t have to be used, but you’re allowed to. You gave the team your trust, and they broke it too. My brother is a little shit with too many feelings he doesn’t know how to deal with. So he’s a bit overdramatic. But you’re also a victim here. And I need you to tell me you realize that.”

He’s frowning, his eyebrows drawn together. His eyes are fixed on his plate, but I can’t tell he’s not really seeing it.

“Oh.”

Oh. He didn’t. He was so upset on my behalf that he couldn’t be on his own.

His face turns sad as reality hits him. I can only watch emotions crossing his features. I squeeze his hand, trying to bring him an ounce of comfort. But it’s all I can do. Knowing my boyfriend, he needs to process this new information on his own. So for the rest of the meal, he just picks at his food, smiling only when someone talks directly to him. And even then, he often asks them to repeat. He’s so lost in his own head, I can’t help but ache for him, knowing very well what he’s going through.

As we leave my sisters to walk to my room, I can sense the weight of the situation on Cauler's shoulders. Still in his own head, I guide Jaysen to the dorm where we will be able to talk if it’s what he needs. I know he's trying to process everything that's happened, and I want to be there for him. But at the same time, I'm not sure how to help him.

The walk is short. I close the bedroom door as he sits on my bed. "Hey," I say, breaking the silence between us. "I know this is all really overwhelming for you right now, but I want you to know that I'm here for you. We'll get through this together." I sit next to him, draping my arm around his waist.

Cauler looks at me, and I can see the pain and confusion in his eyes. "I just can't believe they would do something like that," he says, his voice barely above a whisper. He drops his head on my shoulder, resting his forehead, hugging me."I thought we were all friends, you know? And now I feel like I can't trust anyone. And I can’t believe I didn’t realise that. How oblivious am I ?"

"I know," I raise my hand to the back of his neck, embracing him.

Cauler, sigh and we continue sitting in silence. I can feel his sadness and frustration, and I wish there was something I could do to make it all go away. But I know that healing takes time, and all I can do is be there for him, no matter what. My therapist would be proud of me.

"I'm sorry," Cauler says, breaking the silence. "I know I'm a mess”

"Don't apologize," I say, putting my arm around his shoulder. "You have every right to feel the way you do. And I'm here for you, no matter what. And if anyone of us is a mess, we both know it’s me"

This answer does make him laugh at least a little, easing a bit of tension from this situation.

After a few minutes, Cauler lifts his head and looks at me. "Do you think we'll be able to trust them again?" he asks, his voice laced with uncertainty.

"With time, I do think so," I say, being honest with him. "They’re our friends, they’ve done something stupid and insensitive. But they didn’t mean to hurt us. And they regret it, so much. Have you talked to Zero?"

"No, I haven’t seen any of the guys, not yet.”

"You should, when you’re ready and not a second before.” I drop a kiss on his head. “I talk with Dori, it was hard, but I think it was the best thing to do.”

He nods but doesn’t move. I pull him so we can lie down together. We stay there bathing each other. We’re alone, and that’s exactly what we need. Some alone time to process what happened. And if I get to cuddle my hot as fuck boyfriend, that’s not so bad.

[story-addict]

NON-SPOILER REVIEW: ICEBREAKER by A.L. GRAZIADEI

[fortunatefires]

Icebreaker is giving me the fanfic squee, out here kicking my feet at the cuteness

[hot-glue-burns-hurt]

Rest in piece Dorian and Barbie y'all would've loved walking into Dorian and Mickey's dorm and yelling "PMO" whenever Jaysen and Mickey were in there... Just in case.

( @algraziadei )

[chronic-optimistt]

we never get to see mickey speak italian in front of any of the royals during the books but every time I think about it I just start to picture delilah storming into the dorm room when mickey+jaysen+barbie+dorian are doing their homework and start to chew mickey out in very intense italian and then he starts to respond like a little asshole and soon the two of them are just cussing each other out in a different language and the other boys are like confused out of their minds because they have no clue what the two are arguing about but it’s hilarious nonetheless and they have to try very hard to not laugh

[muttsona]

hi guys you should read my fanfic abour gay hockey players

[the-forest-library]

October 2023 Reads

Time to Shine - Rachel Reid

Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh - Rachael Lippincott

Jane & Edward - Melodie Edwards

10 Things That Never Happened - Alexis Hall

The Wake-Up Call - Beth O'Leary

Something Fabulous - Alexis Hall

Iris Kelly Doesn't Date - Ashley Herring Blake

Divine Rivals - Rebecca Ross

You, Again - Kate Goldbeck

Stars in Your Eyes - Kacen Callender

Icebreaker - A.L. Graziadei

Thin Air - Kellie M. Parker

Lock Every Door - Riley Sager

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi - Shannon Chakraborty

Are You Listening? - Tillie Walden

I Must Be Dreaming - Roz Chast

The Best of the Rejection Collection - Matthew Differ

Why Cats are Assholes - Liz Miele

Some Very Interesting Cats Perhaps You Weren't Aware Of - Doogie Horner

In the Form of a Question - Amy Schneider

Pageboy - Elliot Page

Leslie F*cking Jones - Leslie Jones

Soul Boom - Rainn Wilson

You're Gonna Die Alone - Devrie Donalson

The Other Family Doctor - Karen Fine

Misfit - Gary Gulman

Wordslut - Amanda Montell

Unruly - David Mitchell

Poverty by America - Matthew Desmond

Milk Street: Tuesday Nights Mediterranean - Christopher Kimball

Bold = Highly Recommend Italics = Worth It Crossed out = Nope

Thoughts: 

Bit of a lackluster month with few standouts and several disappointments.

Goodreads Goal: 354/400 

2017 Reads | 2018 Reads | 2019 Reads | 2020 Reads | 2021 Reads| 

2022 Reads | 2023 Reads

[brisingr-sword]

just opened up icebreaker by al graziadei for the first time and started tearing up at the dedication “to everyone who’s had to tuck away a bit of themselves every time they laced up their skates”

[skinnybrits]

January 2024 reads

Books: 15

Pages: 7,190

Average book length: 479.3

Most read author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Standouts:

Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei - the less famous (but better IMHO) hockey romance

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai - a fascinating story surrounding murder mystery podcast

A Light in the Flame by Jennifer L. Armentrout - After starting the Flesh and Fire series I was a bit annoyed that I had to intersperse it with From Blood and Ash books. But I mostly followed the author’s recommended reading order and it’s been pretty good.

What’s the best book you read in January?