#fhrdrk anhrsn

[trilliath]

Mmmmnice Save Freddie ~ 10.09.18

[trilliath]

every time I am reminded that Freddie has fuckin Lego Batman on his mask...

[trilliath]

Freddie with one hell of a toe save ~ 4.16.18

[trilliath]

Nicklas Bäckström sends Ron Hainsey flying with a hip check in the midst of scoring a goal ~ 3.3.18

[trilliath]

Freddie Defends His Net... And Himself ~ 3.5.18

[trilliath]

When Chara bounces a puck in off the back of your head ~ 4.16.18

[trilliath]

Auston Matthews decides Freddie needs a second hug for that first-star performance ~ 4.6.18

[trilliath]

Hi Trill! A while back I remember you commenting on the staring contest between Freddy and Auston as the moment when Freddy realised he wanted to dom Auston or something like that - I've literally been thinking about it ever since, so I wondered if you maybe had some more thoughts on that you wanted to share?

Hehehhehehehehehehehheh uhhhh well. I might be working on writing up a fic that @myotparmada and I plotted out about all that and how someone on the team probably owed Freddie an apology after that Flyers game that had him yelling at people on the bench and allowing his dissatisfaction to show to the media… and how Auston might take it upon himself to… apologize… even though it wasn’t his fault but. You know. Lead by example, the whole team is responsible for each other, etc. etc.

But really, that whole interview, (watch the whole thing) Auston looks so eager to please - so much more expressive than almost everything else I’ve seen with him. He lights up, he giggles, he keeps looking to Freddie to see how he’s responding. Whenever he gets any praise from Freddie he just looks, so warmed by it. To me, he seems like… he’d be on his knees in an instant if only Freddie were to ask.

Freddie has goalie eyes and is the master of the visual-dominant stare so it’s not like he’s ever NOT going to look dominant when he’s paying attention to someone, but still, he seems surprisingly into every little change in Auston’s face throughout that whole thing. But in general he just seems... so dominant.

And the fact that he doesn’t hesitate to cut in sharp at Auston’s possibly-sly-chirping-of-Freddie comment about Connor Brown’s hair and Auston just giggles like he’s just so happy to have Freddie putting him in his place…. well.

Then there’s the video-game competition video they did - not the one where Auston plays with the other boys but where he’s one on one with Freddie. Where Auston spends the entire time glancing over at Freddie looking torn between wanting him to be impressed by his sick skills and looking nervous that he’s made him mad by being too dominant by showing him up so much. His body language SCREAMS it. Like, literally in a technical nonverbal psychology sense (which, I would know, I wrote a chapter in the APA handbook on nonverbal psych lolol), it’s all there. Not that it’s hard to do around a giant like Freddie but Auston in these friendly bits is always making his body-position lower/more subservient to Freddie’s, and I don’t have footage from before, or uncut angles enough to know the timing for sure but I would bet you a lot that in both videos, Freddie’s the one who sets the body postures first and Auston matches him in unconscious mimicry because he’s so tuned in. But also I wouldn’t be surprised if Freddie follows in some of Auston’s smaller more fidgeting gestures that show he’s just as tuned-in to the conversation.And Freddie just keeps stringing him on with pretending to ignore him and giving him just those little hints of attention (all while clearly being completely aware of him). Honestly it’s like watching someone use the join-up method in horse training.

And of course, the staring contest, (which, who even remotely thinks goalies aren’t going to MURDER that competition? they literally train for that shit lmao) where Freddie watches Auston fall apart right in front of him and - ok I don’t find Auston Matthews particularly attractive (especially since he’s so young) but… ahem… crying is a Good Look on him. And Freddie’s slow smile and laughter that’s a little incredulous and amused and yet so pleased with how hard Auston is fighting even though he’s definitely going to lose… to me it genuinely looks like Freddie is having some kind of surprised but pleased realization at just how much he’s enjoying watching Auston struggle to perform this endurance challenge… and how he maybe hadn’t really ever thought of putting Auston on his knees for him and watching him squirm but… well… he’s thinking about it now. That’s where my brain went anyway.

I mean… if you want to forcibly build intimacy (and massive physiological and psychological arousal (not necessarily in the sexual sense but it can also be that) having a direct eye-contact staring contest is one of the most sure-fire ways to LIGHT UP your nervous system. Like whoa. Since Auston is clearly already dialed in to this situation, his crying is almost certainly not just due to dry eyes but due to his system going into overload and needing an outlet. And you might not realize it but the psych science on that suggests that because your brain is kinda…….. easily misled…. excitement may make it kinda go - well, IDK why exactly but I’m SUPER LIT UP RIGHT NOW - huh must be this person I’m talking to i must……. like them or something. They must be super appealing and I’m all excited from it.

So basically… thanks Leafs PR people for manipulating Auston and Freddie into strengthening their subconscious awareness of each other’s appeal… and then showing it to us. I didn’t need another ship but I’ll take it XD

[trilliath]

is your tag for frederik andersen how it's pronounced in danish, because that is horribly accurate lmao

Got it in one. Any time I need to cheer up and laugh really really hard I just go listen to his name pronunciation on Elite Prospects

fhrdrk anhrsn

Like. If you close your teeth and then say his name without moving your jaw that’s pretty much how it sounds.

[trilliath]

holy COW freddie

[trilliath]

Freddie with the Dramatic Facemask Toss ~ 1.22.18