#doaner come back

[korshrimpski]

[penaltybox14]

First Lines Meme

via @curator-on-ao3, tagged by @squad51goals

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less  than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose  your favorite opening line.

1. When they had first shipped him up here, going on years now, Josiah had barely moved from his desk, nevermind his office, or the administration hallway.  (Decofiremen/When On the Boards We Ride, WIP)

2. One cool, coal-dark and damp night, under the fog-haloed streetlights, they pick up a hitchhiker by Union Station. (Adam-12, WIP)

3. "I didn't tell her," Sonny says.  His eyes are blue and wide and hurt, his lips tight.  "I swear to you, I did not tell her." (Law & Order SVU, WIP)

4. Bob likes to stay up, sometimes, and just read. (The Little Light Between Them, Emergency!)

5. He had been young, too, once. (Walk Me Home in the Dead of Night, Adam-12, Pete/Jim)

6. Pete wants so badly to hate this boy, who looks at him with abandoned adoration, heart on his creased sleeves, looks at him head-on and desperate. (In the Cadence of a Young Man’s Eyes, Adam-12)

7. Dry, dry, the cracked yellow earth in the hills cries out for water, sends desperate roots down empty hillsides, down to the cracked yellow basin of the city where the sirens howl and dogs sleep on chains on patios. (Squeeze Your Fists Til Nothing’s Left, Emergency!)

8. When Bob was a kid, a real kid, just a little kid with a brush haircut and milk-tooth molars, his mom would open up the windows on summer nights just to let their apartment breathe, and he could hear the sirens down below. (A Thousand Miles of Smoke and Water, Emergency!)

9. You get a call, they say.  You get a call sometimes, there's not a damn thing you can do and you know it already. (We Made Our Peace With Lonely Nights, Emergency!)

10. For his birthday, Shane corners him, shyly (as Shane does - Doaner is the very worst at keeping surprises under cover, and he is pink as a Barbie fun-home right to his ears) and pushes a little box at him. (Seven Minutes in Blue Pontiac Heaven, Hockey RPF, Shane Doan/Tyson Nash)

11. Every five seconds or so, one of the boys pounces him. (A Laugh Like Wild Horses Running, Hockey RPF, Shane Doan/Tyson Nash)

12. Sonny does his damndest to give everybody the benefit of the doubt. (Blessed Are They That Weep, Law & Order: SVU, canon divergence)

13. They have arrived at this: politeness, words exchanged like birds of politik, aside glances, shrewd and measuring. (We Have Arrived At This Place, Hockey RPF, Slava Fetisov/Alexei Kasatanov)

14. Artemi just wants to know what he's getting into. (Men Are Not Such Lovely Creatures, Hockey RPF, Artemi Panarin/Viktor Tikhonov [the younger])

15. They were all the pride of Russia, kept in the most picturesque of prisons, like animals in an exquisitely constructed zoo. (And Both Be Damned to Love, Hockey RPF, Slava Fetisov/Igor Larionov)

16. When he was young, when the weight of the red jersey was still new and strange to him, Vladislav had felt shame for the way he loved Valeri Kharlamov.  He went to church and prayed to God to understand. (Let The Birds Not Break Formation, Hockey RPF, Vladislav Tretiak/Valeri Kharlamov)

17. Igor wakes, confused. (That Decent Things Survive, Hockey RPF, Slava Fetisov/Igor Larionov)

18. "You're going to Detroit," his agent said. (Long Live the Pioneers, Rebels, and Mutineers, Hockey RPF, Slava Fetisov/Igor Larionov)

19. Marc is nineteen years old. // Between the two of them, Denis' phone bill could be reasonably mistaken for Marc's monthly pay. // Marc came to Chicago with two sets of clothes: the ones he wore for the trip down, and the ones he planned to wear for the trip back. // Doug Wilson rails at the top of his lungs for twenty minutes straight the morning he comes in to find that someone has turned his dressing stall into the ocean. // Denis thinks: I should not be attracted to someone who still thinks making a teammate laugh milk out of his nose is the height of comedy. // Denis is lying in bed with Marc. (Marshall Field is Not a Baseball Diamond, Hockey RPF, Denis Savard/Marc Bergevin.  This fic is a series of six vignettes, so I’m cheating and using all 6 opening lines.)

20. Marc comes to Chicago rumpled and a little bewildered - proscribed by language and yearning to know everything about this place. (Wherever You Go the Night is Dark, Hockey RPF, Denis Savard/Marc Bergevin)

Notes: I swapped computers recently, so I have a bunch more recent WIPs on the other hard drive that I haven’t brought over.  Otherwise, twenty fics goes back a not insignificant ways.  Also, you can see where my attention settled and pooled. 

My favorites of this batch are six and seven.  Six is a solid hook, and seven sets the scene. 

In media res is my jam.  Always has been. 

[carey-pricemas]

Future- Connor Murphy

Ok guys here we are with another imagine for today! I'm on track to get all 4 of them done on time despite obstacles this morning. Tomorrow will be back on my normal time table due to work! So enjoy guys!

Warning: lack of self confidence

Anon Request: I love your imagines and your love for the coyotes so much !! I was wondering if I could get a Connor Murphy imagine where the reader is younger (19 and he is 24) and he brings up their future? It can be angsty or fluffy I trust you completely 💖💖

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              You watched as Connor's friend kissed his bride.

              You head was churning throughout the whole wedding. You were 19 to Connor's 24. When he first asked you out, neither one of you had thought much about the future. Now here you were back in Connor's hometown of Boston watching one of his oldest friends getting married.

              In a few years where would you and Connor be?

              You knew with his career in the NHL that Connor wasn't ready to settle down, but when he was, would he leave you for a woman closer to his age?

              "You ok?" Connor whispered in your ear. You gave Connor a small smile and nodded. Connor stared at you as you both stood, clapping as the happy couple danced their way back down the aisle.

              "The happy couple would like to invite everyone to join them for dinner and dancing."

              "You ready to head to the reception?" Connor asked, his hand on the small of your back.

              "Yeah. Let's go." You and Connor made your way out to the car. As soon as the doors were closed, Connor turned to you.

              "Ok what's wrong?"

              "Nothing" you said, smiling. Connor stared at you. "What?"

              "I know something has been bugging you all day. What's going on in that pretty head of yours?" You sighed and looked out the window.

              Boston was really beautiful and you were glad you had come with Connor. His family had welcomed you with open arms and he took you on a tour of the city, hitting both the touristy spots and local gems that had known about.

              "Where do you see us going?" you finally asked. You turned to look at him, catching his surprised expression.

              "I haven't really thought about it" he answered. You nodded. "Is that what all this is about?"

              "I'm just..." You sighed and leaned back against your seat. "I'm so much younger than you and I know right now its just fun and whatever but-"

              "Wait. That's what you think?" he asked.

              "Well... yeah" you replied. "Isn't it? I mean yeah I'm your girlfriend but I'm Chych's age. I just assumed when you were ready to settle down..." You shrugged as you trailed off.

              "I'm a terrible boyfriend" he said.

              "What? No you're not" you said shaking your head.

              "Obviously I am if you think that I'm just using you as a placeholder." His eyes got really wide. "Don't tell Doaner!" You burst out laughing.

              "I think Shane can see what's going on" you said.

              "Obviously better than you can" he replied. You were silent. "Can I tell you what I think is going on here?" You nodded. "Ok well obviously I think you're funny and gorgeous and-"

              "I don't need a list of my attributes" you teased. Connor chuckled.

              "Sorry." Connor looked at you and grinned. "You are my girlfriend. And not just to be a placeholder for someone else when I'm ready to settle down. We're both young and aren't at that stage yet because of work and school, but when I look at you I can see my future. Our future."

              "Really?" you breathed.

              "The guys were giving me shit at the end of the season, asking when I was going to pop the question. I don't think either one of us are there yet..."

              "Definitely not" you agreed. Connor gave you a relieved smile.

              "But I want to be there with you someday."

              "And what exactly do you see in our future?"

              "A big wedding in the desert. A house with at least one dog and maybe two or three kids running around. Teaching the kids how to play hockey and going to their pee wee games."

              "Yeah?"

              "Of course. Watching them get drafted."

              "What if they're all girls?"

              "Pssh they'll still be drafted by some league. And if they don't like hockey then we'll watch them do whatever they like to do." You reached over and pressed a kiss to Connor's lips.

              "Do you really see all that with me?"

              "Only with you" he agreed. "Age is just a number and let's be real. You're as mature if not more mature than I am, 5 years your senior." You laughed.

              "That's true." Connor leaned forward and pressed a kiss to your lips.

              "You ready to go dance the night away?"

              "Let's roll. I want cake."

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Ok there we go! Let me know what you guys thought! Up next: Matthew Tkachuk!

[takurospirit]

Thank You, Shane Doan

I started watching hockey in earnest in 1996. That year was the year that the original Winnipeg Jets, late of the WHA, relocated to Phoenix, Arizona. 

There’s been one player who’s been with the franchise that entire time.

Captain Coyote. Not the original one (that would be Keith Tkachuk), but the one player who would become synonymous with the concept of Coyotes hockey.

The team was never good enough to send him out on a high note. An early run of success in the late 90s (and constant first-round exits) led to mid-00s malaise, reducing the team to a never-ending stream of bankruptcy news, relocation threats, and constant fear over what the future would bring.

There were starts and stops, and then there was the miracle year of 2011-2012, where the team finally broke through, and got all the way to the Western Conference Finals. 

That was the closet that Shane Doan would come to playing for Lord Stanley’s Cup. He would flirt with signing with another team (there’s an AU out there where Doan is playing in Flyers orange), but he could never leave the only professional franchise he ever knew.

There wasn’t going to be a Ray Bourque ending to this tale. No aging hero, shuffled off to a contender, winning a championship that just wouldn’t mean enough. For better or for worse, Doaner stuck with the Coyotes, and the fans stuck by him.

No player has ever measured up to Doan for popularity, for charisma, for charity. The man gave his all every night, and the fans gave it right back to him.

For twenty-one years, two-thirds of my life, I’ve had the privilege and the pleasure of watching Shane Doan play hockey the right way. Leading by example. For as hard as it can be to be a hockey fan in Arizona (and Reader, boy is it ever), it was all worth it.

It was tough to watch tonight. Doan came out for the last shift, twenty seconds left, down two goals, another loss on top of all the others. The television crew showed a shot of him, mid-rink, hands on his knees, trying and failing to not let the tears fall. After the game (and his career) was over, everyone, teammate and opponent, came over to shake his hand. It was a Moment, one of those that prove the lasting endurance of hockey played the right way.

Thank you, Shane Doan. Thank you, Captain. Godspeed.

[carey-pricemas]

Gorgeous- Jakob Chychrun

Ok quick note! I actually got a lot of requests for the pick a team thing and I want you to know that I have added each of the players to the queue so if you submitted something, you'll get one for them! And we can spread the love around to all the teams! Ok but here you go anon! An angsty Jakob Chych! Enjoy!

Warning: cursing, angst

Anon Request: Can you make an imagine where you're a curvy/thick/plus sized girl (whatever you want to say) dating Jakob or Dylan, and you're insecure about how you look. Can you make it angsty too please? Happy ending or not up to you!! Please and thank you very much :) if you can't get to this it's okay I understand! Thank you though :D

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              You lay on the couch with Jakob, his arms and legs tangled with yours and Humphrey laying against you, looking through the snaps the other girls had sent you from their vacations.

              "You ok?" Jakob asked, nuzzling his head in your neck.

              "Yeah, just thinking" you said as the next snap came up of another one of the bleach blonde bombshells in a bikini.

              "About what?" he asked. Humphrey snorted and shifted in your arms so your boys had both of their heads in your neck.

              "Nothing important." You skimmed through the pictures of everyone in bikinis and sighed.

              "Did you want to go on a vacation? We could still. Anywhere you want" Jakob said.

              "What?" You looked over your shoulder at him. "We live on the beach. Why would I need to go to another one?" Jakob shrugged.

              "You just look really sad looking at the snaps." You kissed his forehead, the only part of him you could reach.

              "No it's not the vacations, I promise. I'm happy here with you and Humps." The dog heard his name and stood up, licking your face excitedly as his tail wagged, almost dragging his butt off the couch the three of you were sharing. "No! Lay down" you said, giggling. Humphrey gave a big doggy sigh before curling back up next to you.

              "So what's the matter?" Jakob asked.

              "It's nothing really."

              "It's obviously something" he said. "I can't enjoy the game if you're upset about something." You rolled your eyes.

              "Seriously, Jakob, just leave it alone and watch your stupid hockey game."

              "Look I'm trying to be a good boyfriend here and you're being a bitch. Come on." Humphrey stood and jumped from the couch, running off as he felt the tension between the two of you.  

              "I'm being a bitch because I don't want to talk about something personal?" You sat up and pulled away from Jakob. "How about this buddy? I didn't push you when you didn't want to talk about losing the fucking season" you snapped. "Nooooo, instead I let you trash our apartment and spend DAYS with Max golfing!"

              "That's not fair" Jacob said, sitting up as you got off the couch.

              "It's not?" You looked at him. "Because I think it is Jakob. You didn't want to talk and I didn't make you, now I don't want to talk and I feel like you're trying to force me to."

              "I don't even know what we're fighting over!" he yelled.

              "Nothing, Jakob. We're fighting over nothing." You threw on your flip-flops and made your way to the door.

              "Where are you going?"

              "Out" you said over your shoulder.

              Jakob didn't get it and it was something you had tried talking to him about before, but he brushed you off, so in your mind it only made sense that you didn't want to try and discuss your insecurities with him again.

              You were curvy, thick, plus sized, whatever you wanted to call it. You were not stick thin like the rest of the girls. You didn't wear bikinis and you even had to shop in the plus sized section of stores.

              Jakob never saw the problem.

              His fans did. All of the girls that wanted to be with him did.

              You did.

              Jakob would joke about it and say it was more to love, but you were done with the jokes. You were done with Jakob playfully pinching your rolls.

              You were just... done.

              You made your way to the warm sand, sitting close enough for the waves to rush over your feet.

              Arizona was nice, but it was no Boca Raton.

              You pulled your knees to your chest and cried.

              You saw the pictures from the girls. You were always the big one, the one that stood out, and people weren't afraid to point that out.

              In high school you had hated your body and tried everything to lose the weight, but nothing worked. You had always hated the image looking back at you from the mirror. Hated the way you looked and couldn't ever seem to find any clothes that fit your body right or make you look good.

              You had always been insecure, trying to blend in rather than stand out. But being with an NHLer wasn't making that easy, which was just making everything worse.

              "(Y/N)" Jakob called out. You should have known he would have found you. He sat behind you and surrounded your body with his. "Please."

              "I c-can't J-Jakob" you cried.

              "You can't what?"

              "I can't be with you." Jakob snorted.

              "I'm not letting you go without a fight. Now come on, I promise I'll talk about the season if you tell me what's going on."

              "It's just..." You couldn't do it. You couldn't say it out loud.

              "So a certain Swede said something before he left" Jakob said suddenly. You nodded for him to keep going. "He said that you were absolutely beautiful and when you came out of your shell, you lit up the whole room."

              "Jakob" you said softly.

              "He's right, you know? You are absolutely gorgeous the way you are."

              "But-"

              "Nope. We're not arguing this point."

              "Well I want to" you snapped. Jakob chuckled. "I'm not like them and I will never be like them and-"

              "I am warning you though" Jakob said, cutting you off. "If you bring up the fans, I'll beat you myself." You let out a surprised laugh.

              "Jakob..."

              "Those girls love you. Brigitte and Andrea and Karen... they all love you."

              "Yeah but-"

              "I assure you, they haven't loved some of the girlfriends the other boys have introduced."

              "Max did have a stellar one" you teased.

              "Max got chewed out by Doaner because he spent that night listening to Andrea bitch about her." You laughed. You hadn't known that.

              "I still don't look like them."

              "Thank god" Jakob said. "Wait... that came out wrong. I just mean... I like you the way you are."

              "But Jakob..."

              "No. End of discussion. You're beautiful and gorgeous and pretty and... I'm running out of adjectives" he laughed. You giggled, leaning back into him.

              "I'm still going to be insecure about my weight" you warned.

              "And I'll always be here to tell you how gorgeous you are. I love you, whether you weighed 500 pounds or 5."

              "Love you too, Jakob." You paused. "And now I know I have a shot with Oliver."

              "HEY!"

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Ok so... I've really got nothing to say that was actually kind of cathartic to write! So let me know what you thought! Up next: Auston Matthews!