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entomolog-t · 7 months ago

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Finding Strength- Chapter 2

Nearly A WHOLE YEAR after the first chapter WE ARE BACK !!

Meet Rose, a varsity athlete who should needs to pay more attention to the concussion safety protocols. Also Grayson (you'll see a lot more of him eventually)

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Next Chapter: Chapter 3

Word count: 2160

CW: Adult language

Rose smiles. She smiles as the sweat beads that slick her brow drip into her eyes. She smiles as her limbs grow heavy, arms burning and near useless. She even, to the displeasure of her teammate, smiles as she drills. Her grin an ever present, and rather unnerving, fixture on her face as the duo works their way through their umpteenth repetition of speed drills.

Through gritted teeth Grayson Wilder manages to hiss out a quick knock-it-off before being met her forehead ramming square into his gut as she shoots yet another blast double. As her she makes contact, Grayson is swiftly reminded why pre practice Mcdonalds was a terrible idea.

Who even drills blast doubles during speed drills anyways?

As Rose plows through the take down, Grayson uses the brunt of his mental fortitude to curse their coach for having dared to suggest that doing some extra drilling with Rose would be light go’s for him- that, and to keep his meal firmly where it belonged.

Grayson lands with a grunt, and Rose takes the time to give him a sympathetic look before the two hustle back to standing, only to repeat the whole process again.

And again.

And-

The sound of the score clock's buzzer could have been a choir of angels to either athlete at this point. Sweaty, drained and sore, Rose sighs- not from fatigue, but instead satisfaction. There was a buzzing in her arms, shaky and electric with that telltale combination of adrenaline and exertion. Speed drills objectively sucked. Getting stuck with one of the 90 kilo men for a partner sucked even more. But losing her shot to go to Nationals last season has sucked the most. This season would be great- even if that meant she would have to favor the monotony of drilling rather than the excitement of scrimmage.

Think big. Rose grins, testing the sound of her new little mantra in her head. First early birds, then provincials then-

“Rose!”

Her thoughts are abruptly interrupted by a shout from her coach. Hank Miller beckons her over, a cheeky smile on his face as she jogs towards him.

“Another double and Grayson looked about ready to turn Green… son.”

Rose wishes she has the self control to groan, but instead, she laughs.

“Think he’s McLovin it?”

“He’ll be McLoving his sauna suit, that's for sure.” Hank shakes his head. With sigh he hands her a packet. Though as Rose grabs it, Hank doesn't let go. Eyebrows raised expectantly, his smile is replaced by a more stern expression.

“Filled out by Monday, got it?”

Rose rolls her eyes, but Hank’s grip remains firm.

“Don't lose it.”

In a feat of self control that could rival that of monks, Rose resists the urge to inform Hank that it's not impossible to print another copy. Though in fairness, with his downright cretaceous tech literacy, there were good odds that for him, it may in fact be impossible.

“Yes, Mom.” Finally, he relinquishes the thick stack of redundancy forms. With the packet in tow, Rose makes a B-line for her water bottle. Quick drink, stretches… maybe some footspeed drills? The thought of managing to get her legs to move with the growing weight of fatigue and lactic acid setting in was far from appealing, and there was also the weight of impending assignment deadlines to consider…

It should be a felony to have assignments due the first week of the school year...

With a groan, Rose downs her water as she meanders back on the mat to start her stretches, the cool water an oasis in the mugginess of the wrestling room. Though, the coolness of the water does nothing to hide the red hot glare she can feel burning a hole into the back of her head. A quick glance behind her reveals Hank, with a frustratingly smug pair of raised eyebrows as he casts a nod toward her packet; left abandoned on the sidelines.

With all the subtlety of an air horn at a funeral, Rose makes a show of bringing the oh-so-precious forms to her bag, grin smeared across her face as she plays up her exasperation. She can hear Hank laughing behind her, along with another “Monday” for good measure.

Looking over her shoulder Rose makes sure to shoot him a glare of her own as she shoves the papers into the front pocket of her-

A scream.

Head on a swivel, Rose's eyes immediately lock onto the source- a strained yelp escaping her as the sight sends her sprawling back. Her mind races, fumbling as it strains to make sense of what she was almost certain could not have been in her bag.

“...You good?” Hank’s voice feels like a lifeline back to reality, reeling Rose in from her shock.

“Uhh y-yeah, no. I'm good.” She lies, “Just, uh, papercut.”

Rose didn’t move. Hell, she wasn’t even sure if she had been breathing. She was frozen- feeling as if even a blink would dispel the almost certainly not real reality that stared back at her.

There's…. There's a man- A very small man- in my bag.

Rose swallows nervously. Had she hit her head and not realized? Grayson had made her eat mat on at least one failed attempt at a leg shot… Could concussions cause hallucinations?

There's a tiny man in my bag.

They definitely could, right? Rose couldn’t help but notice the irony that she couldn’t remember the stupid Safe Sport Concussion Awareness presentation. What was more concerning? Hallucinations from a grade 2 concussion, or finding a tiny man in her bag?

Rose blinked.

There's still a tiny man in my bag.

In a far away reality, she hears the muffled voice of Hank asking if she's sure she's alright.

Rose hurriedly gathers up her bag at his approach.

“I’m good. Totally good. I… I uh… gotta go.”

_ _ _

Those few stuttered words were all the warning Tamius had before he was flung backwards as the bag was torn from the ground.

A plan- he needed a plan. Anything-

Instead, Tamius was met by sheer chaos. His word topples over itself, rising and falling and sending him careening into the wall of fabric. A horrible realization dawns on him.

She’s running.

Dread seemed to be the only thing anchoring him to reality as Tamius remained a victim to gravity’s indecisiveness.

He’d been caught.

That behemoth idiot had fucking caught him- Tamius grit his teeth.

No. Not yet.

White knuckled, Tamuis clung to the fabric of the bag. His eyes desperately scanning in the low light for the hole he’d cut. If he could make it back into the larger compartment he could buy himself some time taking cover in her clothes- there’d be an opportunity for escape. He was sure there would be. He’d make one.

In a mix of determination and desperation, Tamius fights against the rhythmic lurching, an awful feeling of vertigo boring down on him as his hands scramble for new grips, something- anything- to pull him closer to that fucking hole.

A lock clicked.

The sound slicing through him- an executioner's bell condemning him to his fate.

No, no, no- not yet!

The stillness that followed was truly terrifying, a contagious beast freezing him, and time itself, in place. Reality itself seemed to hold a change, like the feeling before a storm- his muscles tense, and hair standing on its end, as if current was running through him. It was an electric sort of dread- a missed step, an object about to fall, the moment before impact-

No.

The impact came in the form of five grotesquely large fingers diving into the pocket, looking far more like a Hellish mass of writhing limbs than the hands he was familiar with.

Every ounce of his being screamed- all thoughts coalescing to one;

Get to the rip.

In that moment, Tamius was not a man. He was not a being of higher intelligence. In that moment he felt no soul, no empathy, no love. He was a desperate animal scrambling towards a corner. There was no safety waiting for him just beyond the rip. All that waited behind the fabric were a few extra tortured seconds of delusion. A few painful moments where he could pretend he could reason his way out of this and avoid the reality barreling down on him in the form of five gruesome fingers.

Though reality, it seemed, had other plans.

That gargantuan fucking idiot.

The fingers coiled around him, engulfing Tamius in their impossible mass. His heart pounded wildly in his chest, echoed by that of the flesh pulsing around him- the feeling so deeply sickening he could taste bile on his tongue. Tamuis’ stomach lurches as he’s dragged out, hands grasping pointlessly for anything as he's brought forth in front of a sickeningly familiar face.

He wanted to scream. He wanted to fight back. He wanted to kick, and bite and scratch until she had to let him go. He wanted so desperately to be the cause of even the smallest amount of pain. Anything to wipe that ridiculous awestruck stare off of her stupid face. Anything to pretend like there was something he could do to change the outcome.

But Tamius The Bestoyed, was a man far too smart for his own good. Cursed with reason, he was granted no security in ignorance. Pride was reserved for those who could delude themselves into believing they were in control. Much to his horror, Tamius knew better.

He’d been caught.

Trapped in the fist of a colossus, Tamius swallowed his pride. Tamius was a man of intellect and reason. So he did what any man with intellect and reason would do.

He begged.

“Please.” His voice shook, thick with fear and desperation as garbled pleas spilled forth like a river in spring. The knowledge he so prided himself with failed him, his words a stunted mess of gasping pleases and begging to be let go.

Her brow furrows.

“Pl-please.” Despite himself, Tamius uselessly strained against her fingers, wracking his brain anything he could say. Her eyes, wide and gray, were locked onto him.

Gray.

Gray like foreboding skies. Gray like-

She sucks in a breath, her eyes widening as some sort of thought passes through the near impenetrable density of her gargantuanly thick skull. For a moment, her mouth hangs agape- a look of confusion crossing her face as she takes her time forming a thought.

“... Why are you crying?”

Of all the things she could have said, Tamius had not been anticipating this.

What?

As if experiencing sympathy stupidity, his own mind goes blank, struggling to keep pace with her words. Was he? His face felt wet.

Wait- what did she mean why? How stupid could she be- As if she wasn’t obviously the reason!

Tamius wants to say something, but calling out her oblivious stupidity was out of the question. Before he’s able to gather his words, her hand opens up. No longer restrained in her grip, Tamius, completely and totally dumbstruck, finds himself sitting splayed out in her much too warm cupped hand.

He’s hit with an onslaught of thoughts, as he rapidly begins reformulating any semblance of a plan.

Could he jump? Run? Where was he? Could he fit under the door? How would he get home-

“Did I …” His thoughts are immediately silenced as she addresses him again, “... hurt you?”

Her words catch him off guard, but not nearly as much as her expression. Concern. Embarrassment? She seemed horrified at the thought, her grey eyes scrutinizing him for any sign of injury in a way that bordered on violating.

Too close- too much.

Unable to find his voice, Tamius shakes his head, scrambling back as much as the limited surface of her hands would allow. The massive, and now that he had the chance to get a good look at her, very sweaty woman eyed him curiously. She thinks for a moment, brow furrowed as the act of thinking clearly was not something in which she was well practiced.

“How did you get so small?”

What? Get?

His own expression mirrors hers, brow furrowing as realization dawns on him.

This idiot Gargo thinks I’ve shrunk…

If he wasn’t so terrified he would have scoffed. It would be his luck that he managed to have encountered the most gullible specimen of humanity imaginable. As if people just go around shrinking- wait.

People.

She thinks I’m human.

His hands rush to his ears, relief washing over him as he feels his hair, mussed just enough from this whole ordeal to have covered their not quite human shape. This… this could work. Despite the way his hands shook, despite the way his heart pounded in his chest, despite the way this was far beyond the bounds of a worst case scenario, a wry smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

What an idiot.

#Tamius just perpetually rolling critical failures #Man is a walking L #Also- enjoy my first borrower slur : Gargo #Theres some JUICY little foreshadowing in here #RoseOC #TamiusOC #GraysonOC #HankOC #FS #Finding Strength #Entowrites

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devilsupdates · 7 months ago

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The last official updates until post season trade.

These are from this morning.

On learning to be a consistent, reliable player Alex Holtz says he really watches the way Ondrej Palat and Jesper Bratt carry themselves every day, showing up at the rink early, etc.

I have no doubt there are others too, but he pointed out those two in his answer.

Dawson Mercer: “We know we’re a talented group, we believe in ourselves. We know what (type of) guys we have in this room. We’re excited (for next season), you can’t doubt that because we know what we are capable of.”

Alexander Holtz says he wants to come back next season a different player… more reliable, quicker, better skating.

Luke said he was really thankful to have Jack to lean on this year, his rookie season, and spend every day with his brother.

Added: “I had a cook!” and reiterated that Jack is an excellent cook.

Luke Hughes will go to Worlds with Team USA

Nolan Foote had a lower-back, disc injury that had been lingering for the past four years.

That’s what kept him out this season.

Nemec said he really leaned on having Ondrej Palat and Tomas Nosek around in his first year. Being able to communicate in their language was important and he said that he, Palat and Nosek would often go for dinner together.

Nemec talked about his first real moment of feeling like he was in the NHL was when he was lining up against Connor McDavid in his fourth game.

That checks out.

Simon Nemec will be going to play at Worlds with Slovakia

Congrats to Jack on earning the King Clancy Memorial Trophy nomination!

Nate Bastian said his injury could not have come at a worse time in the season… said he probably would have been able to join the team on the ice today if #NJDevils were still playing.

Dougie Hamilton said that he was hoping to be ready to at least join the team for practice in the next little bit if the team was headed to the playoffs.

Tomas Nosek says he will go to Worlds with Czechia and it will be the first time he’s playing at Worlds. Says it means a lot to him to be able to play for the first time with the men’s National team in his home country.

#NJDevils Curtis Lazar reveals it was a shoulder injury. “Nothing too major, probably would have been cleared to play this week.”“I’m excited about the outlook of this team because we’ve been through a lot now.”

Jesper Bratt: “Obviously it wasn’t the way we wanted this season to go…there were a lot of games this year where if we played more mature we would have gotten the points.”“We have to use this as major motivation to dial it in…to come back more mature and get this team back to the playoffs.”

Jesper Bratt says he’s unsure if he’s going to Worlds, has to discuss with #NJDevils medical staff before making that decision

Jake Allen on what he’s looking forward to next year: “I think there is a lot of optimism here. We know what kind of team this can be. We all want to put our work boots on this summer and come back a little bit better.”

Dougie Hamilton on his injury: “I just fell awkwardly on my arm… I just felt something and knew something was wrong.”

On the challenges of this year: “it’s hard not being out there with the guys…definitely makes you appreciated stuff and make sure you don’t take things for granted.”

On his health: “I’ve been skating, the plan was targeting playoffs…once we realized the was no (playoff) chance, we changed back up the rehab.”

“Hard year for everyone. Hard year for me not being able to help.”

Kaapo Kahkonen on coming over at the deadline: “I’ve gone through it twice. It’s always hectic at the start…you try to focus on your game…I felt good at the start, good guys in the room.”“I want to be a number one goalie…we’ll see where everything goes.”

Kevin Bahl on his year: “Biggest takeaway was learning a lot. I was in a spot I didn’t expect to be…I think I need to work on my shot this summer big time and footspeed.”On this year’s ending: “it’s extremely motivating…being here today and not playing hockey is a weird feeling.”On playing all 82 games: “it’s extremely grueling…it’s all about taking care of your body…it’s extremely rewarding too, because you are always with the game group.”

Ondrej Palat on what to take from this year: “Learning experience..need to think about it this summer and train harder this offseason.”“There are so many games we had a chance to get points and didn’t at the end…our mentality to play defense it wasn’t good enough.”On his own game: “Not a great year, not a lot of points…I’m not judging myself on points, I’m judging myself on winning battles and setting example, I think I did OK there, not great.”On opening season in Czechia: “it’s amazing, almost unbelievable to play NHL hockey in Czech”

Nico Hischier is expecting to go to Worlds with Switzerland. Says he’s in touch with his national team coach.

So it’s been a bit of a rough year injury-wise for Timo.

Timo Meier also said he was dealing with an oblique injury later in the year as well.

Timo Meier says it's up in the air whether he will be going to Worlds with Switzerland or not.

Says he's waiting on certain things to make sure his body is good enough to play more and he hasn't made an official decision yet.

Until anymore updates on the devils it will be about the playoffs and the cup here.

In Minnesota wild news

The Giving Flower 🌸

We're proud to announce Fleury is our 2024 nominee for the @NHL's King Clancy Memorial Trophy!

He is also the recipient of the #mnwild 's Tom Kurvers Humanitarian Award!

The Wild Flower blooms like no other 🌸

We're excited to announce we've signed goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to a one-year contract extension!

#new jersey devils #hockey imagine #nico hischier #jack hughes #luke hughes #hockey #timo meier #john marino

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feddy-34 · 5 months ago

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what does klay even gain from leaving the warriors? no other franchise is gonna overpay for a 34 year old 3 n D who has had both an ACL and and achilles tear? not to mention he's already losing the footspeed to defend like he used to.

this is so goofy it's actually making me feel bad for dubs fans

#klay u are acting a fool rn #he needs 2 just stay high on his boat #klay thompson #warriors #nba

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sergeifyodorov · 1 year ago

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i could read a million of these character asks <33 would love one for jt of leafs pjs fame and alexander ovechkin

I already knew about ovi from cultural osmosis, so I’m pretty sure I just thought of him as That Big Russian Guy Who Scores All The Goals. you know how it is.

unfortunately, i can remember my first encounter with john tavares in much more clarity. Picture this. 2021. NHL playoffs. I’m tuning in casually to watch a hockey game, plenty of which I’ve seen before but none of which i have consciously paid attention to, as I am now about to.

john tavares plays three minutes before --

i turn the television off, not to pick up hockey again until christmas.

IMPRESSION NOW

Ovechkin: DILF OF MY DREAMSSSSSS. kind of walks the line between the erotic and terrifying… he’s big and sexy sure but he’s also 240 pounds of pure freight train muscle and he DOES not get injured. Remember svech Trying It? remember svech trying It and getting knocked out in a couple punches? Ovi doesn’t even look like he’s TRYING, and svech, while being young, is no wimp, but he’s absolutely nothing compared to the absolute brick wall that is ovi. Also his power play technique freaks me out. He literally just stands there and waits for u to send him one timers. and it works

this is the shot density map for washington’s power play this year. Can you tell where ovi stands

yeah.

anyway i also think besides his big scarysexydilfy power he also has this sort of genre-aware whimsy that makes him just absolutely fascinating. it kind of reminds me of chucky in a way and it absolutely makes sense charisma-wise that ovi was The Cool One and sid (mcdavid in our tkachuk analogy) was obviously better albeit less popular for the casual fan, who likes the shiny sparky one and perhaps does not have a finer eye for the true step-above skill that davo and sid have.

Tavares: from one dilf to another… anon u have chosen well. jt like ovi is a virgo, a captain, a werewolf, a first overall pick, and a dilf, but the similarities end there i think… jt is a lot quieter and his sense of authority over his team feels a lot more “democratically chosen figurehead” than ovi’s natural alpha pheromones or whatever. As a player i think he’s really quite underrated -- his footspeed has obviously slipped away from him as he ages, but he’s never been fast or agile and has kind of always been a lot more reliant on his intellect and upper-body dexterity than his skating. I think he’s got this steady internal peace that really comes off to a lot of us as Boring Man (and that’s not entirely false per se) but more importantly that he has this willful internal compass that few hockeys have. that he chose to leave the islanders like that is not something that can be overstated i think; he was offered more by the isles and the sharks and i believe at least one other place, too, but he picked. He CHOSE. Most hockeys who have that kind of first-overall captaincy expectation/franchise saviour mantle on their head like he did for the Island are trapped; he was not. AND HE’S SEXY

FAV MOMENT

Ovechkin: the out-knocking of andrei svechnikov is not my fav moment but it’s certainly iconique… ovi is old and has several Moments so im gonna list a few:

the goal from his back, without which we may not have auston matthews in his current capacity

Any of the million anecdotes where he shows up in denim shorts so tiny everyone tells him to go home and change

sidovi duelling hattricks night

Really any time he cellies by just jumping on TOP of his teammates, presumably all of which are smaller and significantly more fragile than him

hahaha ice tweet

partying in the vegas fountains with the cup

Tavares: instead of providing you with several small moments i will instead provide you with The Big One: CURSEBREAKING GOAL. nuff said. to many more.

IDEA FOR STORY

Ovechkin: his age as a vet and his nebulous genre awareness make him really an ideal man for something weird. real “talking about the nature of the metaphysics that hold hockey together” type fic. also because he is such a mother hen of all the caps he deserves to take a few of them on a road trip to solve some problems… maybe we can get some baby cap who is having a Moment when confronted with A Dilf. dylan strome seems like he would take any opportunity to ~service~ his amazingly talented generational captain and of course his winger.

Tavares: say it with me: JT/ROR werewolf/vampire au (jt is the werewolf)

UNPOPULAR OPINION

Ovechkin: if the nhl weren’t cowards they wouldve marketed him as a sex symbol in the late aughts

Tavares: if the nhl weren’t cowards they would’ve marketed him as a sex symbol in the early 2010s

FAV RELATIONSHIP

Ovechkin: i actually was never an nhl fan during nicke backstrom’s time so as much as i appreciate a good Duo marriage type deal im not like. Familiar enough with Nicke for any of it. so i suppose i have to come out of the little glass closet im in as a SIDOVI WARRIOR

Tavares: now he is not nearly as slutty as ovi so we mostly have to appreciate him looking like That without shipping. although he did confess to quote liking “bossing [Willy] around a little bit” so. there’s that. also through my campaign to make the bolts more popular (so i can enjoy more narrative while getting colour confused on our yearly playoff matchup) i should remind you all that he and stamkos are CHILDHOOD FRIENDS and both wear 91 because of the other. think on that

FAV HEADCANON

Ovechkin: we’re getting into magical realism fic au type deals but he is one of the nhlers who inherently Has Powers. look some nhlers just Have Powers and he is one of em. no sidney crosby does not he is just autistic and a hockey freak. no auston matthews does not he is just a virgo and gay. quinnifer and mcdavid definitely do and machuk definitely does not. back to ovi he’s got some weird seeing beyond the veil shit goin on

Tavares: now we know he likes celine dion so i think really he’s got tastes in music that are a lot more reminiscent of your standard suburban fifty-something white milf than what he is, which is a thirty-something toronto dad. we ARE listening to shania twain together and you have to deal with that

#asks #john tavares #alex ovechkin #this is an inchresting set of players anon but u have TASTE

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