#colin hughes is from ted lasso if that helps

[teddybearsandlightningstorms]

ianto jones but full of welsh independence like colin hughes

[izzyspussy]

Rating Ted Lasso Characters Based On If They'd Respect My Pronouns (Correctly)

Roy "We Stayed At GAY Til 3AM And Then We Had Crepes With Some Drag Queens" Kent: 11/10 no fucking shit. He would defend me from misgendering also, even if we weren't friends. He's the very embodiment of that guy who fought the trans guy and then fought the authority figure who scolded him for hitting a girl.

Nate "Genius (Code for Autistic)" Shelley: 11/10 are you kidding. If only quarantine had happened in his universe he'd have pronouns too. Also his girlfriend obviously already does.

Jamie "Prettyboy" Tartt: 11/10 duh. No, he doesn't know off the top of his head what part of speech a pronoun is, but only because nothing in the universe could matter less. And much like Roy, if he saw someone else being contrarian for the purposes of being a prick for absolutely no earthly reason, he would be eager to do something about it.

Keeley "Just The Tip" Jones: 11/10 did you see her. Never have I personally received more solidarity than from (butches and) full tilt Barbie Girl femmes like Keeley. She may be cis and she wears "women's" clothes, but she's still doing drag every day. She gets it.

Colin "Right by This Pink Triangle?" Hughes: 11/10 obviously. He would be so good at not making a big deal out of doing it correctly himself or correcting others, because he knows what it's like to just want to live your authentic life without being a spectacle.

Coach "You Should See Him In Drag" Beard: 11/10 which you should've guessed. Look at him. Look at him with your heart. You know he has pronouns you've never even heard of that he takes out for special occasions.

Ted "We Don't Not Care" Lasso: 11/10 why is this even a question. Practically the entirety of Ted's goals in life are to be respectful and kind and help others do the same. Sometimes that's hard and he fucks it up, but this is easy. C'mon.

Sam "Social Justice Warrior" Obisanya: 11/10 like. Obviously. I have nothing else to say, like. Obviously. Obviously.

Bumber-"Impending Class War"-catch: 11/10. If anything, given the opportunity, he would encourage me to have more pronouns.

Dani "Joy" Rojas: 11/10. These are getting very simple now, and require less and less explanation. He promotes joy. What else do you want.

Rebecca "Ask Your Daughter What It Means" Welton: 11/10. She's a cutthroat and a genuine feminist. She doesn't care if a bunch of freaks are scared of strangers' genitals, and she's certainly not going to let something so petty get in her own way.

Jan "I've Run Out of Fun Epithets For Everyone And He Wouldn't Mind This Unfun One That's Blunt About That Fact" Maas: 11/10 of course. There's no logical, moral, or social reason not to, and there is a wealth of evidence supporting gender affirming behavior.

Isaac McAdoo: 11/10. And he would (unnecessarily) instruct all the other lads to do it too. He might struggle with it at first if we had known each other previous to my transition, but not out of malice or negligence, and once he got on track he'd stay there for life.

Leslie Higgins: 11/10. He's a jazz musician with ten thousand gen Z children. He knows at least as many trans people already as any natural member of the queer community.

The Rest of The Lads: 11/10. We all know this to be true. Next.

Georgie Tartt: 11/10. Have you seen her son. She's prepared for this.

Sharon Fieldstone: 11/10. Have you seen her do her job. She's good at it.

Dottie Lasso: 9/10. Her heart's in the right place and that matters! She is inescapably Midwestern in both the good ways and the bad ways, though.

Jake: 8/10. Have you seen him do his job. He's bad at it.

Rupert Mannion: 6/10. He's a trans inclusive misogynist lmao. He also will treat correct pronoun usage as a privilege if he gets butthurt enough.

James Tartt: 3/10. He'd respect a trans man who performed masculinity to his standards, but he is definitely afraid of girlymen and women who are better than him (most women).

[tobebbanburg]

I just wanted to imagine a world where Trent writes a completely under-the-radar article for Colin’s hometown newspaper to address the rumours of him being gay without making a big deal about it.

Full article text under the cut:

At 28 years of age, Colin Hughes is something of a late bloomer. After a mediocre start to his career saw Cardiff City relegated to the Championship, the Barry native was transferred to the struggling AFC Richmond, a harsh environment for any young footballer trying to make his mark on the world. But after years of flying under the radar, Hughes is finally making himself known at both national and international levels, and one can’t help but marvel at how far this young man has come.

Hughes’s love for the sport was nurtured from a young age, here in Barry, and despite his recent success it is clear he hasn’t forgotten his roots. The modest yet respectable history of Welsh football is something that Hughes could lecture on at the drop of a hat (and indeed needs to be stopped from lecturing once he gets started), and even his favoured position as a left winger was chosen in homage to Welsh footballing legend Gary Speed, a man who still acts as an inspiration for Hughes today.

“He did wonders for our national team. He was the one who made us all believe that Wales could hold our own against the rest of the world. I don’t think we’d be where we are today without all the work he put in: now that I can, I’m doing my best to continue what he started,” Hughes says.

Hughes’s ‘best’, in this instance, has been to fund a new development program throughout Wales, offering summer bootcamp scholarships to children from underprivileged areas. One can’t help but feel that were Speed still with us, he’d be proud of what Hughes is trying to achieve, although perhaps a little bemused at lending his name to an indeterminable breed of dog that Hughes affectionally refers to as ‘Gazza’.

“Me and my boyfriend got him from the shelter last week,” he says, showing a picture of a large but scrawny dog being embraced on both sides by Hughes and his boyfriend, one Michael Chen. “We got him to celebrate Richmond’s second place in the Prem.”

Buying a dog is perhaps an unusually tame way to celebrate for most footballers, but unusual is rather how AFC Richmond operates these days. Whilst most teams would be disappointed with losing out on winning the Premier League by the slimmest of margins, many often claiming that third place is preferable to second, both Hughes and AFC Richmond are treating their status as runners up with dignity, and no small amount of delight.

“I’m not being funny, right, but if you’d told me a year ago that Richmond’d avoid relegation, let alone make it to second place, I’d’ve said you were full of ****,” Hughes says, then apologises after a gentle reminder not to swear. “It’s gutting to miss out on winning the whole thing, of course, but we’re proud of what we’ve done. And besides, it gives us something to aim for next year.”

Hughes succinctly brings us to the elephant in the room: the recent departure of Coach Ted Lasso. Whilst Lasso himself has always maintained the humble adage that Richmond’s recent success wasn’t wholly his doing, the fact remains that the club have never before performed so well over a single season, nor so swiftly reversed their declining fortunes. One can’t help but wonder what a future without Lasso looks like. Hughes, for his part, remains optimistic.

“Coach Lasso made a real difference. Not just in how we play as a team but in how we think, how we work. That kind of change is here to stay,” he says, before adding, “plus we’ve got facetime and all that **** so it’s not like he’s properly gone. I mean I could call him right now if you want?”

But what of Hughes’ future as an international player? After making his debut for Wales a little under a year ago, and with a surprise win against Uruguay under his belt from April, surely his prospects on the world stage are looking encouraging? With Gareth Bale announcing his retirement, is there a possibility for Hughes to follow in the steps of childhood hero Speed and take over as captain of his national team?

“****,” Hughes says, once again forgetting the request to forgo swearing. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I mean that’s the dream, isn’t it, but I know that any of the lads on the team’d do a great job in the role. Any one of us would bring something different to the job, so who’s to say?”

It’s modest, considered statements like these that give weight to Hughes’s earlier words of change: Lasso may have moved on, but his impact on the team is here to stay. I, for one, cannot wait to see where Colin Hughes takes it from here.

[makethatelevenrings]

Somewhere Only We Know - ONE

Chapter Warnings: goodbye earl (pet death), spoilers for 2x01 kinda??, this is a bit rushed bc it’s exposition but we get into the fun stuff next chapter

Masterlist

“Oh fucking hell.”

You hadn’t expected the first game of your new job to end like this but here you were creating Canva tribute posts for a deceased dog. Keeley directed you to make sure that you were focusing on solely sympathetic posts and honoring Earl. You had the press conference pulled up on one of your monitors to ensure you were catching what was being said along with the social media feeds.

And of course Ted Lasso did an excellent job honoring Earl. That man made your life easier.

A knock sounded on your office door and you raised your head to find Keeley peeking into your office. “You survived your first day! Better than Earl, I’d say.”

You choked back a laugh and motioned her to come in. “Christ, Keels, poor things not even buried yet.”

“Sorry, sorry. I just wanted to come see how you were getting on. Rebecca looked at the Insta with me and I have to say, your graphics are a hoot. Are you up for a task to do sometime this week?”

“Yeah, of course. It is my job, after all.”

She grinned. “Right, right. Well, Rebecca bought Barkingham Palace in honor of Earl and I would love it if you could go get some photos and videos with the dogs. They have some named after the players too! We have some little dog jerseys you can bring with you.”

“I can do that. Anything in particular you want to see?”

She bounced up onto her feet and shook her head. “Nope! Make it cute, make it fun. I know you’ll do a great job. You’re doing fabulous, babes.”

Raising your coffee mug in salute, you returned back to your work as she fled your tiny office in a wash of pink and glitter. Considering the tasks she could have given you, hanging out with a bunch of dogs wasn’t bad.

Three days later, you found yourself at Barkingham Palace with a golden retriever demanding pets and a staffie jumping up in an attempt to lick your face. You laughed in delight as dogs scrambled around you. You had successfully slid little Richmond jerseys over a few of the dogs heads and now a tiny Pomeranian was proudly sporting a Rojas jersey. A Border Collie wore a visor and whistle and you snapped a picture. You sent that one to Coach Lasso and received a GIF of a dog laughing in response.

Two Spaniels with McAdoo and Zoreaux jerseys made a great video with the way they tumbled over each other. One of the media guys you had recruited for help with capturing photos got a few shots of you being tackled by a Labrador wearing a Bumbercatch jersey.

The dogs were so cute that you even put your information down to volunteer in the future when you and Mikey, the photographer, packed up for the day. There was one little dachshund that kept following you around but there was no way you could get a dog, especially when your new job required you to travel frequently. Volunteering would help get in some well deserved snuggles.

By the time you got home, a few texts were waiting for you. Keeley asked for a few picture previews so you fired off some of the photos you had taken on your phone. One was from Higgins reminding you to swing by HR on Monday to finalize your travel waivers. Two were from unknown numbers who identified themselves as Sam Obisanya and Colin Hughes. They both sent friendly texts welcoming you to the team and you made a mental note to figure out what their favorite dessert was so you could make it for their birthdays. You sent a thank you text to both of them and sent them each a photo with a dog in their jersey.

Stripping off your fur covered clothes, your first priority was to take a shower before curling up on the couch and editing these photos for your post tomorrow. The TV played in some low drone in the background, some kind of stupid reality dating show where hot people dated and fucked like rabbits. It was mind numbing and didn’t require thought and you liked having something playing in the background as you worked.

You had a few videos already on the Instagram story from today and you went to check the engagement. Swiping your finger along the screen, you were relieved to see thousands of views and shares. People loved puppies and they loved football. If you combined the two, it was gold. One of the videos of you getting tackled by some of the loveable dogs made it in and people were loving it. Rebecca even texted you with a, “LOVE! So cute!!” so you were feeling great about your work.

Verified accounts were bumped to the top and you recognized a few of the players names. Zoreaux, Jan Maas, and a few others had viewed the stories, along with a name you didn’t recognize. Jamie Tartt. Was he the guy from that one underwear model? Or was he the Givenchy ad? You looked up at your television screen. Oh, never mind. He was the reality TV show manwhore.

Exiting Richmond's account, you changed your Instagram over to yours. There was far less engagement, but your simple baking account didn’t appeal to as many people as a football league. You loved designing different desserts, trying out recipes, and balancing out flavor combinations. Combined with your love for photography and design, you had a pretty prolific home baking account. It was the account you showed Keeley as your portfolio and now she and Rebecca both followed you. Oddly enough, Higgins did too.

Your face was rarely in the photos because you ran a one-woman show, but occasionally a friend would snap a great candid. Most of your pictures were treats, flowers, cool spots around London, or whatever you found cool. You liked showing your personality through photos and you didn’t care if your face wasn’t in there. The memories were present and that’s what mattered.

A few new followers had joined the fray and you were surprised to see some of the Richmond players among them. It wasn’t like you hid the account, but it wasn’t something you advertised as your name. Keeley must have told them.

But then there was that name again. Jamie Tartt. Why would some footballer turned reality star care about your panna cotta fails and award-winning lemon bars? Why would a guy who isn’t even playing for Richmond want to follow you, the social media manager?

Fuck it. It was too late to question the motives of some stranger. He was just another follower. Another number for engagement profiles. Maybe he was just interested in your slutty brownie recipe. Whatever, you needed to sleep so you could get to the stadium tomorrow and get these photos out.

Tag list: @shiptheship​

[dlwritings]

99% | Isaac McAdoo

masterlist found here

pairing - Isaac x Hughes!reader word count - 1,758 warnings - !! Ted Lasso Season 3 Episodes 8 and 9 spoilers !! A/N - I feel like no one reads Ted Lasso fics (or at least no one out there is writing them) but I got this thought when I watched the most recent episode and it was going to sit with me if I didn't just write it so here we are

summary - Colin needs Isaac, and as the former's twin and the latter's girlfriend, isn't it your job to step in?

Growing up, your friends did not understand how you and Colin could be so close. Sure, he was your twin, but you two were drastically different, and you knew that, but you couldn’t really explain it. Brother or not -twin or not- Colin was your best friend. You told each other everything.

Still, when he told you he was gay, you’d be lying if you said you saw it coming.

You always thought it was weird when people with gay siblings say, I always knew or I had a feeling. It’s not like Colin had a sign above him that said GAY in big bright letters. He was just Colin.

You were both 16 when he told you. He had gotten scouted by Cardiff City and was understandably nervous. You could see all the signs of his anxiety as you helped him pack to move closer to the club. It seemed like the confession had tumbled out of him, like he shocked himself by telling you. Tears were pooling in his eyes, and you just cocked your head to the side to study him for a moment. Then, you nodded and gave him an upside down smile, and shrugged. “Okay.” His eyebrows furrowed.

“Okay?” he repeated, to which you nodded.

“Yeah,” you said. “Okay. Thanks for telling me.” You tossed him one of his t-shirts to pack away and smiled. “I love you.” A tear fell from his eye, but he brushed it away quickly and smiled wide.

“I love you, too.”

Over the years, your relationship only got stronger. You ended up going to school for sports medicine and became AFC Richmond’s team physician a few years after Colin joined the team. It was nice working so closely with him, and you loved all of the players like family.

Except Isaac.

You couldn’t say you loved him like family because you were in love with him. The two of you started dating about a year into your time working with the team. You felt like your life was pure bliss. Every day you got to work with your brother -who also happened to be your best friend- and your boyfriend. Not many people were that lucky. And for a long time, things were basically perfect.

Sure, Colin had some ups and downs with the team, but with Zava gone and him starting again, things were really looking up.

And then, the hack. And Isaac found out Colin was gay.

Not only did he stop talking to your brother, but he stopped talking to you too. Your own boyfriend was ghosting you. It was like he had this need to distance himself from the whole Hughes family, and while you couldn’t understand it, Colin asked you to leave it alone.

“I don’t like seeing you like this,” you said to him, cross-legged on his bed in front of him. “I know you’re hurt.”

“Of course I’m hurt,” he said with a scoff, “but I’m not going to corner him and force him to talk to me.” He stared absentmindedly across the room. “Isaac could kick my ass if he wanted to.”

“He would never.”

“But he could,” Colin said with a wag of his finger. “And that, little sister, is the problem.”

You rolled your eyes and shoved his shoulder. “12 minutes, Colin. 12 minutes.” He laughed and shook his head, then grew serious again. “I’m asking you to leave it alone, (Y/N), okay?” he said.

You sighed, your own smile fading, and nodded. “Okay.”

It was hard for you to sit back in silence, because you saw how massive of a prick Isaac was to Colin, on and off the pitch. You wanted to slap him. To tell him to cut it out. To remind him that your brother needed him now more than ever. But you loved Colin, so you kept your mouth shut.

Then came the match against Brighton.

It was clear the team was all out of sorts with Isaac’s head so out of the game. It was hard to watch from the sidelines, and it was even harder to listen to the fans heckling them the entire time. One fan in particular somehow managed to carry his voice over the entire crowd, and you could see in Isaac’s eyes that it was getting to him, especially as they walked off the pitch.

And then, you heard it. The f-slur.

Colin’s shoulders dropped, and Isaac’s head snapped in the direction of the stands. And he lost his shit. He pushed his way through the crowd and charged the heckler, grabbing his shirt in his fist and screaming in his face. When the red card was waved and Roy managed to get him out of the stands, you followed him and the rest of the team back to the locker room.

The room was silent, save for Isaac’s huffing. You tried to lock eyes with Colin, but his head was down. Ted looked around, waiting for someone -presumably Isaac- to speak, but when no one did, he said, “Sure, no, I’ll kick it off. Isaac, what the hell happened?”

His chest heaved as he lifted a finger. “One of our fans said some ignorant shit!”

“Okay,” Ted said, then stammered out, “What’d they say?” Isaac waved a hand dismissively before hanging his head again.

“I heard it,” Sam said. “He said the f-word.” Confusion carried over the team, including Ted himself, who was now so accustomed to the way football fans threw curses around, he didn't understand why that word would bother Isaac.

“Fuck?” Jamie said.

“No,” Sam said. “The other f-word.”

Jamie’s eyes widened. “Oh, fuck.”

Everyone made various noises of understanding, and you finally managed to catch Colin’s gaze. He looked away quickly though.

“If it helps,” Higgins said, “the fan has been removed.” He paused. “And I apologize for my dad.” The team looked at him incredulously, and his smile dropped. “Sorry, not the time for jokes,” he said. “Ugh, read the room, Leslie.”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Ted said. “I get it. Um, Isaac, look, what that guy said? Inexcusable, alright? But man-” He chuckled lightly, a little awkwardly. “-your reaction to it ain’t gonna be taught in any Tibetan monasteries anytime soon. You know what I’m saying?”

Isaac looked like he was on the verge of screaming, breaking something, or bursting into tears. And you hated it.

“Yeah, now we’re one man down,” Jan Maas said. The team started to mutter various agreements.

“Yeah, Isaac,” Sam said, “come on, man. It’s nothing we haven’t heard before.”

Colin had heard it his whole life. And that wasn’t fair. 

“Exactly,” Jamie said. “It’s just poopy. Ignore it, man.”

And then, Isaac snapped.

“Ignore it?” he shouted, standing up from the bench. “I don’t want to fucking ignore it. What if one of us is gay? Huh?”

You had never heard the locker room so silent.

“We shouldn’t have to deal with this shit!”

The team watched with wide eyes as Isaac ripped off the captain's band, threw it at Sam, and stormed out of the room. Ted looked like he was about to follow him, then Roy held up a hand to stop him, implying he would go, but you were already out the door instead, and every member of AFC Richmond knew not to cross your path when you were on a mission.

You found Isaac in the kit room, crying. He looked up when he heard the door open, and quickly put his head in his hands when he saw it was you. You quietly walked over to him and sat beside him, keeping only a small amount of distance between the two of you. You allowed him to be the first to speak, whenever he was ready.

He sniffed. “Do you know?”

You nodded, your hands folded on your lap. “Yeah. I know. I’ve known for a while.”

He sniffed again and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. “He lied to me.”

You sighed and shook your head, putting your hand on his cheek and prompting him to look up at you. “You know I love you,” you told him, “but can you take a step outside of yourself for a second, babes?” His eyebrows furrowed deeply. “Can’t you imagine how scared he is?”

“But it’s me, innit?” he said. “Why’s he scared of me?”

“It’s not about you, Isaac,” you said.

“Then what’s it about?”

“That’s not a question you should be asking me.”

Isaac frowned and dropped his head to his hands again.

“All I’m saying is, there aren’t any openly gay players currently in the premier league,” you reminded him. “Think about what he must be feeling every single day.” You put your hand on his upper back and dragged your nails across his kit gently. “You’re his best friend. He needs you right now.” You kissed his cheek before resting your head on his shoulder. “And you can’t be there for him if you’re kicked off the team and arrested for assault.” He scoffed and shook his head before looking up at you again, a fraction of a smile on his lips.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you, too.”

“I’m sorry for being a dick to your brother.”

You shrugged. “I’m not the one who needs the apology.”

Things happened fast after the game. You didn’t really get to talk to Colin, as badly as you wanted to, but you could tell something was different. He seemed lighter. The team seemed closer. Sure, they had won the game, and Colin had been the main reason, but it felt like more than that. And your suspicions were confirmed when you texted him later that night.

You okay?

Colin: I told the team

(Y/N): Shit. Do you wanna talk about it?

Colin: I’m okay, little sister. They’re good teammates

Before you could respond, he texted you again.

Colin: Isaac came over. Told me what you guys talked about

(Y/N): I’m sorry. I know I swore I wouldn’t interfere

Colin: It’s okay. We talked it out. Everything’s all good

You smiled and typed a fast reply.

(Y/N): I love you

Colin: Love you too

Colin told you later about the speech Ted had given to the team, and as convoluted as it might’ve been, you knew where his heart was. You loved Colin, and while his sexuality didn’t change how much you loved him, you did care. And now, his whole team did too. Especially his best friend.

----- ----- ----- -----

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[sighonaraa]

tagged by the brilliant @jamiesfootball and the stunning @lady-of-the-spirit and the gorgeous @abubblingcandle! thank you all for the tag MWAH <3

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

11

2. what's your total AO3 word count?

120,102

3. what fandoms do you write for?

ted lasso (quick everybody act surprised), daredevil (i WILL get back to that fic i prommy), thor & loki, and uh. i haven't posted anything yet but somehow succession got me to care very deeply about billionaires so. watch this space............

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

It's the Great Father's Day, Ted Lasso (ted lasso)

It's the Great Valentine's in May, Colin Hughes (ted lasso)

hear you calling from some lost and distant shore (thor & loki)

and do not recognize us as we pass (ted lasso)

It's the Great Moving Away, Sam Obisanya (ted lasso)

5. do you respond to comments? why or why not?

I DO. I KNOW THIS SOUNDS LIKE A LIE AND THAT IS BECAUSE IT IS. i have been woefully bad at catching up with responding to comments........... however i will fix this once school gets out.

6. what's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hmmm. despite the fact that my fics tend to be Incredibly Angsty, they almost all end with deep and abiding sappiness. i suppose at the moment the sun is only a God if you learn to starve has the angstiest ending, although that's mostly just because it only has the one singular chapter atm.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

probably It's the Great Father's Day, Ted Lasso! i love that ending very very much.

8. do you get hate on fics?

thankfully not yet!! pls be nice to me im This Tiny (i am not short at all) (be nice to me anyways)

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

i have not! maybe one day, possibly, but i'm very [blushing] about writing that right now lmfao.

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?

i haven't written any crossovers before! i tend more towards AUs (as we can attest)

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

as far as i'm aware, nope!

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

no but if anyone ever wants to, i'm so incredibly down for that

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

no! BUT! i would LOVE to! come to my dms and let's brainstorm.

14. what's your all-time favourite ship?

all of my favorite characters/therapy. tbh.

15. what's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

i will finish every WIP i've posted a chapter of because i will. this is my Brave Face Mantra. in terms of ones i want to finish in my head.... the ted lasso s3 fix it will hopefully eventually happen but not for A While.

16. what are your writing strengths?

hrm. hrngh. i hate complimenting myself. people have told me i have a good grasp of character voices and also prose? so? [throws that at you and runs away]

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

i am THEE absolute worst at describing settings/environments. i'm not a visual reader at all which translates into not being a visual writer and it's just. urgh. HELP.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

hell yea! most of the characters i've written for so far have been mostly english-speaking, but for characters who are bilingual (dani, sam, richard) i try to include phrases in their native language they would use. if i were to ever write a lot of dialogue in another language, i'd probably give an in-narrative translation, or just stick 'em in the end notes.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

when i was 12 and infinity war came out i was so distraught that i wrote like 10 fix it fics and none of them will ever see the light of day.

20. favourite fic you've ever written?

and do not recognize us as we pass & find a new place to be from! yes i cheated and chose two.

tagging! not sure who has and who hasn't done it yet so! @altschmerzes @jamietarttsnorthernattitude @iguessyouregonnamissthepantyraid @thirteenemeraldcats @nativestarwrites @orbitalpirate + absolutely anybody else who would like to participate and use me as their tagger! MWAH <3

[king-author]

LGBTQ+ Representation in Ted Lasso (S3 Spoilers ahead)

After speculating for years, fans of Ted Lasso were finally given confirmation that three supporting characters identify as LGBTQ+. And although my dream of Ted and Trent never came to be, the show did portray groundbreaking representation in the characters Trent, Colin, and Keeley, (portrayed by James Lance, Billy Harris, and Juno Temple, respectively).

It may not seem impressive, but according to the website SportingNews, “Blackpool FC star Jake Daniels has taken the inspirational step of becoming the first male English professional footballer to publicly come out as gay in over two decades.” Daniels is currently the only out player in UK’s Premier League, but he is likely not the only one. PinkNews cites prevalent homophobia and advice to stay in the closet as common reasons players refrain from coming out. One manager even went as far as to tell a player, “‘I think it’s best for you not to come out until we get you a transfer or into a different club.’”

The image shown is Justin Fashanu, the first openly gay English football player. He came out in 1990, only to take his own life in 1998. Fashanu was posthumously inducted into the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame in 2020.

Pictured here is Jake Daniels, the only currently out member of the UK’s Premier League.

Although the show doesn’t dive too deeply into the ingrained homophobia in the sport, Ted Lasso’s Colin Hughs portrays the difficult and impactful decision of coming out in professional football. No matter how fans feel about the Emmy award-winning show's third and final season, we can all agree that the LGBTQ+ representation is nothing short of revolutionary.

For a television show bold enough to tackle generational trauma, mental health, and sexuality; the topic of positive LGBT+ representation seemed to be forgotten. Despite my appreciation for the portrayals, I feel more could have been explored within Colin’s storyline. As crucial as Colin’s coming out is, I can’t help but groan at the idea of yet another coming out story. Audiences nowadays don’t need stories exclusively containing coming-out plots. We need stories of queer characters living and thriving in the world – an unfortunately tall order for studios today.

I cannot express how ecstatic I was when Keeley and her girlfriend, Jack, kissed. It is so refreshing to see Trent Crimm and Keeley Jones be unapologetically themselves in season three; Keeley meets her girlfriend and Trent Crimm confides in Colin about his own struggles coming to terms with his sexuality. However, I couldn’t help but wonder, how would the fictional LGBTQ+ Richmond fans feel about seeing an out Colin on the pitch? Would they feel the same pride as I do when I see Keeley kiss her girlfriend in public?

Colin is in a precarious situation as he considers coming out publicly. He’s not just a member of a team – he’s a public figure with people looking up to him. If he comes out to the world, he’ll be in the history books as the first openly gay football player in the premier league. And although that’s a big responsibility, someone has to be the first. I wish we could have seen that be Colin.

The series ends with Colin celebrating the Richmond win by kissing his secret boyfriend on the pitch in front of countless fans and cameras. It is heartwarming to watch. The only thing that would make it better is if the show could portray the importance of representation by showing the fans’ reactions. Did Colin have any fans talk to him after the game? Were they comforted by the fact that they are no longer alone in both loving football and fearing losing it to their sexuality?

Ted Lasso is a show about forgiving yourself for past mistakes and becoming the best version of yourself. But, it’s also about representation and how it only takes one person to change the entire culture of a place. Ted’s positive nature, patience, and willingness to be called a wanker by nearly everyone in the stadium, are what allow him to succeed in making Richmond a tight-knit club off the pitch and a killer adversary on it. Thanks to Doctor Sharon, Colin finally feels confident enough to become the strong LGBTQ+ role model he was always capable of being.

Perhaps we’ll see Colin step up as a role model in the hinted-at spin-off series. But, for now, we can sit back, relax, and enjoy the wonderful LGBTQ+ representation in Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso.

For more articles like this visit Sapphire Society

[saywhatjessie]

Ted Lasso Big Bang 2023:

Wedding, Football, an other Team Activities by JessJesstheBest, art by @benjaminrussell

“What the fuck is up with you all?” Roy asked. No one answered, everyone looking imploringly at Colin. Isaac grunted. “Reckon you should just tell him, bruv. He could probably help.” Roy lifted his other eyebrow now. What the fuck?” Colin sighed but looked up at Roy with a smile he couldn’t seem to hide. “I’m gonna ask Michael to marry me.” Or a bunch of football himbos do a big gay wedding and Roy is doing the best he can

“No no no, try me. I’ve got excellent hands.”

“But it don’t need to fit your hands, does it?”

“Well try me anyway! We’re like the same height, yeah? So it should be close.”

Patches of this conversation had been floating into the office for ten minutes now but Roy wasn’t letting himself get distracted. He was trying to focus on reading the scouting reports which never got less boring or easier to read no matter how long he’d been gaffer.  

“No… Jamie, your hands are too big.”

“Here, try me.”

“This really shouldn’t be this hard.”

Roy sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes., “When do I need to have this done?” he asked Beard.

“End of day tomorrow,” Beard told him, not looking up from his book.

“Right, then fuck it.” He pushed himself to his feet, leaving the reports on his desk and marching out to the dressing room. “Oi! Why aren’t you lot getting dressed?”

A bunch of half-naked footballers turned wide eyes on Roy, stepping back from where they were all clustered around Colin. Colin was at least dressed in his full kit but he was holding hands with Bumbercatch for some reason.

Roy lifted an eyebrow at the scene, leaving the silence for someone to say something.

“Sorry, Coach,” Zorro broke first. “Colin’s gonna–”

He got interrupted by several people shushing him, Richard going as far to jump on his back and put a hand over his mouth.

“... Okay,” Roy grunted, turning to Colin. “Hughes?”

Colin cleared his throat, letting go of Bumbercatch and shaking out his hand. “Yeah, Coach, sorry to pull focus.”

Roy hummed, looking around at all his players. Some looked wary, like they didn’t want to get barked at, but most looked excited. Jamie and Sam were giggling together and Dani had clearly been crying, tears shining on his smiling face.

“What the fuck is up with you all?” Roy asked.

No one answered, everyone looking imploringly at Colin.

Isaac grunted. “Reckon you should just tell him, bruv. He could probably help.”

Roy lifted his other eyebrow now. What the fuck?

Colin sighed but looked up at Roy with a smile he couldn’t seem to hide. “I’m gonna ask Michael to marry me.”

Excited tittering went up around them from the players again and Roy couldn’t even blame them. He smiled at Colin, stepping forward to put a hand on his shoulder.

“Cheers, mate. Congratulations.”

Colin beamed. “Thanks! It’s really scary but also very exciting. I’m trying to figure out how to buy a ring except Michael doesn’t wear rings so I have no idea what size to get him. I’ve held hands with him enough, though, that I know how his hands feel so the lads were helping me figure out whose hand is closest and then we’ll take his ring size.”

Roy frowned, grunting. “Pretty fucking smart, actually.”

“It was my idea!” called Matthew Lynch, one of their newer transfers from Belfast. He’d integrated very quickly into the Richmond atmosphere – always smiling and supportive and hanging on whichever of his new teammates was nearest. Today it was Winchester, his dark complexion contrasting with Lynch’s pale Irish skin and blond curly hair.

“Si,” Dani sniffed. “But no one’s hand is right sized,” he said mournfully.

“‘S like Cinderella,” Isaac said, nodding seriously. Everyone muttered in agreement.

“Right,” Roy grunted. “Well we do still have training to get to so–”

“Hang on, Coach,” Jamie interrupted. “Can you try?”

“Ooh, yes!” Sam agreed, grinning. “We did not think of asking the coaches.”

“Nate’s hands are definitely too small,” Roy commented, brows furrowed. “And Beard’s got those wide American hands.”

“So that just leaves you, boyo!” Colin said, reaching his hand out and wiggling his fingers. “Please?”

The rest of the team chimed in with “Come on, Coach!” And “Do it for love!” So Roy just sighed and rolled his eyes, reaching out to take Colin’s hand in his.

Colin frowned, humming, and asked Roy to switch to his left hand.

“It’s the left hand that wears the ring,” he said, like he hadn’t offered Roy the wrong hand to begin with.

They shuffled around, Roy coming to his side and going through the motions so Colin could decide if his hand felt like Michael’s.

Roy should have put a stop to it but he did headbutt Colin that one time so this was probably the least he could do.

Only, Colin suddenly lit up and crowed to the dressing room that Roy’s hand was perfect.

Everyone cheered and Dani picked Roy up and spun him around. Roy grunted a laugh, allowing Dani to spin him, until he was back on the ground and Colin was gripping his shoulders.

“What size ring do you wear?” Colin asked, urgently.

Roy snorted. “Why the fuck would I know that?” 

Everyone groaned.

“Well then what was the point of all this?” Jan Maas asked.

“No way we’ll find someone with hands as perfect as Roy’s.” Zorro lamented.

“Romance is dead!” Richard cried.

“Colin could just take Coach to the ring shop,” Jamie said.

Everyone turned to look at him.

“Fuck no!” Roy barked,

“Coach, please!” Colin asked him, taking his hand and holding it. “I need this hand. I need it so I can take Michael’s hand. In marriage!”

“Come on, mate,” Jamie grinned, draping himself on Colin’s shoulder. “You gotta. Not helpin’ would be homophoto.”

“Homophobic,” Roy corrected, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, that!” Jamie grinned. “Do you hate Colin because he’s gay, Roy?”

On any other team or in fact on this team but a few years earlier, that question could have been totally earnest. On other teams, the answer to that question might even be yes.

But at Richmond, everyone laughed because what a silly question.

“Cheeky shit,” Roy said and Jamie just grinned wider. “Fine. After training. But only if you lot are on your best fucking behaviour!”

“Yes, Coach!” They all chorused. and everyone was tittering happily as they finished getting changed.

Roy turned back to Colin, still wearing Jamie like a jacket,. both grinning at him.

“Fuck off,” he told them. “And I’m driving.”

“Yes, Coach. Thank you Coach.” Colin nodded and Roy nodded back. He could hear Colin and Jamie giggling as he turned and walked back into the office.

“Congratulations, Cinderella,” Beard told him, feet kicked up and grinning smugly.

“You fuck off, too,” Roy sighed. “I’m never gonna finish these goddamn reports.”

“I’ll do it,” Beard shrugged. “I’ll let you go this time. Anything for love.”

Read the rest on Ao3

[justplainsalty]

Tedbecca, Battlestar Galactica AU 💀

Just so everyone has context, this one is a rubber band back to me. It is my fault. And now I'm having to eat crow.

****

Rebecca Welton is the relatively new commander of the Battlestar Richmond, an old and creaky ship that hadn't won any battles in almost as long as she'd been alive, possibly longer. She was the ship's XO for years, under her longtime-ex-husband Rupert, until he was caught sleeping with an NCO on the flight deck and court martialed back to Caprica. Now she's faced with taking over command of a ship where every crewman was highly loyal to Commander Mannion, and she must prove herself out of his shadow. The negative press attention on her since Rupert's arrest has not helped boost her crew's opinion of her. Her new XO, Higgins, suggests accepting President Adar's request to send a PR team up to the ship to film an on-ship pyramid match between command staff and NCOs and boost morale. President Adar has been pushing a multi-pronged initiative to "sanitize" (or in Fleeters' opinions, sterilize and castrate) the Fleet forces for years; Rebecca is the unlucky commander who is forced to accept it this PR move, but it doesn't mean she has to be happy about it.

Ted Lasso is the current Secretary for Culture and Sport within the New Caprican government; he is currently 45th in line for the presidency. Ted is never without his shadow, Coach Beard, the Under-Secretary for Sport. There are questions about how Ted and Beard rose to their positions, debates whether it was a good ol' boy backroom deal, or something more scandalous. After all, Ted has no real government experience on his resumé: prior to his role on President Adar's campaign staff, and then his role as Secretary, Ted was best known for coaching university-level pyramid. Everyone who has worked with Ted understands why he is a good leader and policy-maker; to everyone outside the room where it happened, the choice could not be more opaque. Adar asks Ted to attend the pyramid match with the PR team in order to ensure its smooth execution and diffuse any conflicts that arise.

Nathan Shelley is an intern with the Department of Defense, in the department responsible for the maintenance of the planetary defense mainframe. His girlfriend, Bex, works for a defense contractor. Nathan wasn't supposed to, but he let Bex have some access to the mainframe, so she could scope out some specs and look good for her bosses when they put a bid in for the latest contract. And then she asked if he could get her access to the software the Colonial Fleet was writing to update all the newest ships, and Nate wanted to impress her, so he did. Nate didn't want to ask too many questions -- he was too grateful that someone like Bex was with someone like him in the first place.

And then the cylons attack.

Suddenly, these disparate paths converge, as Rebecca is faced with a fight for her life from the outside, a fight for control of her ship from within, and a fight for the future of humanity from the teeth-grindingly jovial sports coach-turned-president who doesn't seem to understand just how dire their situation is. And what kind of a person says, "We have to get out there and start making babies!" with a straight face, anyway?

Featuring:

Keeley Jones, Tactics Officer

Dr. Sharon Fieldstone, Chief Medical Officer

Trent Crimm, independent journalist-turned-quorum representative and general thorn in Ted’s side (although with plenty of mutual respect)

Pilots: Roy Kent, Jamie Tartt, Sam Obisanya, Isaac McAdoo, Colin Hughes, Dani Rojas, Richard Montlaur, Thierry Zoreaux, Jan Maas, Moe Bumbercatch

Bex, cylon number 6

Leave an AU and a pairing in my ask and I’ll give you the plot of the fic I won’t write for it.

[ao3feed-tedlasso]

(rewrite) Alone (Whumptober 2024 #13 &amp; #19)

https://ift.tt/3Ow6BMF by Spaceykacey Isaac, Colin, Jamie, and Sam are involved in a car accident on a remote road. The car rolls down an embankment leaving most of them injured. Isaac is unscathed and takes control, helping his injured teammates back up to the road where they would hopefully find help. He returns for Jamie but finds that he'd wandered away from the car while he'd been helping the others. --------- Whumptober2024 #13: TEAM AS A FAMILY / familial curse / multiple whumpees / "death will do us part." #19: BLOOD TRAIL / Abandoned cabin / one way out / "is there anybody alive out there?" Words: 2846, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 12 of Whumptober 2024 Fandoms: Ted Lasso (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen Characters: Jamie Tartt, Isaac McAdoo, Sam Obisanya, Colin Hughes Relationships: Isaac McAdoo & Jamie Tartt, Sam Obisanya & Jamie Tartt Additional Tags: Hurt Jamie Tartt, Car Accidents, Blood and Injury, Confusion, Blood Loss, Whumptober 2024, Rewrite source https://archiveofourown.org/works/60085258 October 27, 2024 at 01:29PM

[gender-snatched]

Tell me about your show!!!

Alright so. There's this football club, right? That's basically a british soccer team because were all weird about soccer v football here. Snd they're... alright. Nothing special. And the guy who owned them was a massive dickwad (rupert for short).

So Rupert's wife (Rebecca) divorces him because hes a cheating prick, and she gets the football club (Richmond) in the divorce. And she hates his guts. She's fuming. And Richmond was the one thing he loved. So she wants to burn it to the ground.

To do this, she hires American Football coach Ted Lasso and his assistant coach Beard. These are coaches for OUR football. They don't know jackshit about THAT football.

Anyway they get there and everyone is like "hmmm. they're going to fuck it all up". Everyone calls Ted "wanker".

Here is the cast of characters you should know besides those already mentioned:

Non-footballers:

Keeley Jones: the girlfriend of one of the footballers. She's brilliant, a model but she becomes a PR agent and is canonically bisexual.

Leslie Higgins: Works for Rebecca. Used to help Rupert cheat on her but becomes a good guy very quickly (is unwilling to help Rebecca ruin the football club but does anyway). He's the only one with a healthy marriage

Trent Crimm (The Independent): A reporter who is very quick and slightly cruel

Nate Shelley: A very nervous little guy who's the kitman for the Richmond team

Footballers:

Jamie Tartt: a new upstart who's on loan from Man City. He's very full of himself because he's a very good footballer. Daddy issues. Dating Keeley (at first)

Roy Kent: an old football star. Is getting slow as he gets older and is no longer the best player. Very angry (about this and also in general). Team captain

Sam Obisanya: Footballer from Nigeria. Very positive. I just love him

Dani Rojas: A new addition to the team who is just as good as Jamie. Jamie is not happy about this

Isaac McAdoo: He's at first shitty but he grows and learns. More important later.

Colin Hughes: Also important later, also a footballer.

Other assorted footballers

So, Ted comes to Richmond and immediately starts changing almost everything. No one likes him at first but he's good at what he does.

Anyways the season goes on and they start getting better at football but also the toxic masculinity in the locker room is dipping! And that's the whole point!

So anyway the major developments of Season One are:

Jamie and Keeley break up

Jamie starts to grow a leetle bit

Everyone starts to like Ted and his "believe" message

Roy and Keeley get together!

Rupert starts dating ANOTHER Rebecca (later they get married and have a baby) (she goes by Bex)

Rebecca realizes shes being a major fucking bitch (with the help of her new best friend Keeley)

Nate is promoted to coach

Roy can no longer play and leaves the team. Isaac is new team captain

They get demoted from Premier League to the one underneath or whatever I barely know AMERICAN sports

Then Season Two rolls around. Ted Lasso is divorced now. They've been demoted.

Anyway here are our major plot points:

Keeley is employed at Richmond as PR manager

Roy is depressed and becoming a guy who talks about football

Rebecca is becoming less depressed

Nate is starting to really abuse his position as coach

Roy joins Richmond as a coach

Rebecca's anonymous Tinder rip-off date turns out to be Sam on the team, something I don't really like because she's 45-50 and he's 21 and they do play with them together as a thing for a bit

They get promoted back up!

But oh no! Nate has revealed to the press that Ted has panic attacks and now he's being ripped apart by critics

Ted knows it's Nate because Trent Crimm, The Independent reveals his anonymous source, which you are not allowed to do (he gets fired)

They get promoted up to Premier League with Nate's play

Nate tears up Ted's believe sign.

And OH FUCK Rebecca's ex husband asshole bought his own football club AND Nate is working there now

So now Season 3 (the final season) is coming out. So far we've had:

They are doing very bad. Rupert's club is doing good.

Keeley and Roy broke up because Roy doesn't like being happy

They get a famous footballer on the team! He sucks fucking ass man

Then he leaves? It's kinda unresolved and I'm actually hoping he comes back

Colin is gay!

So is Trent

Ted accidentally came up with an existing form of football that means they're winning

Keeley got a girlfriend but then she had her nudes leaked and her girlfriend was an asshole about it. Her gf was also her boss and I didn't trust her one lick (even besides being a diehard Roy/Keeley/Jamie shipper)

Nate is getting a redemption arc through love and because he doesn't hate himself anymore and he's in love

Colin got outed to Isaac, who then ignored him. But then he tried to punch a fan who said the f slur so Colin came out and it went well and everything is excellent now

Well, Isaac can't play for a while, but that means that Sam is captain so that's a win

And that's so far! I'm having a fun time! Who thought sports could be this fun.

[kirkenovak]

Why not BOTH though, picture this: 5 times Roy and Colin are at the same gay bar fic.

First: Colin is new to London and new to Richmond team. Thinks he spots his scary grumpy captain with a group in the corner booth. Freaks out. Later convinces himself that there's no way because his scary captain would never smile like that.

Second: Roy thinks he sees Colin in the gay club, debates following the familiar figure and confronting him because if it is Colin then why the fuck is he at a gay bar clearly grinding against men when he's a premiere league player? Roy then decides not to do this cause a) he doesn't want Colin to think he's against it (he just wants to keep him safe from the press) and b) he's none of his business

Third: They physically bump into one another, Colin runs and Roy chases after him cursing both the player and his bad knee as he does so. He finds Colin and surprises him by helping him calm down and by being supportive. Colin still clearly feels weird about Roy knowing but is more than happy to take the other man up on his offer to get out of there and get a kebab. They talk more over food and Roy ends the night, glad to see colour having returned to Colins fave.

Fourth: The team wins an away match and Roy frowns when Colin makes his excuses not to go out with the team. It takes Roy a minute to realize why Colin isn't up to the team celebrations (especially when the taken members of the team are declaring that they're gonna be the best wingmen ever) but when he remembers, Roy decides not to tag along either (Keely's still in London anyway so it's not like he's letting anyone down). Roy catches up with Colin and tells him that they are going to find a gay bar and get him laid. Colin makes his signature confused face but rolls with it because he's happy and excited and wants to get laid. Him and Roy actually end up befriending some drag queens and have one of those incredible never forget nights and although Colin doesn't get laid, he does think that eating kebabs with drag queens and Roy at 3AM is equally as good.

Five: Colin and Roy meet in the gay bar once again and half way through the conversation, a blonde man wraps his arms around Colin from behind and rests his chin on Colins head. It takes Roy a minute to recognise the mystery man as Jan Maas and quietly curses when he realizes slowly that the two of them are like together-together. Colin teases Roy for this slow realisation after admitting he and Jan were doing a terrible job of hiding it and then Roy would likely try interrogat them and give Jan some warning about never hurting Colin.

It would have angst and fluff and Hugh hughmaas and a great brotp!

Anon. Nonnie. Can I call you Nonnie?

I don’t know who you are but I LOVE you. This is perfect. It’s like a full 3 course meals, starters and drinks included! It has EVERYTHING!!!

That part with kebabs at 3am is now my favourite thing Ted lasso and no one can take that away from me!

[borealopelta]

steppin' around in a desert of joy

my debut ted lasso fic is here in the flesh, besties and beloveds! i already posted some snippets in ask games (here and here) but now it is complete!

Word count: 13287 Rating: M Relationship: Colin Hughes/Isaac McAdoo Tags: Colin's Concussion: the fic, so much handwaving about the timeline, Episode: s01e04 For the Children (Ted Lasso), rated M for swearing minor injury minor sexual content, you get it Summary: "Isaac squints in the dark to try to see if Colin’s worse than before. If he has a concussion – and he definitely has one – the car ride won’t help with the nausea or dizziness. “I’m pretty sure the only way out of that gala is dying, bruv,” he mutters, and Colin laughs before cringing from the pain. Isaac wants to murder Roy, a little." Isaac takes Colin to the A&E after Roy headbutts him. Things go downhill from there. Also, there's a charity gala.

READ IT ON THE AO3 HERE

[hacash]

ted lasso 2x09 thoughts

ARGH

those are it. those are my thoughts.

Ok, slightly more coherently…

Sam’s getting recognition! Sam has his own chant! I love that for him. Love it all. It’s obviously so good that Sam is becoming an in-universe hero when we’ve loved him from his first scene - however, that also comes with the caveat of not wanting him to move anywhere from Nelson Road. I’m curious to see where they take it though, because I obviously can’t see Toheeb Jimoh leaving the cast before the show finishes, but at the same time this offer is so good for him?? I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know.

(If, on the other hand, Toheeb is being written out because he’s going on to star as a lead in another show where we could see more of his beautiful face and stellar acting every week? I would find that acceptable.)

Screeners’ reactions for this episode had me thinking something cataclysmic and dreadful was going to happen between Sam and Rebecca with them reuniting and it hitting the papers - and it ended up being fine?? Of course she’s torn about him leaving. Even if they end up never being together again Sam clearly represents something wonderful to Rebecca - possibility and the sense of being treated right - and those feelings don’t just go away.

I expected a bit more reaction from Ted about the whole Sambecca thing, but that little look in his eyes after their conversation did have me curious - does he disapprove more than he lets on? is he secretly pining for Rebecca already? only time will tell. also I did notice Ted was once again basically saying whatever Rebecca wanted to hear and agreeing at every single line - he might be going to therapy but he’s not out of the people-pleaser woods yet.

Another bombshell next year? OH COME ON. If that’s not a prediction of some sort of confession of love I will go out and buy a hat just to eat it.

SHARON. How I am going to miss thee. But it was a lovely and understated farewell to a character that I’ve really come to love - Sexy Mother Fucker; he stole my move, yaas - showing how much she and Ted have helped each other grow and I just *tear*. Also I’m a Tedbecca shipper through and through, but Jason and Sarah do have such lovely chemistry together.

Also the pub regulars basically pleading for free therapy? Aww.

Higgins luring Ted back to read Sharon’s note with a well-chosen letter based pun? I love this man to the ends of the earth.

I FUCKING KNEW THAT HIGGINS KNEW EVERYONE’S BIRTHDAY. I PREDICTED THAT SHIT.

Roy and Keeley…I’m sorry, I’m emotional and anxious and hopeful and I do not think they’re going to break up. Relationships go through messy spots and people struggle, and the mark of a good, communicative, grown-up relationship is that you take time and discuss your issues and move past them. Keeley and Roy’s relationship has always been characterised by that maturity, and I just don’t see a couple of ill-timed romance confessions breaking that down.

(If anything, we might get a discussion from Roy about Keeley trusting him - I’m guessing there’s a fair bit of time lapsed between Jamie’s confession and her telling all to Roy, and I can see that being the sticking point that upsets Roy, that she hid this from him for some time. He clearly didn’t feel at all upset by what happened with Nate; it’s the - arguably fair - point that Keeley didn’t let him know that her ex confessed love for her that I think is going to be the issue.)

Also, the ‘are you married’ question - coupled with the fact that we keep seeing Roy on his knees in front of Keeley - makes me think we’re going to get a proposal next episode.

Also I love that we’re seeing more of Keeley’s psyche beyond the ‘cute and supports everyone’ façade - her mother’s experience with ambition and not being able to achieve it is a really interesting little snippet, not to mention the reason she bonds so much with Nate and is able to see how someone seemingly ‘undeserving’ should be able to realise their dreams.

also her and Rebecca’s ‘bleargggggh!’ competition! and Ted thinking he was going to be on the cover of Vanity Fair! return of Biscuits with the Boss!

ok, deep breaths now

NAAAAAATE

WHAT ARE YOU DOOIIIIIIING

Is it bad that I sort of liked the whole thing with Keeley? Not in a ‘yes I want this to happen’ sort of way, but because it makes so much sense that Nate (particularly Nate in his current state) might mistake that level of bonding and emotional support as something romantic. We know Nate is insecure and hasn’t had much of a social life in the past, and that he idealises Keeley for her basic kindness and decency: much like Jamie in 2x10, he’s mistaking Keeley’s kindness as something more…it’s absolutely gutting to watch, and also so human and real that I can’t help but take my hat off to the writers for it.

(Honestly, there’s been so many posts on tumblr about how toxic masculinity fucks men over to such an extent that when they receive kindness and friendship for a woman they immediately think romance - but yeah. this show does tick all the boxes.)

I did see the kiss moment coming a mile away and was really worried that Nate was going to be…uh, very entitled about it, given his current state, but the fact that he wasn’t - that he was immediately horrified and realised he’d fucked up and stumbles away muttering about how he ‘is worried about it’ and ends the scene spitting at himself in the mirror again and looking absolutely disgusted with himself - well, in a way that just hurt more. (I mean, I’m relieved Nate wasn’t all bolshy with it because his reaction does show there is still some of the old Nate still there…but still, owch.)

And then that text from Trent…

Next episode is going to hurt like hell, isn’t it? I absolutely cannot wait for the showdown between Nate and Ted, it’s been a long time coming…like I’ve said, while I think ultimately Nate is going to have a redemption arc, because thematically it makes sense and would send some pretty iffy messages if he doesn’t, I don’t think it’ll come until season three. Right now I just want to see Ted get angry after several seasons of suppressing his anger, I want a full-blown emotional hash-out between them both - basically I want Jason and Nick to have me sobbing before 9AM.

My one question is: are we going to see Nate realising what he’s done, or not? Was this a pragmatic, doing-this-for-the-sake-of-the-club betrayal or a blind, lashing-out-in-frustration betrayal? In short: is Nate Lando or Anakin in this scenario?

I’m very curious as to what show people who say this ‘came out of nowhere’ have been watching. Nate’s been heading for some sort of implosion since mid-season, and we all knew it was going to hurt some innocent bystanders.

I’m saving something light and cheery after all the angst, so let me just say: cinema has never surpassed, and will never surpass, the scene of the Richmond boys dancing along to Bye Bye Bye. Almost made up for the fact that they were criminally underused in the rest of the episode, and quite frankly this had better be redressed in the season finale.

and WE FINALLY SAW COLIN DRIVING THE LAMBO. I don’t know what I find funnier: the fact that it’s some neon lime green monstrosity that every fourteen-year old boy would have dreamt of owning growing up (should my new Colin tag be Colin ‘I Need To Rethink My Relationship With My Car’ Hughes, or Colin ‘More Money Than Sense’ Hughes? enquiring minds want to know…) or as was pointed out to me by @kamillahn, the look of absolute terror on Colin’s face as he begins to drive. Colin, hun, please just buy yourself a Fiat. It’s not worth it anymore.

[storytimewithcort]

Will’s got a Crush (Part 3 Final)

Will’s Got A Crush (part 3)

Hello Lovies, I wrote a Will/Colin Story cause Why the Eff not

Fandom: Ted Lasso

Summary:  Will’s got a crush, and Isaac is ultimate wingman.

Pairing: Oh you know, Colin x Will

Warning: Alcohol, some bad flirting, but nothing really yet

A/n:  Started as a silly short drabble, but now it has 3 chapters! Please enjoy. It’s a bit corny :)

also on Ao3 -  https://archiveofourown.org/works/34923553/chapters/86967319

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Part 3/3

Sunday evening Will fell onto his bed with a thump, utterly exhausted. After helping his older brother, Connor, move into his new flat which was on the third story, he was more than ready to pass out. His bed felt softer than normal under his sore muscles. His phone beeped, drawing his attention to all the messages he'd been ignoring during the moving process. There was a group chat involving the team with a couple new messages about training times. There was a new thread, he’d have to read later, from Moe on the Wrinkle in Time group chat. Moe must have just finished the book based on the length of his post. A new message from his brother, most likely thanking Will again. But most intriguing was the not one, but three, new messages from Colin.

Will sat up with a little thrill of excitement to open the new messages.

‘Will! Totally ran up to a bloke I thought was you on the street’ ‘It was not you’ ‘He was not happy to see me. Not a Richmond fan’

Will laughed to himself picturing Colin shouting at a random person for far too long before noticing his mistake. He wished he was there to see it.

‘Maybe he just isn’t a fan of being ambushed by someone on the street’

To his surprise, Colin texted right back.

‘No ambush. A friendly greeting!’

‘Did you slap him on the back? Like you do when you're excited to see someone’

‘...no..?’

‘Uh huh, sure 😏’

They had fallen into this comfortable texting for a few weeks. It was nice, Will thought he had Colin figured out by now, but he realized there was so much more to learn. He was able to text Colin a lot more than they usually got to talk at the club. It was great to get to know Colin enough to see him as a friend, not a star he had a hopeless crush on.

Will still had his crush, of course. In fact, his crush was even worse now. Will could tell he was developing actual feelings for the footballer. Despite this, or because of it, he couldn’t stop himself from gushing about his crush to his brother that day while they unloaded boxes. So when Will’s phone beeped again, it didn’t surprise him that his brother had texted again. This time not with words of appreciation.

‘So which player is it?’

Will told his brother he liked someone. That this person was sweet and funny. That he was a man Will worked with. But he never told Connor it was a player.

‘I never said it was a player’

‘You spend all day in close proximity to super fit, rich, young athletes’

‘I’m not that shallow’

‘Didn’t say you were' 'I just think it'd be awesome if my baby brother was dating a fit, rich, footballer’

‘Maybe’

‘Zoreaux? You’re friends’

‘Just friends’

‘McAdoo. Even I think he’s hot’

‘What No!’

'O'Brien'

It went on like this for a while. Connor continued to guess players while Will toggled back and forth between his brother and his conversation with Colin. After eight incorrect guesses, Will felt like he might as well just tell his brother. He obviously wasn't going to stop guessing.

'Colin! It's Colin. Ok I have a big gay crush on Colin Hughes. Please stop guessing'

Will tossed the phone on the bed in front of him, embarrassed as he braced for his brother's boisterous response to his admittance.

But the phone didn't buzz.

He waited a long moment. Silence.

Tentatively he picked his phone back up. Pulling up his brother's texts to see if he missed the incoming message.

Weird, he didn't see his last message at all. He stared at the screen for a moment confused. He knew he just typed a message. Did he somehow delete it instead of sending it? Just then a new text from Connor came in. He guessed another player, obviously oblivious to Will's confession. He started to type his message again when a chill went down his spine. He closed out Connor's messages to see the conversation directly underneath.

Colin.

Oh no.

A shaking hand opened the messages with Colin. There was his message. He sent it to the wrong person. Damn them both for having names so similar. Worst yet, it looks like it was too late to delete the message.

Read 8:50pm

What was he going to do? Will debated texting Colin back and denying the whole thing, but felt it was pointless. In an act of embarrassed denial he did the best next thing. Will turned his phone off and left it on his dresser, trying in vain to sleep the whole predicament away.

Will was an emotional wreck all morning on Monday. He arrived to work early in order to finish his prep work prior to any of the players showing up, then hid himself away in Roy’s office, hoping no one would need to come around the corner and see him. His plan of not being seen worked most of the morning, in fact, besides Beard briefly, he managed not to interact with anyone. As he made his way outside with drinks for the guys around 11am, he thought he’d be able to slip out, deliver the cooler, then sneak back away without detection. However as soon as he made it out onto the pitch, Ted exclaimed how great it was to see him. This was of course loud enough to alert the whole team to his arrival and Will watched in horror as Colin stopped running and immediately looked at him.

Will could feel the deep blush flood his cheeks, making him feel a bit light headed. Keeping his head low, he served up some cups and tried his best to blend into the background behind the coaches as training finished for the morning. As soon as he was sure all the guys had their cups, he made a quick retreat to the laundry room.

He knew he couldn’t avoid Colin forever. He worked with the man pretty closely after all. Still, Collin hadn’t responded to his message, so Will was convinced that Colin wasn’t pleased by Will’s confession. Will just figured if he could avoid him for a few days, maybe Colin would forget about the message and they could go back to being friends.

As he was folding towels by himself he heard a knocking at the door. Expecting Ted with a request, he turned around quickly. It wasn’t Ted. It was Colin, standing in the doorway, smiling at him.

“Hey Will”

“Uh, Hi” Will sighed, might as well get it over with, “Look about what I texted…” Colin chuckled, “Didn’t think you to be so forward.”

Will prepared for the rejection, because despite what Isaac had said once, he really didn’t believe Colin could be that into him. Yet, Colin was walking up to him, with a swagger Will had’t seen before. He had to admit, it was incredibly attractive. When Colin was only a foot away he leaned in a touch. Will’s eyes were as wide as could be when Colin placed a quick kiss on Will’s lips.

“Dinner after training?” he asked simply.

“Oh, uh, yea.”

“Great!” Colin cheered as he practically skipped out of the laundry room. Pausing at the doorway, he smirked. “By the way, I definitely feel the same.” And then he was gone and Will had to slide down the side of the dryer he was standing next to because his legs were suddenly jello.

Back in the locker room, Colin walked in with a smile, as all the boys looked at him.

“So?” Isaac asked quickly.

“He said yes!”

They all cheered, happy for their friends.

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thanks

[sleepykittypaws]

Celebrate the Olympic Spirit

Sure, the Olympics aren’t a holiday, per se, but the every-four-year, or two if you count both Summer and Winter editions separately, massive international sporting events sure seems like a reason to celebrate, especially given their recent, unprecedented delay. And what better way to get into the Games mood, than by watching a sports movie?

Here are my favorite motivating, inspirational, and aspirational tales of athletic derring do…

Favorite Sports Movies

The Cutting Edge (1992) - This figure skating romance was released around the 1992 Olympics, and actually name-checks that year's winter host city, Albertville, more than once.  It's not good in the traditional sense of great storytelling or athletic veracity, but I loved it so very much I saw it three times in the theater as a teen. Watching it at some point during every Winter Games is a tradition for me so, yeah, I can’t help it, I love this silly sports movie/romance, which also features a bit of holiday feels.

Wimbledon (2004) - It's a rom-com. It's a sports movie. It's a rom-com sports movie that really should be better known. Notting Hill but set at tennis' best-known event. Paul Bettany and Kristen Dunst have surprisingly great chemistry, and there's more sports-related tension than you'd think.

Friday Night Lights (2004) - A football movie for people who don't really like football. a.k.a. 🙋‍♀️. The TV series it spawned is also brilliant (”Clear Eyes, Full Hearts,” indeed), and well worth a watch, but the original movie, starring Billy Bob Thornton, is, honestly, a masterpiece. Definitely Peter Berg's best work and the original book, written by Berg's cousin, Buzz Bissinger, is a great read.

Muriel's Wedding (1994) - You mean you forgot this Australian export, which made Toni Collette a star, was a sports movie? Yep, one of my all-time favorite movies, of any genre, this absolutely brilliant, ABBA-soaked comedy is not only a girls-night go-to, but also a stealth Olympic sport classic.

Remember the Titans (2000) - OK, football isn't in the Olympics, but it sure does make for a good sports movie setting. Even if this early 1970s-set story is most definitely Disney-fied, Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Ryan Gosling and a baby Hayden Panettiere really sell this sort-of true story.

Invictus (2009)-Rugby isn't an Olympic sport, or even one most Americans know much about, but this Matt Damon-led, Clint Eastwood-directed, based-on-a-true-story tale made me care about a sport I'd only tangentially knew even existed before watching.

Hoosiers (1986)-I grew up in Indiana so, by law, I have to include this basketball classic on any "best of" sports movie lists. Also, it actually is really very good.

Rudy (1993)-Ditto the above. But, again, it's hard not to root for Sean Astin (and Jon Favreau!) in this love letter to the Fighting Irish. Plus, there’s no better scavenger hunt task or TikTok challenge than going into a bar and convincing a patron to allow you to put them on your shoulders and march around chanting, 'Rudy, Rudy, Rudy.' 

Miracle (2004) - Given how much more popular the Summer Olympics are, it's weird that the Winter Games seem to get all the good movies made about them, but this Kurt Russell-led true tale is another Disney sports movie classic.

McFarland, USA (2015) - Disney, and Kevin Costner, just really know how to make a sports movie, damn it! This movie made me care about cross country for which it, too, could have carried the title Miracle.

A League of Their Own (1992)-The best baseball movie ever. Yeah, I said what I said. Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty—even Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell are making it work. 1992 was a weirdly great year for sports movies.

Moneyball (2011) - A movie about baseball, and math, and yet it's also great, I swear. In addition to all of the above, it's also a stealth Christmas movie and maybe Chris Pratt's best non-Marvel, movie role.

Creed (2015) - This surprisingly effective Rocky reboot starring Michael B Jordan as Apollo Creed's illegitimate son has spawned its own movie series which, in many ways, exceeds the original Rocky franchise.

Rocky Balboa (2006) - Maybe it's because I was a toddler when the original Rocky came out, so only saw the ever-worse sequels as a kid, but this mid-aughts return to the character for Sylvester Stallone, as both writer and actor, is a triumph.

Eddie the Eagle (2016) - That Hugh Jackman features in as many movies (spoiler alert) on this list as Kevin Costner surprised me, too. This story of the English ski jumper who became infamous for being, well, less than golden, is one of those non-Olympic triumph stories that really works. If you're going to watch one underdog-at-the-Games movie, I definitely prefer this this to the more ubiquitous Cool Runnings.

Love & Basketball (2000) - Only because I'm an anglophile is this great, chemistry-filled Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps college basketball romance not my favorite sports-movie-meets-rom-com.

I, Tonya (2017) - Margot Robbie and a nearly unrecognizable Sebastian Stan are perfectly cast in this sarcastic, highly stylized look at the Tonya Harding scandal.

Pride (2007) - Apparently I like this swimming movie, which I think almost no one saw, better than critics, but I found this 1970s-set, Terrence Howard-Bernie Mac-starring story of inner city kids excelling in the pool emotional and entertaining.

Field of Dreams (1989) - This Kevin Costner magical realism baseball classic is often goofy and imminently tease-worthy and yet…It also works. Maybe it's no surprise that someone who loves cheesy Christmas movies as much as I do would have a soft spot for Field of Dreams.

42 (2013) - Chadwick Boseman is absolutely fantastic as legend Jackie Robinson. One of those movies that's ostensibly about baseball, but is really about so much more, except not in a pretentious way.

Race (2016) - Before Jason Sudeikis was Ted Lasso, he was famed track coach Larry Synder in this Jesse Owens biopic that is far from perfect, but still important. Plus, I honestly don't think Stephan James got enough credit for his relatively nuanced portrayal of Owens.

Goon (2011) - This overlooked gem starring Sean William Scott as a semi-pro hockey player whose main skill is his ability to take, and dole out, a beating, is surprisingly great.

Real Steel (2011) - This is a robot-boxing movie starring Hugh Jackman that is basically Rocky meets Over the Top—and yet it's actually really good. Yeah, I was surprised, too.

Forget Paris (1995) - OK, so maybe Billy Crystal playing an NBA referee doesn't really make this a sports movie, but it does begin and end (spoiler alert) at real NBA games, and I will die on the hill that this rom-com co-starring Debra Winger is wildly under-rated.

Bend it like Beckham (2002) - This girl-power sports movie has some highly questionable romantic dynamics (the coach is their love interest???) but this Parminder Nagra-Keira Knightley movie is also a heckuva sports movie and an inspiring immigrant story.

Bonus Pick: The Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso is one of the best things I watched in 2020, and I'm sure of that, because I watched it twice since, just to be sure. Jason Sudekis is absolutely perfect as an American college football coach taking over a UK Premier League team. This sweet show with a heart of gold is smart, funny, and absolutely impossible not to love—even for a cynic such as myself.

More Sports Movies Worth Watching

For someone not very into sports, I am, apparently, into watching movies about sports, so while not a comprehensive listing of the entire, vast genre, here are a few more suggestions I personally think are worth watching.

The Miracle Season (2018) - This movie about high school volleyball champs whose star player dies suddenly stars Helen Hunt and is a lot better than you'd think based on its tiny budget and, honestly, fairly small story. Just missed making my Top 25.

The Way Back (2020) - This Ben Affleck as a drunken high school basketball coach movie is a lot better than expected. Released just as the pandemic kicked into high gear, it was overlooked last year, but worth seeking out.

Fighting with My Family (2019) - Does it count if it's a show, not a sport? Either way (but that's why this isn't in my Top 25), this stealth Christmas movie/love letter to the WWE is a lot better than it ever needed to be thanks to some really great performances from Florence Pugh, Lena Headey and directer Stephen Merchant. Even The Rock reins it in.

Warrior (2011) - You couldn't pay me to watch an actual UFC bout, but this Tom Hardy story of (literally) battling brothers is incredibly compelling and well done.

Win Win (2011) - This movie isn't really enough about wrestling, even though its ostensibly centered around the sport, to make it into my Top 25, but it's still really good, and Amy Ryan gives an outstanding performance.

Fever Pitch (2005) - Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon star in this remake of a UK film whose ending they had to shift when the Red Sox unexpectedly won the World Series.

Fever Pitch (1997) - This Colin Firth-starring, Arsenal-centered original is much smaller, more realistic and arguably better than the big budget Barrymore-Fallon redux.

We are Marshall (2006) - A real-life sports tragedy made into a sports-movie tearjerker starring Matthew McConaughy. And my tears were very much jerked by the end.

Coach Carter (2005) - Samuel L Jackson plays real-life basketball coach Ken Carter and, because it's a Disney movie, doesn't use the F-word even once. Now that's a feat worthy of its own sports movie.

Invincible (2006) - Yes, it's Mark Wahlberg, and another based-on-a-true-story, Disney sports movie that hits all the cliches, but dang it, that works on me. It just does.

Glory Road (2006) - If you're sensing a theme with me and Disney sports movies…Well, you're not wrong. This look at the first all-Black starting lineup at the 1966 NCAA Final Four does, unfortunately, center white coach Don Haskins, played by Josh Lucas (though I always mis-remember it as Josh Charles), making the important story it tells less than what it should be, but it still mostly works.

Million Dollar Arm (2014) - Admittedly one of the lesser Disney sports movie entries, and another that centers a white guy in a film mostly about people of color (not a great look), this Jon Hamm movie about a scout seeking an Indian cricket star who can make it in the Major Leagues still mostly worked for me.

The Mighty Ducks (1992) - One of the few movies on this list aimed directly at kids, this beloved peewee hockey saga actually is cute, and mostly does hold up.

Cool Runnings (1993) - Kind of shocked this movie that is part White Savior-movie and part-wacky kids movie essentially making fun of a real group of athletes of color came out in 1993 and not 1973, but the earnest charm of John Candy and a general Disney gloss keep this from being totally unwatchable and mostly just mildly, rather than extremely, offensive. Not really recommending, but feels like it belongs on an Olympic movie list.

Nadia (1984) - This made-for-TV, mostly true biopic, starring Talia Balsam as Nadia Comaneci, was a Disney Channel staple in that network’s early days. 

Munich (2005) - It's a movie with the Olympics very much at its heart—namely the 1972 Israeli athlete hostage tragedy—that isn't really about the Olympics at all, but this Steven Spielberg-directed movie about national revenge is compelling, if problematic if you think about it for too long.

American Anthem (1986) - Is this Mitch Gaylord-Mrs. Wayne Gretzky (a.k.a Janet Jones) starring movie good, realistic and/or well-written? No, no and none of the above. But did I still watch it 8,000 times as a kid on HBO? Yes. Yes, I did.

Men with Brooms (2002) - Once, on a business trip to Canada, my husband was stuck in a hotel that only got three channels, and one of them always seemed to be showing curling, which actually got him weirdly into this obscure sport. This movie wasn't quite as fun as I hoped, but it's still a mostly charming, if slight, Canadian classic.

Unbroken (2014) - The harrowing and incredible real-life story of Louis Zamperini deserved better than this Angelina Jolie-directed movie delivered, but it's still a serviceable version of a worthy tale.

Chariots of Fire (1981) - I remember being bored out of my mind by this movie trying to watch this movie on cable as a kid, but no denying that, if nothing else, the score is iconic and indelibly linked to sports-movie magic.

Without Limits (1998) - Jared Leto’s Prefontaine beat this one to the theaters, but this Billy Crudup-starring film is the better of the two movies about the life of running pioneer Steve Prefontaine. There’s also a 1995 documentary, Fire on the Track: The Steve Prefontaine Story.

Personal Best (1982) - Mariel Hemingway’s story of ambition at odds with love, is a sports and LGTBQ+ classic. 

Olympic Dreams (2019) - The story of how this small, meandering movie was made during the 2018 Winter Games is, unfortunately, more interesting than the movie itself, but there is some charm in watching Nick Kroll as an Olympic dentist making his way through the real Village, while interacting with real athletes.

Foxcatcher (2015) - This excellently-acted story is more true crime than sports inspiration, but if you're seeking a look at the dark side of the Games—and don’t want to turn on a doc like Athlete A—this is very dark tale indeed.

Seabiscuit (2003) - Every great athlete deserves to have their story told.

Any Given Sunday (1999) - Oliver Stone and Al Pacino take on pro Football. 'Nuff said.

The Replacements (2000) - I mean, the movie isn't amazing, but Keanu Reeves is super charming and Gene Hackman is always worth a watch.

The Program (1993) - Another bit of a dark-side-of-football take, worth it if only for the fantastic cast: James Caan, Halle Berry, Omar Eps, Joey Lauren Adams.

Everbody’s All-American (1988) - Not a movie I particularly love, but this Dennis Quaid-Jessica Lange football story that spans decades has always stuck in my memory.

Bull Durham (1988) - Just let Kevin Costner play actual baseball already.