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starlighttsv · 4 days ago

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I’m not fine - p.b

Sum: R is struggling bad and Paige comes to the rescue

Warnings: bad mental health, depression, grief, talks of cancer

Notes: this is my first time writing like angst/sad stuff please tell me how it is and what to change 🙏 requested by @melpthatsme

Pair: paige x bsf!reader

Wc: 1.9k

It’s now been 9 days since your mom died, although it feels like it’s been a lifetime. Your mom was diagnosed with breast cancer about 2 years ago and 2 years ago she said she would fight to the end…and she did.

When you got the call that she wasn’t doing to great you immediately booked a plane ticket to Minnesota and left, forgetting to mention anything to your professors, Geno and CD, or any of your teammates including Paige.

You received calls and texts wondering where you were and what happened for days the only one that didn’t message for days was Paige - and that’s because she has your location.

When you didn’t respond to her 10 messages and 20 missed calls she knew something was up and checked your location to see you heading towards Minnesota, immediately knowing something was going on with your mom.

Paige thinking responsibly in this situation went and talked to Geno, telling him what she thinks is wrong and where she knows you went. Geno ended up giving you and her a week off telling her to find you, make sure you’re ok, and then to get you back home safely.

When Paige got to Minnesota that night she went to check your location while at the airport to see your step dad had texted Paige - basically telling her that your mom has an hour maybe two left and that she needs to get here as soon as she can because he’s worried about you.

That confirmed what Paige was thinking was happening and made her rush to the hospital getting there in around 35 minutes from Uber. When she walked in she went to the front desk telling them your moms name with them giving her directions to the room.

Walking into room 305 she saw your step dad leant against the wall with one of his arms crossed over his chest and the other covering his mouth, looking around she saw your older brother trying to comfort your guy’s kid siblings, and you laying on your moms hospital bed with your head on her chest holding onto her tightly, sleeping.

Your step dad noticed her first getting off the wall and walking towards her - bringing her into a hug “thank you for coming, im just- I know this is gonna hit her hard and that she’s gonna push us away. I feel like you’re the one she won’t be able to push away and if she does you’ll still be able to get to her.” he whispers to her while they both watch you sleep on your moms chest while she slowly plays with your hair

“How long has she been like this?” Paige asks him “I called her at around 11am she got here around 6:35pm so since then.” He replies sadly “she’s been just hanging out in the corner watching all of us but the doctor told us to start saying goodbyes a little bit ago. She decided to go last and she hasn’t moved since.”

Paige nods setting her suitcase that she filled for both of you knowing you weren’t thinking when you just up and left, by the door and carefully walked over to you and your mom

“Hey, mom” paige says to your mom as you guys grew up with each other so you call each other’s mothers mom. “hey Paige, how are you?” She replies weakly while still slowly playing with your hair “Been better, what about you?”

“Ohh you know, been better” she replies a little sarcastically chuckling a little bit, making Paige fake laugh a little with her eyes welling up with tears

“Oh Paige don’t cry, it’s ok! I promise!” Your mom try’s to backtrack “Its not ok. You don’t deserve this. This shouldn’t be how your story ends.” Paige says wiping the tears that escaped

Your mom didn’t say anything just opened her other arm for Paige, letting p hug her.

Your mom sadly passed about 25 minutes later with you waking up because you didn’t hear her heartbeat in your ear anymore.

Ever since you got home from the hospital you locked yourself in your room. You stayed laying sideways on your bed facing the wall for days without moving. The day of your mom’s funeral was probably the hardest day to get through, getting up from bed was painful because of you not moving around, standing made you dizzy because of the not eating, you also had a headache and stomach ache from not eating.

During the funeral it was like ‘the lights are all on but nobody’s home’ you were smiling and greeting everyone, having multiple conversations through out the day with different people, you also spoke at her funeral, you didn’t cry once. You stayed smiling through the whole day.

Until you weren’t.

Getting home from all of the funeral duties you guys did at around 8pm, everyone was tired and everyone was upset - but they all still noticed your behavior at the funeral and now.

“Hey why don’t we all watch a movie in the living room? I’ll make popcorn?” Your step dad say’s trying to keep you from going to your room without you noticing that’s what he’s doing.

Your siblings and Paige all agree but you don’t “I’m tired. I’m just gonna take a shower and head to bed.” You say starting to walk upstairs “hey wait up, I’ll go with you” paige says starting to walk closer to you “no it’s fine P, just watch the movie like you wanted. Im just going to sleep.” Paige looked like she was going to argue “P seriously, I’m fine. Im tired and I want to go to bed.” You say trying to convince her and yourself

Paige looked hesitant but ended up letting you walk upstairs with her sighing and turning around to go to the living room where all of your family went during that conversation

Your step dad looked at Paige in a way of asking if you were joining making her shake her head sadly and him sigh.

Since coming back home from the funeral, you went back to hiding. You locked yourself in your room laying bundled up in your blankets, you ignored everything and everyone. Your family and Paige knocked on your door multiple times a day either to try and get you out or to try and get you to eat something, but you just ignored them everyday.

It’s also now been more than a week meaning you and Paige were supposed to be back in Connecticut 3 days ago. Luckily Paige is your knight in shining armor right now and called Geno, telling him everything. He gave both of you another two weeks excusing both of you from any games that would take place in that time frame.

Paige has been talking through your door for the last 25 minutes trying to get you to open the door, no luck so far.

“Your dad went back to work today, said they couldn’t figure out how to do somethin. Your siblings also went back to school today, the school knows what happened so they’re offering counseling to them.” Paige says sitting against your door listening for any movement but sighing when she didn’t hear any “please open the door. Im worried about you.” She starts “remember when you first found out about her diagnosis? You came to me crying saying you didn’t want to lose her and that you were scared. Do you remember what I said?”

“I said that I would always be by your side, that I would never let you be alone. No matter what, and I’m gonna stick by that even if you’re trying to push me away. Your moms not in pain anymore I promise.” She continues before starting again “your mom wouldn’t want you to be locked up in your room over her. You and I both know that. please just open the door, you don’t even have to leave your room just let me come in there.” She says and try’s listening for movement again but gets disappointed all over again

Right when she was standing up from sitting against your door to go back to the living room, your door opens making her immediately turn around and look at you

You look disheveled. Your hairs messy, you have dark circles over your eyes with tear streaks still on your face, your eyes are red and puffy, your favorite hoodie is now a little baggy on you, and you look like your about pass out

Paige immediately walks closer to you and brings you into her chest, letting you lean all of your weight onto her. She has one hand holding your head to her chest and the other wrapped around the middle of your back while you have your arms wrapped around her waist

“You don’t have to go through this alone, You know that right? Paige mumbles into your hair with you staying quiet.

After a few moments of silence Paige feels something wet on her shirt already knowing that you’re crying, making her hug you tighter. That triggered the waterfall making you start sobbing into Paige’s shirt

“It’s ok, it’s ok. Let it out, it’s ok” paige says staring to rub your back and hold you tighter. “I can’t do this” you sob out “i can’t live without her”

“Shhh shh it’s gonna be ok. You’re never gonna be living without her, she’s always gonna be right next to you watching you and being your guardian angel I promise.” Paige say’s keeping up with her movements on rubbing your back and scratching your head

You don’t answer just cry a little bit louder. Your knees buckle under you but since Paige was holding you still she was able to catch you and decided to just help you sit on the ground so in case you do pass out you would be able to lay down.

She sits against the wall and has you sitting in between her legs still holding onto her waist, with her hands still in the same spots they were in before.

“Please stop trying to push me away. I wanna be here for you.” Paige mumbles into your hair, you just nod into her chest gripping the back of her shirt in your fists

Paige kept her promise and stuck by your side, helping you with everything. You needed groceries? She’s already driving to the store. You don’t have the energy to cook? She’s making it or she’s door dashing, depends really. You can’t get out of bed? She’s getting in your bed beside you and you guys are having a movie night sleepover. You don’t feel the best because of your depression? She’s drawing you a warm bath with a bath bomb, candles, and scents and making your favorite food while you’re in the bath. And so much more - paige has been your rock during this whole nightmare making it feel not as dark and difficult as it actually is.

You both have gone back to Connecticut, and you talked with Geno and CD when you got back with them requesting that you also see some type of councilor or therapist. After that the team decided to have a team night where you do anything and everything - wanting to show that they are in fact there for you and you don’t have to go through the grief process alone.

And eventually after some time you realized that on your own.

#paige bueckers #paige bueckers x fem!reader #paige bueckers x oc #paige bueckers x reader #paige x reader #uconn x reader #paige bueckers fic #wnba x reader #paige x platonic!reader #starlighttsv’s works

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ohmybueckers · 7 days ago

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Never Strangers: Chapter 1

Part 1: Prologue

Word Count: 4.2k

Warnings: Mentions of Maya’s dad being a bit of a pos but otherwise none

Note: Finally got this proofread and feel good enough to publish the prologue! There’s going to be a fair bit of jumping back and forth between 2019 and 2023 especially in the first few chapters, but hopefully the transitions between the two will be pretty seamless. I hope every is having a wonderful holiday season!

November 2019

I’m outside, ready when u are

Maya Morgan read the text that illuminated her phone, which was sprawled on her dresser. She huffed as she hurriedly finished the remaining steps of her makeup routine. A couple sprays of perfume, a swipe of chapstick, and a packed purse later, she threw her bedroom door open, calling to her dad and his girlfriend that she would be back before curfew. After taking a moment to mentally prepare herself, she swung the door open and began her battle against the fresh snow in her front yard.

Even after living in New England the majority of her life, nothing could have prepared Maya for her first Minnesota winter. Windchill bit at her exposed ankles as she dashed out the door and across her front yard, cursing herself for not wearing taller socks with her low tops. Her struggle was met with a loud laugh, even as she reached her destination.

“Open the door, Paige!” Maya yelped, earning further roars from her blonde friend. Regardless, the car door unlocked with a pop, which prompted Maya to throw it open, push herself into the passenger seat, and close the door as fast as she could without slamming it.

“There’s no chance you’re from Boston if that is how you react to a little snow.˝ Paige quipped, yet still turning on the passenger seat warmer without needing to be asked.

"Okay, Boston doesn’t do winter like this," the younger girl groaned in response, throwing her head back against the seat that was slowly rising in temperature. "My dad said to tell you good luck on the game tomorrow, by the way."

There were many things Maya expected when her mom sat her down last January and informed her that her dad would be moving to the suburbs of Minneapolis in May and taking her with him. She expected the pains of adjusting to a new school, and adjusting to living with her dads girlfriend (who loved to parent her despite 1) only meeting her a year ago and 2) being young enough to somewhat reasonably pass as her older sister). What she did not expect was to befriend the top women’s basketball college recruit of her class, famous enough that she received multiple texts from old classmates back home after tagging Paige in a story.

It’s not like there’s any reason why they should have become close - Paige lived a couple suburbs over and went to a different school, outside of which the majority of her time was consumed by basketball. Save for her brief career on her middle school volleyball team, Maya’s main extracurricular of choice had always been mock trial. They could not have led more different lives if they tried.

Just a week into adjusting to life in Minnesota, however, the Bueckers family invited them to dinner. Maya’s dad and Paige’s dad had apparently roomed together in college and Paige’s father, ever the nice midwestern dad stereotype, had taken it upon himself to welcome his old friend to the state.

——

May 2019

“So Riley, your dad says that you’re going to be a junior this year.” Paige’s father turned to face Maya at the dinner table, their pasta dinners long finished. “Given any thought to colleges yet?”

“Dad.” The blonde whom Maya had met just twenty minutes ago groaned. She sat directly opposite Maya at the table, making their only interactions up until that point an awkward introduction as the darker haired girl first entered through the door and a series of glances as their parents chatted about their college days.

Maya didn’t quite know what to make of her yet. She seemed nice, sure, and she was tall, towering over her 5’4 frame. Her dad raved on the car ride over just how good at basketball she was too - number one ESPN recruit who had just committed to the University of Connecticut a month prior. Weirdly enough, it almost seemed like her dad was more aware of Paige’s accomplishments than her own.

“She still has another year before she applies Bob, let her rest.” Paige’s stepmom gently scolded. Her son, who could not have been older than seven years old, sat fiddling with his remaining food beside her, an action she had been trying to correct throughout the meal. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, sweetie.”

Maya shot an appreciative look towards the woman, who returned it with a warm smile. “Um, I’ve been looking into some schools. I should have in-state tuition to U of M by the time I apply. Mom’s still trying to decide if she’s staying in Boston or moving to Stamford, but UMass Amherst is also on the table…”

“Well you know if she does end up moving, you got a built-in tour guide for UConn with this one.” Paige’s dad interjected, nudging at his daughter who looked like she would rather be anywhere but at that table. “Ok, so what about your major…”

“Oh, you don’t need to know that yet!” Paige’s stepmom interjected once more, shooting a sharp look at her husband.

Truthfully, though, Maya didn’t really mind. College was one of the few things she was sure about those days. “Probably economics and criminal justice, maybe with a business related minor. I want to go to law school after.”

“Oh, we have a lawyer in the house!” Mr. Bueckers exclaimed.

“Hey dad, I was thinking I could maybe drive her around the neighborhood? Show her ‘round?” Paige spoke up, looking to Maya with her eyebrows slightly raised. Though she hardly knew the girl, Maya quickly clocked that look as a lets get out while we can kind of look.

“I guess why wait to be a tour guide when you can be one now.” Mrs. Bueckers spoke, seemingly catching on to their plan. “Go ahead, girls.”

The girls left the table with their plates and a chorus of “thank you”’s, giving each dish a quick rinse before Paige reached for the keys. Once they were in Paige’s car and Maya could reasonably conclude there was no chance of Bob Bueckers overhearing her, she said, “Thanks for the save back there.”

“I remember how stressful those college conversations were. Dunno why my dad seems to love them so much.”

“I really don’t mind.” Maya shrugged, “Sounds like your conversations were an extra layer of awful, though.”

“Wasn’t so bad. Colleges have you visit when recruiting you, basically show you the best parts of being apart of their program. It’s super nice. Then they put you through it after you’ve committed to playing there.” Paige chuckles. “Besides, it was always kinda UConn for me.”

“Same here. Not UConn, but with law. My mom showed me Legally Blonde once when I was ten, and the rest is history.”

They fell into a somewhat uncomfortable silence as Paige backed out of her driveway. Fidgeting with her dark brown hair, she scans the girl next to her. Her mother had practically drilled into her from birth that any event where first impressions were involved warranted dressing up. However, seeing Paige in ripped black jeans, a white tank top, and red sneakers, she suddenly felt a bit insecure about her black skirt and white blouse.

“You want aux?” Paige asked, interrupting the other girls insecurities by handing her the cord. Maya grabbed it, happy for any lifeline out of the quiet atmosphere between her and this girl who she had quite literally just met. The beginning of Jumpman rang through the speakers, prompting the blonde to look at her with curiosity.

“You like Drake?”

She’s acting as if he’s some underground artist, Maya thought with an eyebrow raised. “Who doesn’t?”

As if she could detect some unintended edge in the brunettes voice, Paige quickly attempted to do damage control. “I guess I just didn’t think… never mind. Who else you listen to?”

The next twenty minutes of their drive consisted of Maya shuffling through her “May 2019” playlist, with Paige offering feedback. They watched the sun set as the car was filled with songs from Brent Faiyaz (earning an “Okay, you got taste” out of Paige), Ariana Grande (“7 Rings is fire, I’ll give you that one”), and One Direction (to which Paige said “now you lost me”).

After around 6 songs, Paige decided that the two of them needed a treat to wash down their dinner and turned into a McDonalds. “Not as good as Culver’s, but it’ll do.”

“What’s Culver’s?” Maya asked. Paige reacted as if she had been shot.

“You’re messing with me, right?” Maya shook her head no, to which Paige’s horror grew only more apparent. “Oh my God, you’re serious?”

“Paige, I moved here like a week ago.” Maya couldn’t help but be amused by just how dramatic Paige was being about this. The basketball star was funny, she would give her that one.

“Still, Maya, that’s insane.” Paige emphasized, surprising the other girl by using her name. Maya decided she liked how it sounded coming from Paige. “Okay, next weekend come back to my place, I’ll take you to Culver’s, and you’ll be happy you moved out here.”

Maya couldn’t help but feel a glow in her chest at Paige’s insistence on seeing her again, a feeling she chalked up to being happy to have at least one friend in this town.

Not so sure about that, Maya thought, but the sight of Paige’s face and the tone of her voice, so sure of herself, dulled the sting a little. Offering a small smile, she said, “deal.”

——

Maya kept up her end of the deal, and the two of them had been inseparable since. Well, at least inseparable in a metaphorical sense. They had about one month together before Paige left for Team USA training, with Maya leaving for a mock trial intensive program around a week later. They still found ways to bond despite the distance, with Paige practically spamming Maya with Instagram memes in her limited down time, while Maya found a stream to watch her games and texted her thoughts (despite her very limited knowledge of basketball terms - that was an effort Paige was still working on).

Even as school started for both of them, with Paige starting senior year at Hopkins while Maya attempted to navigate junior year at a new school, the two of them always seemed to find time together even when it appeared there was no time to be found, even if it was just Maya helping Paige with her precalculus homework or Paige doing shooting drills at the gym as Maya cheered her on, reading a new case for mock trial in the process. Their dads joked that this was bound to happen, that Paige and Maya were just like them.

I don’t know if my dad felt about Bob the way I feel about Paige, Maya couldn’t help but quip to herself every time her dad would say such a thing.

“I have a good feeling about this season.” Paige spoke, eyes still on the road. “As long as I don’t get some freak illness or injured again, I’ll be straight.”

“You’ll be great. You always are.” Maya turned to look at a home that decided to decorate for Christmas over a month too early, missing the way her friend’s cheeks flushed at the compliment.

Paige turned into Culver's, a spot that quickly became a go-to for Maya and Paige excursions. The line for the drive through was at least six cars deep, giving the two of them plenty of time to play their favorite game. “If I win this one, we’re getting a vanilla concrete with Oreo.”

“And if I win, we’re getting the Fanta float.” Paige replied with a grin, earning a groan from the dark haired girl in the passenger seat.

“Paige, that sounds nasty.” Yet she still reached her hand out, the two girls muttering rock, paper, scissors under their breaths before making their decisions. Maya confidently chose rock.

Paige chose paper.

“Lets go!” The taller girl exclaimed with the same vigor as if she scored a buzzer beater. This earned a chuckle out of Maya, dulling the sting of her orange desert fate.

At least this means I get to choose our food, Maya thought. “Ok, we’re getting cheese curds then.”

“A true midwesterner already! They grow up so fast.” Page fake cooed earning her an eye roll from the other girl.

10 minutes later, they sat in the parking lot with Paige working on her Fanta float while Maya stuck to the cheese curds. Though they were fine doing just about anything together, this was their favorite: going to get food, sitting in parking lots and listening to music.

Paige took a sip of her float, immediately after popping a curd in her mouth. The combo prompted a nose scrunch from the basketball player. “You know how much I love cheese curds, but this is kinda a questionable pairing.”

“I think that’s on you.” Maya chirped back. A One Direction song begins playing from the brunette’s shuffled songs, earning an “oh hell nah” from Paige followed by a laugh from Maya. though Paige had been successful in making her tolerate Minneapolis (love was still too strong of a word), she hadn’t reached quite the same results when it came to converting Paige to being a Directioner.

The blonde reached for Maya’s phone in the cupholder in order to change the song, an action that Maya would never think twice about usually. However, at the corner of your eye, she saw Paiges brows furrow slightly. “Jack snapped you again?”

Oh god, my thought. Sure enough, she took a look at her screen, which was illuminated by a notification. It’s safe to say she was not in the mood. “Yeah, I guess.”

Jack and Maya met in AP Chemistry. Somehow, the boy got her Snapchat early on in the semester, taking no time to wait to ask her out. For some reason she agreed, despite not really knowing much about Jack other than the fact that he was on the soccer team and absolutely sucked at chemistry labs (Maya was not completely unconvinced that he wasn’t just trying to get with her for homework answers).

“This is like the third one in the past 20 minutes.” Maya couldn’t figure out if she was imagining the edge in Paige’s voice or not. “Date went that well, huh?”

If only she fucking knew. “He asked to see me again.”

“Ah.” Paige wasn’t even trying to hide her annoyance at this point, her response uncharacteristically snippy.

“What?”

“I just didn’t think he was your type. He just seems kinda … flavorless.” Paige dragged the last word out, scrunched her nose as if she smelled something foul. The girl next to her let out a noise in shock, although she was also clearly fighting back a laugh (and losing).

“Oh my gosh, Paige!”

“Sorry!” Paige threw her hands up in defense. “Okay, tell me what you like about him.”

In all honestly, Maya liked that Jack was there. She liked how he went out of his way to get her Snapchat, in a moment where she was looking for any distraction possible from what she actually wanted. She liked how he pursued her so heavily, and she liked the status from it. But when it came time to being alone with Jack, she froze

“You do like him, right?” Paige asked, her voice uncharacteristically serious. Maya really wished she hadn’t.

Paige didn’t need to know that Maya felt more when she received the blondes notification on her phone than when Jack kissed her. Even sitting in a car like this on a Friday night, fast food in hand and listening to music felt more intimate than anything she had felt with guys. Besides, Jack had already asked Maya out again, and Maya declined. Why he was still trying, she had no clue.

It’s not like other people in her life hadn’t already suspected something else was going on. Even her own mother tried asking if Paige was into girls in an unsubtle way that only nosy parents are capable of. The issue was that Maya didn't know. She didn’t even know if this meant she was gay herself. They never talked about it.

In mock trial, it was basically Maya’s job to know exactly what to say and when. Very few times found her speechless. This was one of those times.

Her lifeline came in the form of the Culver’s employee, pulling Paige away from the interrogation in order to pay for their food at the drive-up window. Despite her attempt to protest, Paige paid for both items, and Maya was hit with the guilt of knowing she was acting this closed off to Paige, the one who she knew cared so deeply for her even if not in the way her heart hoped. This was still her best friend.

Their silence continues as Paige finds a parking spot. As Maya opens her mouth to apologize, Paige beats her to it. “I shouldn’t have said all that shit about Jack, I’m sorry. If you like him, I support it.”

“You don’t need to apologize. You’re right."

Maybe Maya was imagining things, but she could have sworn Paige’s eyebrows rose with some emotion close to hope. Looking down and fidgeting with her black hoodie, she continued. “I think I liked the idea of Jack more than who he actually is.”

“Yeah?” Paige edged her on, her voice low, and Maya attempted to ignore how it made her heart beat faster.

“Our date was honestly… really boring. He just started talking about himself and didn’t ask me a thing about myself. He took me to this one part of the park and tried to kiss me, but he just ended up kinda choking me with his tongue. It was awful.”

Maya’s mom always told her she had an issue with rambling, but it was only moments like this word truly hit her. She wanted to slam her hand in front of her mouth if that’s what it would take for her to stop fucking talking about kissing Jack in front of Paige - it felt wrong somehow.

Luckily, Paige seem to find it amusing, as she appeared to be attempting to hide a smile but failing. “Well, I’m glad you realized you deserve better.”

Paige said the next part quietly, almost too quietly to the point where Maya was not sure if it was intended for her ears. “Anyone would be stupid not to treat you well.”

This is so unfair, Maya thought. It’s unfair that Paige could look like this and say things like that and expect her not to fall for her. She was positive there were plenty of other teenagers in metro Minneapolis that would say the same about the blonde. She could name at least five from her high school alone.

Although the last thing Maya wanted to hear about is if Paige had chosen any of those admirers over her, it was her easiest distraction from the heat rising to her face. “It’s hardly fair that you know all about my love life and I know nothing about yours.”

“Well, I’m basically married to basketball at this point…” Paige chuckled, looking at the roof of her car and tapping her fingers on her knee. If Maya didn’t know the blonde so well, she would’ve thought she was nervous. But that couldn’t be the case - Paige never got nervous.

“Can I get a serious answer?” The younger girl cursed herself for being so inquisitive. Paige was practically giving her an out from hurting herself and yet here she was, trying to get information she really didn’t wanna know. “That guy that asked you to homecoming, what about him?”

“Sucks for him.” Paige shrugged, though her blue eyes still failed to meet anywhere close to Maya’s face. Casually reaching for the Fanta shake, she added with feigned nonchalance, “Asking out a girl that doesn’t even like guys.”

Oh. Oh.

“So is there any lucky girls?” Maya asked, knowing damn well that this was going to hurt way worse if the issue wasn’t that she was a girl, but that she was her.

“Maybe one. I’m not sure.”

“Well, what’s her name?”

“We don’t gotta do that.” Paige sounded playful yet stern, defensive in a way that she hadn’t heard out of the blonde in any scenario other than basketball or maybe disciplining her younger brother Drew. Certainly that tone had never been directed towards Maya.

And yet without thinking, she still pushed. “Oh come on, Paige, why not.” At this point, she was about to ask around the parking lot to see if anyone had duct tape to put over her damn mouth.

“You know why.”

Paige’s eyes finally met hers with a glint of something Maya couldn’t put a name on. All she knew it was sharp enough to look seemingly straight into her. The car filled with silence so quiet that my had no choice but to listen to the top of her own heartbeat and the beginning beats of Exchange by Bryson Tiller.

And in that moment she realized just what Paige was trying to tell her.

Maya had rehearsed this moment in her head a million times, different scenarios in which Paige may confess her love for her. However, they were always overly exaggerated and entirely unserious, because she could not fathom the idea of it actually being possible for her. Yet here they were, illuminated by the blue Culver sign (perhaps not the most romantic place for this to happen), and for an uncharacteristic second time in one night, Maya was speechless.

Maya could have sat there for the next five minutes and thought of a game plan on what to say. But this was real time, and with each second that passed without her saying anything Paige’s confidence seemed to slip, her head dipping and refusing to look once more. It broke Maya’s heart, so she blurted out, “What if I do?”

If Maya felt her heart race during other conversations with Paige, this one made her feel as though she was on fire. Especially when she saw the expression on her face after the brunette’s question, curiosity blending into adoration mixing with hunger. A pale hand rose, reaching to brush Maya’s hair away from her face, cupping it in the process. “This okay?”

Maya gulped. She supposed her prayers from earlier have been answered, because she couldn’t speak. All she could offer Paige was a weak nod that she hoped conveyed just how okay this was.

“What about this?” Page whispered, moving her face dangerously close to hers. Maya closed her eyes, feeling as if she kept looking at Paige she might burst into flames. She could sense Paige get closer, closer, closer, until there was a whisper of a kiss on her tanned cheek. She inhaled sharply, her breath stuttering.

Logically Maya knew where Paige’s lips would land next. Paige, however, was seemingly taking her sweet time, relishing in the reaction from the girl she had grown to be smitten over the past few months. It was clear that Paige would tease Maya like this for hours if she could.

Maya was never known for her patience. In a swift mood, almost perfectly timed as Bryson sang “I hope she’s waiting for me”, Maya’s hand met Paige’s cheek, and the two connected.

Maya had only kissed two people prior to this. Her first kiss was at a middle school dance when she was 13, and apparently it was so bad she swore to her mom she would “never kiss a boy again”. As established in the prior conversation, Jack had an affinity for too much tongue.

Kissing Paige was nothing like kissing either of them. She was soft but not too soft, and her lips tasted like a mix of strawberry Chapstick and a little bit of Fanta slushy. They seem to melt together, as if this could be their last breath and both of them would be equally as content. Paige kissed as if she would hang the moon and the stars for Maya if she could.

When the two finally separated, it took just one glance before the two were smiling. And then, Paige broke, sending herself into a fit of giggles. Maya didn’t know if it was the cutest thing she’d ever seen or if she was offended.

“Did not think I was going to do that tonight.” Okay, cutest thing in the world it is.

“I’m happy you did.” Maya’s voice came out no higher than a whisper, like Paige truly took her breath away. This statement seemed to bring the blonde back to her usual calm, if not overly confident, self.

“Oh yeah?” Paige’s smirk was cocky, as if she just won the most important game of the season. In a way she had.

Paige leaned back in, and the two of them continued kissing surrounded by the glow of the Culver’s sign. Maya weaved a hand gently to brush through the blonde’s hair, earning a content sigh in return.

If Maya knew what was to come of them in a few months, she probably would have savored this moment longer.

#paige bueckers #paige bueckers x oc #paige bueckers fluff #paige bueckers angst #uconn wbb #uconn women’s basketball

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ckret2 · 2 months ago

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Hellooo, I have a question about Billford in your au.

how do they get a chance to get together if both Mabel and Stanley are keeping a sharp eye on them, and forbidding them of any romantic relationships?

They are NOT keeping a sharp eye on them.

Mabel has identified Bill as a needy ex, and is determined to get him to move on—but like, he's gonna be dating around town! She's gonna meet a couple of the people he goes out with! (We're using the word "people" really loosely here.) And Bill's attitude toward Ford has evolved from "hey buddy, don't you wanna be buddies again, buddy??" to "if you don't like me then why bother." So getting Bill to move on is totally working, right?

(I DO still need to edit a couple scenes in some early chapters for TBOB compatibility on this front—but that basically only means Mabel's going from "I need to help Bill make new friends and keep him away from Ford so he won't be a jerk toward him" to "I need to help Bill make new friends and keep him away from Ford so he won't be a jerky ex toward him." Either way, she's mostly concerned about Bill being a jerk.)

Stan has realized Ford's weirdly obsessive over Bill... but not THAT kind of obsessive. It's like "interview him about his species while vivisecting him" obsessive. Like so. Ford gets like this about stuff! Stan might not have a damn clue what autism is but he sure as hell has seen his brother's special interests! He tried to kill that triangle for thirty years, this obsession is not coming from a place of love. He's worried about Ford—but he's NOT worried about romance.

As a bonus, the two of them DIDN'T have a past relationship—they're not actually exes, they just spent the 80s being weirdly homoerotic—so there's no grounds to worry that they might "get back together." Bill's current feelings on Ford are more mixed; but at this point in the fic, Ford honestly, genuinely, truly hates Bill with no romantic interest.

Plus, once romance creeps onto the table, Ford thinks "if anything happens between Bill and me, my family would never forgive me (and I'd never forgive myself)" and Bill thinks "if anything happens between Ford and me, the Pines would murder me, and that might not be hyperbole." They'll be motivated to downplay their feelings for each order before feelings even start to happen.

Bill & Ford tend to clam up around each other or only have shallow surface-level conversations when other people are around. When they DO have serious heart-to-heart discussions they trip and stumble into them when no one's listening. (They keep having serious conversations at midnight, usually in the kitchen. It's happened like, what, four times so far?) This is gonna continue in future chapters. Oh, boy is it gonna continue.

So during this time period, as far as anyone else knows, on a scale of 0 = sheer loathing to 10 = passionate love, Ford's feelings for Bill go from 0 to 2 and Bill's feelings for Ford go from 3 to 1.

It doesn't help that their idea of flirting is "spend an entire day arguing about whether or not Minnesota exists and compromise by agreeing the backs of dollar bills are blank. Tell no one how this is a compromise." This is some kind of shrimp romance.

(This is an actual upcoming chapter, and I wrote it like a week before TBOB came out where Bill has a whole paragraph about how Minnesota doesn't exist. Originally the chapter was about Wyoming. I still think Wyoming works better than Minnesota but I'm tickled "Bill claims a state doesn't exist" is canon.)

Add that all up? And by the time anyone realizes something's going on—IF anyone realizes something's going on—they've been licking each other's eyeballs and roleplaying erotic deicide for weeks.

(This is a slight exaggeration. Only Bill's into eyeball licking.)

#anonymous #ask #billford #bill goldilocks cipher

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diazsdimples · 7 months ago

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I am just as devastated as the next person about Bobby and Athena’s house being burned down but think about the possibilities! Walk with me here. Bobby spending 90% of his time on Real Estate websites when he’s not plotting how to get the 118 back from Gerrard. Athena noticing that his searches get gradually further away from metropolitan LA until one day, Bobby very happily shoves the laptop in front of her face and there’s a listing for a very cute looking ranch-style property. “And it’s only an hours drive on the freeway, Athena!” Athena’s initially resistant because since when has Bobby ever expressed interest in living on a ranch and also she is a city girl through and through, but Bobby finally convinces her to come view the property with him and fuck, it’s actually kinda perfect. It’s in their price range, with a lovely big house that’s got 4 bedrooms (one for them, one for Harry, one for May, and a guest room/ office), the kitchen is massive and rustic and Bobby’s like a kid in a candy shop the whole time, just bouncing around this place like an energised toddler (“it has a walk in pantry, Athena!”) and Athena starts unconsciously planning the furniture layout and some renovations. And then, and then, Bobby takes her outside and the back yard is absolutely gorgeous; there’s a patio that’s got a barbecue, a stone pizza oven, a fire pit (one outside this time), there’s so much room and space and Athena can feel herself gradually falling in love. And it’s got TWO WHOLE PADDOCKS! The opportunities are endless! They go home and she tries to act indifferent but Bobby finds her looking at the listing again and going through their finances, scoping out the local area, checking her commute time into work. They talk about it a couple more times, during which Bobby mentions the fact that he’s always wanted to own horses and he misses having chickens like he did when he was little in Minnesota, and honestly it’s her husband’s insistence and pure joy that ends up convincing her. She’s got one condition though: she gets a bunny rabbit. It’s a non-negotiable. If Bobby wants the house, Athena gets a rabbit. Bobby agrees, so they end up putting in a tentative offer, slightly under what they think it could go for, but miracle upon miracles, it gets accepted!! They finally tell the 118 (who respond with a variety of reactions, most of which being “you bought a what??”) and a few weekends later, they’re moving in their few worldly possessions, as well as setting up all the furniture Bobby impulsively ordered one night when Buck was over and pulled up a few furniture stores. Athena starts building a rabbit hutch, which turns into something more like a rabbit castle cause she’ll only have the best for her baby, and she gets her rabbit, who she names Hercules. He spends a fair chunk of time inside, on her lap as she rubs his ears. Bobby ends up buying a whole flock of hens, and a rooster that he names Maurice (and he’s never seen Tommy back up quite as quickly as he did when Buck showed him the chickens with a shit eating grin on his face). Eddie and Buck help to build a massive vegetable garden which Bobby fills with herbs and vegetables and flowers. He wants a dog, but Athena won’t allow it cause 1. She’s allergic and 2. Hercules doesn’t like dogs apparently. So he gets two horses instead, a mare and a gentle old gelding and spends his days off riding the horses (he does hire someone to care for the horses when he can’t) and tending to his garden and cooking and he’s never felt quite so happy in his life. A lot of plaid begins to work it’s way into his wardrobe and when he gets the horses, Eddie brings him back a pair of cowboy boots and a Stetson from Texas, which he initially doesn’t wear but then Athena says he looks hot in them so he brings them out when he’s riding the horses. And no one minds the long drive to their new place cause it’s so perfect, they have the best cookout there and it’s clear that Athena and Bobby are the happiest they’ve been in years.

#James says things #Bobby Nash #Athena grant #911 #911 abc #911verse #Evan Buckley #Eddie Diaz #911 headcanons #bobby in his ranching era #this is canon to me btw #911 season 7 #post-season 7 #this could be very healing for them

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imaginespazzi · 7 months ago

Text

Part 7: Home

Masterlist - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

These hands had to let it go free and this love came back to (us)

(In which with bittersweet feelings, a nostalgic writer, finally writes the end of the story)

Pairing: Paige Bueckers X Azzi Fudd

Themes: Angst and Fluff

Words: 7.1K

TW: Swearing, Alludes to Sexual Content

A/N: Hello my loves! I can't believe we've actually reached the end, who would have thought huh? I'm not sure if there will be an epilogue, mainly cause I don't know what I'd write but never say never. I don't really know how I feel about this chapter and if I've done the end I pictured justice but I really hope y'all like it anyways. There's a fair amount of creative liberty taken with WNBA logistics but please just accept it for the plot. Per usual, did I edit? Yes. Are there grammar mistakes and typos anyways? Yes. As always, let me know what you liked and disliked. And finally, to all my lovelies who have liked, reblogged, commented, sent in an ask, dm-ed me or simply just silently read this fic, I just wanna say thank you guys so, so, much, y'all have made writing every word worth it and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much I enjoyed writing it <3

August 2018

Paige swears, tonight, there are stars in the Minnesota night sky she’s never seen before in her life. The summer sky has darkened with nightfall, yet the shine of the moon and its companions make it still seem ever so bright. Or maybe, it’s just the girl lying next to Paige that makes tonight feel luminescent, sparkling with the promises of something not quite like friendship that Paige has never felt before. She’d spent the whole day with Azzi at the Minnesota State fair, trying to suppress these new butterflies in her stomach that seemed to have taken birth over their time in Latvia. Or well, maybe they’d been there from the start, but they’d really only started this dance of theirs, the one that makes Paige feel all tingly when Azzi smiles, over the course of this summer.

“Paige it’s cold, stop hogging the blanket,” Azzi chastises, breaking Paige from a trance, as she tugs on the pink and purple blanket covering the two of them, “I knew we should have brought two of them.”

“It’s barely on me” Paige argues for the sake of arguing but she shifts anyway to allow the younger girl to pull the blanket, so clearly meant for one person, a little more towards her, “besides, it’s about sharing body heat.”

“You’re not even warm enough to share body heat,” Azzi mocks as she makes a show of tracing a finger down Paige’s arm and everything in the blonde feels like it’s been lit on fire at the touch. And she wonders if Azzi feels it too, the electricity, the sparks of this could ruin me that scatter through her veins before finding themselves setting her heart ablaze. It’s too much and Paige shakes Azzi’s hand off with a little more force than she means too.

When Azzi sends her questioning look, she splutters through an excuse, “your hands are cold too. Can we just do the boring shit we’re here to do.”

"Stargazing is not boring,” Azzi says indignantly, opening the little stargazing booklet she’d brought with her, flicking through the pages looking for something specific.

To be honest, sitting still in an open field and squinting at the sky trying to figure out a distant constellation isn’t really Paige’s brand of entertainment. She’s a fidgety person by nature, constantly embroiled in the urge to be moving. But Azzi had brought it up the other day, with pleading eyes and a hopeful grin and well, sometimes it felt sinful to deny Azzi of anything she wants. And that’s how they’d ended up at a campsite, not too far from the State fair, lying on the grass, heads tilted towards each other, with a single blanket shielding them from the summer breeze.

“Okay,” Azzi says after a while, using her fingers to point out a pattern in the sky, “I think that one’s Cassiopeia.”

“If you say so,” Paige nods, not really sure what she’s supposed to be looking at.

“Paaaaige,” Azzi whines, “focus.”

“Dude I can barely see anything, the fuck am I supposed to focus o-”

Before Paige can finish her sentence, she feels herself being pulled by the younger girl, the side of her body fitting into the crook’s of Azzi’s like a perfect puzzle piece. She looks over at the brunette, and the protest dies on the tip of her tongue, as she realises just how close Azzi is to her now, all semblance of air leaving her lungs. Paige gulps, eyes tracing every inch of her best friend’s face, stopping of their own accord at Azzi’s lips, before guiltily flashing back to meet the younger girl’s eyes which are just as focused on Paige. And it feels like there’s no force in this world right now that could make either of them look away. Except maybe the force of friends don’t do this.

“Just focus,” Azzi breaks contact first, turning her face back at the stars, before gently grabbing hold of Paige’s hand so she can guide it in the pattern of the constellation. And Paige still doesn’t really see it, doesn’t even particularly care about seeing it, but if it gets Azzi to hold her hand, soft skin putting light pressure against her palm, she thinks she’ll try to see some random lines in the sky forever.

“It’s pretty.”

“You don’t see it do you?”

“Nope,” Paige’s grin widens when Azzi chuckles, shaking her head fondly. Something in her blooms, delighted at being the reason for that. And she’s always prided herself in being funny, she thinks of herself as a little bit of a comedian really, but she’s never wanted to make anyone laugh quite as much as she wants to make Azzi laugh.

“Well that’s enough stargazing for us then,” Azzi rolls her eyes, closing her little booklet and making a move to sit up but Paige is quicker, pulling the younger girl back down and interlocking their fingers. Her own overeagerness causes a tinge of embarrassment to race up her cheeks, and she hopes it’s dark enough that Azzi won’t see the pale pink blush taking over her face.

“It’s peaceful out here,” she says quietly, sounding shy even to her own ears and she can’t help but wonder when the hell that happened, “you wanna stay a little longer?”

“Yeah okay let’s stay longer,,” Azzi agrees and sometimes when Azzi speaks like that, her voice lyrically soft with a secret smile hidden in it, Paige wonders if maybe it would be okay to hope for, to feel something more because maybe, just maybe, Azzi feels it too.

“You know you should come to the state championship,” Paige says after a second of silence, trying to keep her voice nonchalant but she can hear the wishfulness bleeding into it anyways.

Azzi raises an eyebrow, “isn’t that in March? That’s like months and months away.”

“Yeah but- well-” Paige shrugs, cheeks burning just a little bit, “you probably wanna book in advance cause like tickets and stuff you know?”

“You don’t even know if you’ll be in the state championship. There’s still a whole season to go.”

“Oh I know. I know we’re definitely gonna be there.” Paige smirks, cockiness back in full-fledged form.

“Then I’ll be there,” Azzi says, as if it’s the simplest thing in the world, “you better win though Bueckers.”

“Watch me,” and she’s jutting her chest out in arrogance sure, but really everything inside her is swelling with something else, a feeling she’s starting to understand a little too well, a feeling that terrifies her, a feeling she doesn’t think she’s quite ready to let herself feel yet, “it would be nice you know, to win a championship together at some point.”

“I don’t think my parents would be on board with moving to Minnesota.”

“I’m sure I could convince them,” Paige feels a little giddy at the thought, “but I meant more like college, like UConn.”

It’s a topic they’ve stumbled upon a couple of times, with each other, and with the other girls at Team USA. And as much as Paige would love for her other teammates to follow her to her dream school, she’s practical enough to know they might have other priorities. But the thing is that with the rest of the girls, it’s just something she’d like to happen but with Azzi, now that Paige has said it out loud, she’s beginning to realise how desperately she wants that, her and Azzi, on the same team, fighting the same battles and winning the same wars, together.

“Don’t think you can win a national championship without me Bueckers?” Azzi smirks, twisting her head towards Paige, eyebrows cocked in arrogance.

“Of course I can,” Paige’s face softens, the vulnerability that only ever seems to come out around her best friend seeping on to her features, “but I think it would be fun to win one with you. Someday.”

“Someday, “ Azzi whispers back, giving Paige’s hand a light squeeze, and then her eyes widen at the sky, “holy shit is that a shooting star? Oh my god Paige look up, quick, it’s beautiful.”

In the dark of the night, a rare flicker of gold shoots across the obsidian Minnesota sky. Paige has never seen one before but it seems fitting really, that she’d see one tonight.

“We have to make a wish,” she whispers and Azzi, never one to really believe, rolls her eyes but she follows Paige’s lead, closing her eyes. And the thing is Paige could wish for a lot of things really, but she finds herself thinking of only one word that sums up all she could ever want: someday.

***

August 2026

They’ve been playing against each other for years now and yet the thrill of the face-off still hasn’t quite worn off. Back in the handful of games in high school, it had been quickfire friendly trash talk, two best friends going at it like the competitors they were. College had been drastically different, each game, each play, underlined with the tension of two people who still hadn’t quite figured it out. But Paige thinks her favourite version of them as opponents is definitely this one, the one where they might be on different teams in the WNBA, but off the court, they both know they’re on the same side, together.

Their relationship isn’t quite a secret; it would have been impossible to hide if after the kiss at the 2025 national championship. But they’d kept as quiet about it as possible, skillfully dodging media questions, wanting to shelter it from the prying eyes of the public. It makes playing each other on national television, just that little bit more entertaining, trying to keep things as cordial as possible. If Paige’s hands end up just a little too close to Azzi’s waist, lingering a little longer than necessary against the patch of skin she’d marked with a hickey earlier this morning, and it makes the younger girl shiver, then that’s just a tactic to win. And if Azzi breathes seductive thoughts of what she’d like to do after the game when guarding Paige, and it makes the blonde want to turn around and kiss the smirk off of her girlfriend’s lips, well that’s just another innovative defensive strategy.

“Be a good girl for me and move,” Paige whispers, the double entendre in her voice apparent, as she tries to dribble the ball past Azzi. There’s only a minute or so left in the last meeting of the regular season between Paige’s Lynx and Azzi’s Mystics -funny how that had worked out- and the score is painfully close, with the Mystics closing in on the Lynx’s two point-lead.

“Always a good girl for you P,” Azzi smirks, her voice the quietest it could possibly be, but Paige hears her next words like they’re on a loudspeaker in the area, “it’s why I’m wearing your favourite purple panties.”

It takes a second, a second where Paige’s eyes gloss over with lust, as her mind rushes back to the last time she’d seen, the last time she’d touched the silky undergarment, for the ball to be stolen from her hands. She’s a step too slow to recover and by that time Azzi’s already scored the easy lay-up to tie up the game, a mischievous grin adorning her normally stoic game face.

On the other end of the court, Napheesa draws a foul and Paige and Azzi end up next to each for free throws. Paige is seething, unsure if the heat curling up her spine is from the game or the girl standing next to her.

“Sorry baby, all’s fair in love and war right?” Azzi teases, pinky brushing against the blonde’s, “I’ll make it up to you later if you want.”

“You’re such a fucking menace,” Paige practically growls. She does want, in fact she’d like it right now if it was possible. Two years they’ve been together, longer if you count the inbetween, and still, every time Azzi lights a match, Paige feels herself burn just as brightly as the first time she’d felt that magnetic pull.

“Learnt from the best,” Azzi hums with a grin as Napheesa hits both free throws.

The rest of the game passes in a blur of frenzied shots and hurried fouls but the Lynx pull out an eventual, much-needed win, to better their chances of clinching a higher seed in the playoffs. After missing the playoffs in 2024, the Lynx, despite having relatively low odds, had secured the no.1 pick and there had never really been a doubt that they would pick Paige. She’d helped the team get back to the playoffs last season but they hadn’t made it out of the first round. A championship doesn’t seem quite possible yet, but Paige has her fingers crossed that they’d at least make it to a semi-final this time.

“The two of you are terrible at this,” Aaliyah’s the first person to hug Paige during the handshake line, “I thought you’d jump each other’s bones in the middle of the game today.”

“We’re not that bad,” Paige rolls her eyes at her former teammate. She high-fives a few more of the Mystics team until she gets to Azzi, who’s already smiling, despite the loss. The cameras are quick to crowd them, clearly wanting a more sensational picture than the one they’re likely to get. Still, despite the unwanted attention, Paige lets herself nestle into the crook of Azzi’s neck.

“You owe me twice tonight,” she whispers into the younger girl’s ear, “one for the win and one for that bullshit you pulled on the court tonight.”

Azzi’s voice is breathless when she replies, “I can give you way more than two.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“It’s a promise.”

***

“With the new rules, after this season you’ll be a free agent, have you given any thought to that?”

Waiting for the Lynx’s turn in the media room, Paige hadn’t been paying much attention to the questions being asked to the Mystics players, her focus solely on how hot her girlfriend always looked post games. But the words ‘free agent’ pique her interest. The W had changed the rookie contract rules for first round draftees to two years and that meant both Paige and Azzi would be free agents after this year. But while it hadn’t reached the media quite yet, the Lynx were likely to use their core designation on Paige. Which meant the only one of them making any decision about next season would be Azzi. It was a subject the two of them were cautiously tip-toeing around, using the shield of distance to avoid talking about what it could mean for them.

“I’m focused on the season, this team and the rest of our games. I’m not really thinking about the future,” Azzi answers diplomatically.

“You’ve obviously got very strong ties to the DC area but you also went to UCLA, if the Sparks or maybe even the Valkyries, considering your connection to Steph Curry, were interested, and there have been rumours that they are, would you consider it?” the same reporter prods.

“Again, I’m not currently thinking about any of that,” to anyone else Azzi probably sounds neutral but Paige has studied the sheet music of Azzi’s voice to the point where she knows what’s hidden behind every note, behind every little indent. The tinge of irritation is masked by a smile, but the line of questioning is clearly unappreciated.

“And what about the Lynx?” the persistently oblivious reporter continues and this time Paige sucks in a breath, “you have some ties to that team don't you? Have you given some thought to maybe going there?”

Azzi’s eye twitches ever so slightly, “the Lynx just beat my team. The only thoughts I have right now are about how to beat them next time.”

That elicits a laugh from the media and finally the rather obtuse reporters seem to understand that he’s not going to be able to pry anything newsworthy from Azzi’s mouth. But even if he hasn’t achieved his desired effect, he’s succeeded in making Paige’s mind start running in circles. She hadn’t let herself think about it yet, the potential of Azzi joining the Lynx, the potential of playing with Azzi, the potential of finally just being with Azzi. Because facing the potential for all of that, facing all the things she wants means also facing the potential that maybe Azzi doesn’t want any of that.

***

The air in Paige’s living room is thick with a suffocating tension as she and Azzi sit on opposite ends of the couch. It reminds Paige a little bit of the before, a dreaded version of them she’d foolishly thought they grown out of, until something reminiscent of their past problems had reared its ugly head, and suddenly it feels a bit like she’s playing a losing game.

“Will you please stop that,” she bites out, referring to where Azzi’s foot is incessantly tapping on the wooden floors, “it’s giving me a headache.”

Azzi’s eyes narrow, flashing with irritation, “is it my tapping or the alcohol giving you a headache Paige?”

“I didn’t even drink that much,” Paige says through gritted teeth and Azzi scoffs.

It’s a lie. After both teams were done with post game pressers, she, Azzi and a couple of the other girls had ended up at a local bar as they often did when the other team didn’t have to fly out til the next day. Paige had been tense the whole evening and trying to pretend not to be, especially when Azzi could see right through her façade, had only made the whole thing worse. She wasn’t one to drink too much, always happy just being sufficiently tipsy but then she’d gotten in her head too much. And when the first shot didn’t quite hit the way she needed it to, she’d kept on going, receiving worried looks from all the girls, until Azzi had finally stepped in. The ride back from the bar had been a sobering experience, one look at Azzi’s stoic face, giving away her irritation.

“That’s why you still reek of tequila?”

“How the fuck would you know? You haven’t come near me all night.”

“Don’t you dare try and turn this on me Paige. I tried to talk to you all night til you decided you wanted to act like freshman frat boy,” Azzi spits out, hurt and anger colliding in her voice, “we barely get to spend time together during the season and the one night in forever that we do, you pull this shit?”

They haven’t had an argument like this since they’ve been officially together, the kind of argument that has them balancing on a delicate tight rope, too afraid to take a step backwards in their relationship, and too prideful to take a step forward towards each other.

“I didn’t think you cared about spending time together during the season,” Paige accuses and there’s a sensible part of her, one that’s currently being held captive by the dangers of liquor, that knows it’s a ridiculous allegation.

Azzi stares at her, lips opening and closing in disbelief, “excuse me?”

“It’s pretty simple really Azzi. If you wanna spend the whole season together, the option is right fucking there, but I- I can’t even tell if you’re interested in taking it,” Paige is pacing now, teeth gnawing at her lips like they always do when she’s nervous.

“What- what are you even talking about?” Azzi asks, clearly confused.

“Free fucking agency. They asked you about it and you said you hadn’t thought about it at all. That’s really great to hear Az, really great to know you haven’t thought about how that could literally change our whole fucking life,” and even as the words waterfall out of her mouth, Paige knows she’s being unreasonable, but the mix of stress and alcohol churning in her stomach is just enough to keep her from taking the words back.

“I didn’t- that’s not even what I said. Jesus fucking christ Paige,” Azzi rubs her face, looking defeated.

“So you have thought about it then?”

“Of course I’ve thought about it, “ Azzi throws her hands up, “but I wasn’t gonna tell the media about all of that. But you- you seriously think I haven’t thought about what this means for us? You don’t- do you really think I’m not thinking about you- about us- while trying to make this decision?”

“Well you definitely didn’t think of me- of us- when you chose UCLA,” Paige’s eyes widen at her own words, knowing immediately that of all things she could have said, those were the worst ones, “I- I didn’t mean it like that.”

In front of her, Azzi has gone deathly still, face completely devoid of emotion, until the first tear drops and all of Paige’s anger dissipates, the guilt clawing back with full force.

“I thought we were over that,” Azzi whispers, voice trembling, as she looks down at her hands, “but maybe we’ll never be over that.”

“We are,” Paige sinks to her knees in front of the younger girl, tugging Azzi’s hands into her own, “we are over it. I just- it just slipped out.”

Azzi’s quiet for a moment before she pulls her hands out of the blonde’s grip, sidestepping her as she stands up and Paige feels empty and cold and just a little bit broken.

“Are you leaving?” she whispers, peering up at Azzi through tear soaked eyelashes.

“I think I should, before anything else just slips out,” Paige flinches and Azzi’s expression softens, “I know- I know you didn’t mean it like that but I just- I need some space.”

Panic filters into Paige’s lungs, wrapping its dirty hands and squeezing so tight that she can barely breathe. She’s not sure when she’ll see Azzi again, now that there’s no more Lynx-Mystics games left in the regular season and it’s unlikely with their expected seedings that they’d meet at some point in the playoffs. It’s not like distance is new to them, but in the last two years, they’ve only ever said goodbye with an i love you attached to the end.

“Are you-,” Paige gasps for air, “are you leaving me?”

And it must be written all over Paige's face, just how petrified she is of this moment, because that's all it takes for Azzi to rush back into Paige’s space, hands cupping her cheeks, “oh baby of course not. I just- you’re still drunk and I’m upset and I don’t want us to say anything we don’t mean. And I- need time to think about free agency and I think you- you need time to think about why that slipped out.”

Paige sighs, melting into Azzi’s touch as the knots in her stomach begin to untangle themselves, “you’re so logical.”

“Someone has to be,” a half-smile flitters across the younger girl’s face as she wipes at Paige’s tears, “we’ll figure this out okay? Just- just give me a little bit of time.”

Give me time. It’s a familiar line, so similar to what Azzi had asked for when she was making a decision about college and Paige would be lying if she said there isn’t a part of her that’s terrified fate is going to make them repeat the same mistakes. But part of growing up, Paige surmises, is letting time test you with the same trials and tribulations, and the next time, coming out of the other end on the right side.

And so she squeezes Azzi’s hand, matching the younger girl's half smile, with a soothing one of her own, “okay.”

***

November 2027

Paige doesn't know when she ended up in a love triangle with Azzi and the state of California but she wishes she was competing against an actual person. At least then she could throw a punch at the other guy. The W season is barely over and it seems like every front office has thrown themselves headfirst into convincing free agents to join their team. There’s a couple of teams interested in Azzi, but no one seems to be trying harder than the Los Angeles Sparks. Paige thinks whoever gave that city a name meaning “the angels” could not have been more wrong because really it’s a city full of devils constantly trying to steal her girl and no she’s not being dramatic.

They’re supposed to be leaving for thanksgiving dinner when Azzi’s phone rings and Paige can’t help but roll her eyes when Cameron Brink’s name flashes on the CallerID. The Sparks seemed to have put her as head of their recruiting Azzi campaign and Cam had been diligently doing her part.

“Azzi, Cam’s calling again,” Paige yells out to her girlfriend who’s still not quite finished getting ready.

“Can you pick it up?”

“Do I have to?”

“Paige,” Azzi whines and Paige sighs, hitting the green answering button.

“The amount of times you’ve called my girlfriend this week, Brink, should I be concerned?”

“Jealous I’m replacing you as her favourite blonde?” Cam’s voice always sounds like she’s smiling and Paige can’t help her own smile. Goddamn Cameron Brink for always being the sweetest soul on this planet.

“As if,” Paige scoffs, “it’s a holiday Cam, give the recruiting a rest.”

“Hey, I’m just calling to wish her a happy thanksgiving,” Cam defends.

“Mmmhmm where’s my thanksgiving wish?”

“Oh please, the two of you are basically a unit. Wishing her is wishing you,” Cam is quiet for a second before speaking again, “the Sparks would be a good fit for her Paige.”

Paige sucks in a sharp breath, “I’m not the one you’re gonna have to convince.”

“I know but you know your opinion means a lot to her. I know you want her in Minnesota and she'd be good there too and I- I know it isn’t my place to say any of this but just- just don’t discourage her from doing what’s best for her,” there’s not a hint of malice in Cam’s words, there never is, but they pierce at Paige’s skin anyways.

“Okay I’m ready, hand me the phone,” she’s saved from having to answer by Azzi waltzing into the living room and prying the phone from her hands.

Paige watches silently as Azzi talks animatedly with Cam, noticing the way her girlfriend’s smile widens while talking about certain spots in L.A. They’d subconsciously decided not to breach the subject of free agency after that night. Paige hadn’t interfered in any of the Lynx’s conversations with Azzi, deciding that this time, she’d stay out of it. It hadn’t been easy, every little bit of her itching to pitch why the Lynx were the perfect fit, why Paige was the perfect fit, but she was determined to give Azzi the space -the time- she’d wanted. This time she’d leave the choice solely up to Azzi and whatever she decided, Paige would find her happiness in that.

“Paige you ready to go,” Azzi waves a hand in front of Paige’s face, eyebrows raised in question when the older girl doesn’t make a move to get off the sofa, “hey, you good?”

“Cam says the Sparks would be a good fit,” Azzi stiffens at Paige’s words.

“Paige-”

“She’s right,” Paige concedes, fingers fidgeting as she averts Azzi’s gaze.

The younger girl blinks at her, clearly not having expected that, “she is?”

“Yeah. They need a shooting guard and you,” Paige smiles, reaching out to pull Azzi onto the couch with her, “you’re the best there is.”

“I wouldn’t go that far-”

“You are to me and it’s why I want you on the Lynx,” they both let out a breath with that. It’s not a secret of course but Paige hasn’t said it out loud before.

“Paige-”

“But it’s okay if you don't wanna be on the Lynx, if you wanna be on the Sparks or stay here with the Mystics or on any other team, if you think it’s the right move for you and for your career then that’s fine. It’s okay and you don’t- you don’t need my permission or anything of course but I just- whatever you decide, I’ll support it okay? What I said that night about UCLA- it wasn't- it wasn’t about you. I thought about it like you asked me to and it’s me. I was scared that I would fuck it up again and I’d lose you again-”

“You won’t,” Azzi grabs Paige’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, “I won’t let you.”

“I know. I know now that whatever happens, we’ll be okay. And so you can choose whatever team you want and it won’t- it won’t affect us, I promise. It won’t be like last time I swear. When you make your decision- I just- I don’t want you to make it for me or for us, cause you and me? Baby we’ll be just fine no matter what. Wherever you go and wherever I am, we’ll make it work, just as we have for the last two years,” Paige smirks, “besides I kinda enjoy kicking your ass.”

Azzi lets out a snort as she climbs onto Paige’s lap, thighs straddling her hips, “you really had to ruin it with that last part huh?”

“Was getting a little too sappy for me,” Paige mumbles and when she looks up, the emotions floating in Azzi’s eyes make Paige’s heart stutter. Because no one else gets this Azzi. This Azzi, who wears her heart on her sleeve, who lets her walls down, only for Paige’s eyes to see, only for Paige’s mind to memorise, only for Paige’s heart to keep.

“You mean it?” Azzi whispers, brushing a strand of hair out of Paige’s face, touching lingering, “you’d be okay with anything?”

“Yeah, yeah I do,” Paige cups Azzi’s cheeks, brushing her lips against the younger girl’s, “whatever you choose, we’ll be fine. No matter what, I believe in us.”

***

January 2028

Paige groans when her phone rings at 2 a.m., fumbling around in the dark trying to answer it.

“I swear you better be dying if you’re calling me this late,” she grumbles into the phone, voice scratchy with sleep.

“Not quite,” Azzi says, and Paige’s eyebrows furrow at the amount of background noise she can hear behind her girlfriend.

“Dude where the hell are you at 3 in the morning?” she asks, now a little more awake as she sits up.

“I uh- I had a bit of a revelation,” and Paige can practically picture Azzi, wherever she might be, fidgeting with her fingers and biting her lips.

“That doesn’t explain anything.”

“I know. I know. Shit, I was supposed to do this in person. I had a whole plan but apparently being with you has made me impatient,” Azzi rambles.

“You’re still not making any sense,” but Paige’s heart is starting to beat erratically fast in anticipation.

“I had this realisation while I was in the gym today, it was really quiet and peaceful and I was fine you know- all day I was fine- just doing daily routines and then I just- I missed you. I miss you all the time do you know that?”

Paige does know, knows it far too well. Sometimes she thinks missing Azzi comes as naturally as breathing, an innate part of her day to day, a constant ache that she’s felt since she was 15.

“I miss you too,” she whispers.

“And I’ve learned to survive with that feeling, with missing you constantly. I mean it’s been more than 10 years at this point, how could I not? But what I realised today is that just because I can- just because I can live missing you- doesn’t mean I want to.”

“What are you saying Azzi?”

“DC is my childhood. My family is close to there, it’s part of where I grew up. It’ll always be my first home. And LA is where I found myself, my identity, and for a while it felt like home too.”

“Azzi,” Paige breathes out, hands gripping the phone as tight as possible, wrapping that one syllable in emblems of give me forever.

“But my forever home isn’t in DC or LA and it’s not really in any other place either because- Jesus this might be the clichést thing I’ve ever said but-,” Azzi lets out a chuckle, “my home is wherever you are Paige. Wherever we’re together, that’s home.”

It feels a little bit like the end of a drought, the wetness on Paige’s cheeks like the rain that comes after. In the pitch black of her room, phone clutched closely to her ear with Azzi’s words floating through it like a swan song, Paige swears she’s never felt the world glow quite like this before.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“Beating your ass has been fun as hell but I think we’d make a pretty good team Bueckers.”

And it’s a good thing Paige’s walls are soundproof because the delighted whoop she lets out practically vibrates around the room, all previous wisps of tiredness completely gone from her body. Azzi lets out a tearful laugh and Paige wishes they were together right now so she could tattoo this happiness onto both of their skins.

“The greatest team ever,” Paige affirms, “When are you com-”

“Attention passengers Delta Airlines Flight 1248 to Minneapolis will be boarding soon, please have your passport and ticket ready to check at the gate.”

“About that,” Azzi says shyly as Paige’s mouth drops open at the announcement, “I uh- I had a moment of spontaneity.”

“Who the hell are you and what have you done with my overthinking girlfriend?” Paige demands and Azzi giggles on the other end of line.

“I know it’s last minute, like really last minute and it was meant to be a surprise actually but I just- I really wanna see you. Is that okay?”

“Is that okay? Fuck Azzi, it’s all I want. Baby,” Paige breathes out softly, “come home.”

***

Time isn’t going nearly fast enough Paige thinks as she checks the arrivals board for the nth time. She’d tried for about four seconds to fall back asleep after hanging up the phone but her entire body had been buzzing with excitement. And so she’d gotten to the airport far earlier than necessary, and had maybe one too many cups of coffee if the jittery shake in her left hand is anything to go by.

She swears she feels her before she sees her. The air is electric as if the whole city, the whole state is waiting for Azzi too, for them to get their elusive forever. This moment feels like years in the making, and Paige is ready, ready to grasp it and make it hers. And then there’s Azzi, a clearly chosen-at-last minute wrinkled t-shirt, eyes drooping from the tiredness from not having slept all night, baby hairs in a frenzy across her forehead. To Paige, she’s still the prettiest girl in the entire universe.

Azzi’s eyes scan through the airport until they land on Paige, a dazzling smile illuminating her exhausted features. It’s the exact same smile that Paige had first elicited from her on the flight back from Argentina when she’d told Azzi she had a feeling they'd make great friends. It’s her Paige smile. The world is still for a second, everything melting away except them and the whispers of the journey it had taken them to get to this point. Every delicately placed step towards each other feels like an ode to every year they’d spent apart. And then Paige is running, not caring about everyone else around her. She jumps into Azzi’s arm, all 6 feet of her, tangling her legs around the younger girl's waist while her arms fasten around the neck. It forces Azzi to let go of her small carry-on, not caring that it falls to the floor with a thud, as her hands wrap around Paige’s back, steadying her girlfriend’s weight on top of her.

“You’re here,” Paige whispers, still a little in disbelief, “you’re really here.”

“I’ve been in Minny plenty of times before,” Azzi quips, adjusting her balance to properly hold the girl clinging to her like a koala.

“Shut up you know what I mean. You’re here forever this time.”

“Well I don’t know about forever- OW,” Azzi shrieks, as Paige pinches her arm, “do you want me to drop you woman?”

“You’re never allowed to leave.”

“That sounds vaguely threatening.”

“Good because it definitely is a threat,” Paige says before pulling Azzi into a searing kiss, “welcome home baby.”

***

October 2028

There are moments in life you remember forever. Sometimes you know they’re going to happen, sometimes they take you off guard and sometimes, it’s a combination of both. The Minnesota Lynx’s journey to the WNBA finals this season had always felt inevitable but the journey there, for a team that had unexpectedly fallen to the 4-seed despite pre-season clamour of them being number one, had been filled with bitter losses and moments of pure uncertainty. In a way, it perfectly mirrors Paige and Azzi’s relationship.

There’s 11 seconds separating the Lynx from their 5th championship trophy as they lead the Sky by two points. The crowd is up on their feet, ready for their cheering to turn into roars the minute the final buzzer rings. Paige has the ball in her hands on the inbound, Coach Reeves yelling at her from the bench what to do, as she makes eye contact with Azzi. There are no words, not even a gesture that the other team might be able to interpret, but they know exactly what play they’re about to run.

Truth be told it hadn’t been the seamless transition the two of them had expected when Azzi joined the Lynx. They’d been naive to think years of not playing together wouldn’t have affected the backcourt chemistry they’d had almost instantly once upon a time. The first few games, there had been an embarrassing disconnect between the two of them that had resulted in a nasty berating from Coach Reeves and a subsequent argument between the two of them that had lasted into the next morning. It had taken several more practices, and a couple more games of flailing around, for them to finally become the duo Paige had always known they would.

The game buzzer beeps and Paige throws the ball to Azzi who immediately returns it back to her, and then she’s running off screen after screen to get herself open on the wing, her sweet spot. Paige dribble penetrates into the paint, dragging an extra defender with her as they try to prevent her from getting a layup, the other defender blocks her from stepping back into a pull-up. Azzi’s defender has a momentary lapse in judgement, falling for the age-old trick of thinking she should help on defence, and that’s all it takes. A second for Paige to see Azzi open on the corner and pass it to her. A second for Azzi to shoot it.

The three-pointer falls through the next with a perfect swish. Dagger shot.

A small smile flits across Azzi’s face, the only emotion she’s shown all game and Paige can’t help the much larger grin that starts to flash on her own face. She can almost taste victory on the tip of her tongue, the two seconds left in the game are the only thing separating her from finally getting her version of the things we live for. Behind her she can hear Coach Reeves yelling at them to not foul, the 5-point lead enough of a cushion for them to withstand a last minute shot. But the Sky barely make it over midcourt and when Marina Mabrey heaves up a last second prayer, Paige doesn’t bother to see if it goes in as the buzzer sounds throughout Target Arena. The Minnesota crowd explodes in noise and colour as confetti falls from the sky.

Despite the chaos of everything, Paige has never seen Azzi clearer than in this moment. Since she’d met the girl, in all of Paige’s prayers about winning a championship, one thing had always been constant, that when they’d come true, they’d come true with Azzi by her side. And she had been. The high school state champion, the college national championship, Azzi had been there for both but on the bleachers, as a spectator and as Paige’s biggest fan. But this, winning a championship with Azzi as her teammate, as her ally, as her partner, means something more. This win is theirs.

“Do you remember when we saw that shooting star?” Azzi says softly, as they find their way into each other’s arms, not caring that there’s a thousand cameras capturing their every move. Paige pulls Azzi closer to her, every inch of her body pressing into the other girls until she’s not sure where she begins and where Azzi ends.

“That was years ago,” Paige remarks but she can see it clearly, two young girls underneath the stars, unaware of what their future would be but sure that the other would be in it. Those girls would probably laugh at how long it had taken Paige and Azzi to figure out what had seemed so simple back then.

“Yeah, yeah it was. Do you remember what you wished for?” Azzi asks, smiling when Paige nods, “do you wanna know what I wished for?”

“What did you wish for Az?”

“Before we saw the star you- you said it’d be nice to win a championship together someday. And so I-,” Azzi looks down shyly, “so I wished for someday. I wished for today.”

Paige stares at Azzi, drinking in the sincerity on the shooting guard’s face, silently letting herself absorb the meaning of Azzi’s words. And then she lets out a laugh because of course of course.

“I didn’t realise I’d said anything funny for you to be laughing at me,” Azzi scrunches her nose, looking slightly offended.

“God baby no,” Paige cups Azzi’s face, and she thinks this smile on her face will last forever as long as this is her reality, “I’m not laughing at you. I just- do you know what I wished for?”

Azzi shakes her head.

“This. The same exact thing you did. For someday.”

It’s not quite the shade of blue Paige had imagined them in, the Lynx blue its own shade, something inbetween UConn’s navy one and UCLA’s sky one. But it’s perfect nonetheless. And when Azzi crashes her lips against Paige’s, someday feels a lot like forever and always.

#pazzi #paige bueckers #azzi fudd #wcbb

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literaryvein-reblogs · 28 days ago

Note

Do you have anything for high school cheerleading? Tips on writing sports-related work would be appreciated as well. Thank you!

Writing Notes: Cheerleading

Cheerleading - team activity in which elements of dance and acrobatics are combined with shouted slogans in order to entertain spectators at sporting events and to encourage louder and more enthusiastic cheering.

Once exclusively a sideline activity geared toward supporting school sports, cheerleading has gained recognition as a sport in its own right and often operates outside the school context altogether.

HISTORY OF CHEERLEADING

Although cheerleading is today predominantly associated with femininity, the original cheerleaders were men.

Cheerleading was connected to the emergence of gridiron football at Ivy League colleges and universities in the United States in the mid-1800s, and the growth and formalization of cheerleading paralleled that of football.

The first organized cheerleading squad was formed at the University of Minnesota. The squad, consisting of 6 male students, was tasked with leading crowd cheers and chants at football games.

Over the latter half of the 19th century, as attendance at college games grew, large stadiums were constructed, and spectators were distanced from the playing field.

Cheerleaders—or “yell leaders,”—led cheers from the sidelines both to encourage the spectators and to serve as a form of crowd control.

Cheerleading remained a male activity until the early 20th century when women began to participate (and the first megaphone was used), leading to the formation of the first all-female cheerleading squad at the University of Minnesota in 1923.

The megaphone made it easier for the spectators to recognize and take up the battle cries. With the entry of women, the nature of cheerleading changed:

Gymnastics, dance and even acrobatic elements were incorporated into the program, and cheerleading was introduced into high schools.

CONTEMPORARY CHEERLEADING

Cheerleading remains “feminine” not only in terms of its supportive sideline function but also in the performance and appearance demands placed on women:

short skirts

hair ribbons

makeup

the expectation to smile constantly and express enthusiasm

Competitive cheerleading - even more highly feminized than sideline cheerleading insofar as there is a heightened emphasis on showmanship and performativity.

Although there are stylistic variations among the cheerleading companies that oversee competitions, competition routines are typically:

loud,

fast, and

energetic.

They exude glitz, glamour, and glitter, particularly in the all-star context: bows are extra large, makeup is extra sparkly, and dance moves are brash and sexy.

Since the 1990s, “alternative” forms of cheerleading have emerged alongside the mainstream variants discussed above.

An extensive national network of adult LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex) teams (modeled after Cheer San Francisco, the oldest and largest) perform at community and gay pride events, and “radical cheerleaders,” groups of young feminist activists, use cheerleading as a vehicle for protesting social injustice.

Although less popular and less visible than mainstream cheerleading, such alternative groups similarly use the energy, spirit, and performativity of cheerleading to communicate with and influence audiences.

THE WARM UP

The warm-up involves moving the whole body, as well as individual joints. It consists of 4 main functions:

Warming-up

Preparation

Preventing injury

Building team spirit

STRETCHING

Over time, the following 2 stretching techniques have prevailed:

Active stretching - a self-directed stretch, i.e. a muscle is stretched because its antagonist is working.

Passive stretching - an other-directed stretch, i.e. it requires an external influence, e.g. a partner, piece of equipment, etc.

Both techniques can be further divided into static and dynamic stretching.

Basically, you should stick to the following points when stretching:

Always stretch calmly and gently

Always concentrate on the muscle being stretched

Always breathe regularly and calmly, increase the stretch when exhaling

Stretching should never be painful

The practice area temperature should be comfortable

MOTIONS

Motions - form the basis of many important cheerleading movement patterns.

High V - Arms are stretched above the head in a V shape.

Low V - Arms stretch downward to form an upside-down V.

T-Motion - Arms are stretched out to the sides; arms and body form a T shape.

Half-T - Arms are still at shoulder height, but in this motion, they are bent at the elbows instead of being fully extended to the sides.

Touchdown - This motion is so-called, because the football referee performs the same action after a touchdown. The cheerleader touchdown motion is, unlike that of the referee, performed with locked arms. Extend the arms above the head, with the upper arms almost touching the ears. The hands can form a fist or a blade, the important thing is that the palms of the hands face each other.

Right Diagonal - The right arm hits a High V and the left arm a Low V. The arms should form a straight line from the right fist to the left fist.

Left Diagonal - The left arm hits a High V and the right arm hits a Low V. The diagonal runs from top left to bottom right.

Right L - The arms form an L-shape. The right arm is in the Touchdown position and the left arm is in the T position.

Left L - The left arm is in the Touchdown position and the right arm is in the T position.

Punch - The right arm hits the Touchdown position close to the right ear and the left hand is placed on the left hip. The left hand forms a fist and the back of the hand faces forward.

Clap - The hands are held in the blade position and pressed together. The fingers are together and the hands are flat. The elbows are held close to the body.

Clasp - The hands clasp each other when they touch. The elbows are kept close to the body.

You can combine the motions together, thus giving new variations.

CHANTS

Chant - a combination of words and actions.

It is a kind of speech song consisting of very few words, used for encouragement.

Unlike cheers, chants can be shouted spontaneously throughout the game.

The crowd is supposed to shout the chants along with the cheerleaders, to support the team. The cheer team shouts the chant once by themselves and the second time, the crowd ought to join in. Examples:

"Defense Go!"

Defense: Take one step to the right with the right leg, then slap your thighs twice, shouting “DE-FENSE.” Lean forward slightly.

Go: On the word "Go," bring the left leg in and the feet together and the arms perform the motions shown. After the word “Go” there is a short pause. This chant is now performed in the other direction, i.e., starting with the left foot.

"Go, Fight, Win!"

Go: On the word “Go,” perform the K motion to the left, with the head facing forward.

Fight: On the word “Fight,” bring the right leg in and hit a High V with the arms.

Win: On the word “Win,” bring the arms down from a High V to a Low V. Make a lunge forward onto the left foot. Bend both knees and distribute your body weight evenly over both legs.

CHEERS

Cheers - consist of a combination of words and movements.

Much longer than chants and are not repeated.

Always consists of several lines, most of which rhyme.

Not only longer than a chant but also has a completely different purpose.

Tell a short, appropriate story and cannot just be inserted during the ongoing game, unlike the chant.

Only performed during the official time-outs or before and after a game, i.e., during a pause.

This should always be observed, for during a cheer, the cheer team wants to ensure that they have the crowd’s full attention during the cheer. This can only happen during a break.

Should always have a positive message to motivate the crowd and the team.

Examples of Cheers

"Come on Team"

Come on: Step forward onto the right foot, keeping the back straight and leaning forward. Outstretched arms are crossed in front of the body, knees are bent.

Team: The left leg is pulled into the pose, the left foot is next to the right knee so that the left knee points forward. The right arm hits the Touchdown motion and the left hand is placed on the left hip. The left elbow points backward.

"Let's be Proud"

Let's be: Make a lunge forward onto the right leg, so that you are kneeling on one knee, while crossing the arms in front of the body, and bending the head toward the floor.

Proud: The arms are stretched up into the High V position. The upper body is straight and the head is raised. The tip of the right foot touches the ground.

JUMPS

The role of the cheer team is always to entertain the crowd and to provide a good show.

A well-executed jump is particularly eye catching, and a successful, well-synchronized jump is a real crowd-pleaser.

Jump Phases

Every jump can be divided into 4 phases, and the cheerleader must master all four.

Preparation

Lift

Execution

Landing

Examples of Jumps

Tuck - In this crouch jump, the upper body remains upright and the legs are tucked up toward the upper body, with bent knees. Make sure that the feet are together. Take off from and land on both feet. The arm position can be changed and means that the arms can be held in either the High V or the Touchdown.

Toe Touch - Extend legs to the side immediately after take-off, and tilt her hip forward. The legs should be brought up as high as possible, making sure that the knees face upward and not forward.

Pike - The legs should be parallel to the ground. Immediately after takeoff, the legs are raised and straight. At the same time, bend your chest toward your legs. Straighten the arms and touch your toes with your hands. Don’t deliberately try to touch the toes, as this can prevent you from jumping as high as possible. In the Pike, both feet are together for take-off and landing.

DANCE

Dance has become the most important component of cheerleading for many teams. These teams are called dance teams. Most commonly used dance styles:

Jazz

Hip-Hop

Funk

Novelty

Character

STUNTS

Stunts - the formation of pyramids of various sizes with at least two people.

Double stunts - usually carried out by two people.

Partner stunts - by 3-4 people

Pyramids - by as many people as desired.

These numbers do not include spotters, of course, who must always be present at any kind of stunt.

In every stunt, there are 3 different roles:

Base - the person who remains on the ground in a stunt; supports another cheerleader (the mounter) on her hands, shoulders, back, arms or legs

Mounter - the person who does not have ground contact during the stunt, as she is standing on one or more other people

Spotter - additional person who supervises the whole proceedings but does not take part in the stunt; always stands where the mounter could fall, and, when necessary, intervenes and catches the mounter

Every stunt consists of 3 phases:

Set up

Execution

Dismount

STYLING

Hair and make-up naturally help to create a unified appearance, and they are part of the dress code along with clothing.

Every team decides for itself which hairstyle the members want to wear and how they want to make themselves up.

It is not necessary for all team members to wear the same make-up, as skin type, face shape and eye color differ from one person to another, so it is difficult to find make-up that suits everyone.

Deciding on a certain lipstick color and the intensity of the make-up can already go some way to ensuring a unified look. But these decisions are made by the team and the coaches. There are also teams whose cheerleaders wear identical make-up, which is also fine.

The main thing is that everyone understands the decisions and that everyone is totally present. Presence shows as soon as you step onto the field or the stage.

OTHER ELEMENTS

Music

Formations

Props

Tumbling

Tips on Writing about Sport

Tell a story. Sport is all about what-happens-next – an open-ended form of storytelling in its own right, presenting rags-to-riches parables, fairy stories, farces, thrillers, tragedies and cautionary tales, sometimes all at once. Books about sport should aspire to the same sort of narrative excitement. Triumph and disaster should remain in play until the final whistle.

Tell a larger story. While the game, the race or the tournament is afoot, sport can seem all-encompassing. But the best books manage to place sport in a larger frame. Write sport as something that ripples beyond mere winning and losing.

Have a central character. Imitate the action of the traditional novel by narrating the trials and tribulations of an individual life. It is not easy for stories about team sports to attain the level of human drama that belongs to individual adventures.

Take us behind the scenes. Readers love to peek through the curtains of what we see on television to glimpse real stories, real voices.

Look behind you. Modern sports pages have become promotional vehicles: today’s newspapers describe tomorrow’s games. Live TV coverage has replaced ordinary reporting, leaving a gap in the market for detailed retellings. Sport is theatre, so dramatise, dramatise.

Write about sport as if it matters greatly – and also not at all. Its struggles are only figuratively life-or-death, and failure is just as gripping as success. It is in these gaps (between sport’s importance and its triviality) that irony and humour can take root and ripen.

Strive to avoid back-page jargon. Sports punditry is dominated by ex-pros who agree that everything is the referee’s fault, and articulate this in terms that have already been much parodied. So it is important to refresh the vocabulary. Not every opportunity has to be “golden”; not all penalties are “hotly disputed”. In fleeing from these, it is also important also to avoid the language of art criticism. Banging on about beauty, the sublime and the paradoxical sounds boastful when the subject is … darts.

Accept your niche. In the name of populism it is tempting to woo readers who don’t care for sport with populist or self-deprecating gestures. But aiming a book about motor racing or boxing at people who dislike such pursuits will only alienate those who might have enjoyed it, while failing to engage the attention of the non-interested. By the same token, never talk down to readers: safer to assume that they know more about this than you ever will.

Break some or all of the above rules, when necessary.

In sport, as in life, something is always hidden.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References

Thanks for the request. This was so interesting, I learned a lot. Hope this helps with your writing!

#cheerleading #writing notes #on writing #writeblr #writing advice #writing tips #dark academia #character development #writing prompt #spilled ink #light academia #creative writing #literature #writers on tumblr #writing resources #finished most of the requests -- had a rough week but everything will be queued !!

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a34trgv2 · 6 months ago

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Why It Worked: Inside Out

Introduction: Inside Out is an animated coming-of-age film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed and co-written by Pete Docter, with the screenplay being co written by Meg LaFauve and Josh Cooley, the film stars Amy Poehler, Phyliss Smith, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan and Richard Kind as Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Fear, Riley, her parents Bill and Jill, and Bing Bong respectively. Released on June 19, 2015, the film was a major box office success grossing $858.8 million on a budget of $175 million. It also received critical acclaim from critics and audiences alike. According to Rotten Tomatoes, out of the 384 reviews aggregated, 98% gave a positive review with an average rating of 8.9/10. It also received numerous awards, including an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, several Outstanding Achievement Awards at the Annies, a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature, and a Critic's Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature. It is often seen as a culturally significant film for mental health and the importance of expressing one's emotions. I saw this film for my birthday back in 2015 and I loved it right out of the gate. After multiple rewatches over the years, I stand by my personal opinion that this is a masterpiece of animation and visual storytelling. I'm overjoyed to talk about this film now that it finally has a sequel out.

The Plot: This film has 2 stories that are interconnected to one another, taking place in the mind of an 11 year old girl. On the outside, it's a bout a kid moving to a new city and being overwhelmed by the sudden changes happening all at once. On the inside, it's about Joy and Sadness trekking through Riley's mind, while along the way understanding each other's importance. Together, they create a very unique and engaging plot about growing up and learning to express yourself. The film brilliantly cuts between Riley, Joy and Sadness' journey, and what's happening at HQ to organically show what Riley's feeling and how her actions have psychological consequences. In addition to having powerful gut punching drama, it's also a very funny film with plenty of slapstick, goofy gags, and impressive word play that always gets me to belly laugh. Michael Giacchino also provides an enchanting, dreamlike score with great use of the piano and brass sections. The true highlight of the story is, of course, Pixar's masterfully crafted and innovative animation. The film makes Riley's mind so vibrant and expansive with Dream Productions and Imagination Land being major highlights. The outside world also looks very well done with the people looking very appealing, San Francisco looking grimy yet lived in, and Riley's old home in Minnesota looking very welcoming and colorful. Speaking of color, the use of colors in this film is nothing short of excellent from the radiant colors of Riley's memories, to Riley's clothes reflecting her current state of mind throughout the film. I also love how they use black and gray to represent faded memories and lack of emotion. If there's one word to describe Inside Out's story and animation, it's colorful.

Cast and Characters: This is an outstanding cast they brought on board for this film. Shout outs to the film's casting directors Natalie Lyon and Kevin Reher for picking out some excellent actors. Amy Poehler was phenomenal as Joy, perfectly capturing her bubbly and eccentric personality while also naturally showing her vulnerability and frustrations. Phyliss Smith sound perfectly dower and soft spoken as Sadness, yet at the same time making her sound so innocent and relatable. Lewis Black was the best match for Anger, making him sound crusty, cynical, and having a short fuse. Mindy Kaling brought in the right amount of sass and pettiness as Disgust and her comradery with the other emotions was brilliant. Bill Hader did a great job making Fear funny and relatable as a character. Kaitlyn Dias also deserve major props for her vocal performance as Riley, making her sound like a soft spoken but fun kid who goes through a great character arc in the film. Lastly, Richard Kind was the absolute surprise standout of the cast as Bing Bong as not only did he do a great job making him funny, but also made him relatable, selfless, a bit of an airhead, but also really resourceful. The cast did such a great job bringing these characters to life, with all of them being iconic and memorable in their own way.

Where It Falters: Outside of maybe adding another scene or 2 with Riley's life in Minnesota, I wouldn't change a thing with this film. It's one of those films where the only nitpick I have is I wanted more. Fortunately, that's remedied with the existence of the 2024 sequel. Coming out a couple years sooner wouldn't have been so bad either, but like I always say, quality>quantity.

Conclusion: There are a select few movies I consider to be a masterpiece. Inside Out is most certainly one of those movies. With outstanding writing, iconic characters, wonderful voice acting, masterfully crafted animation, and an enchanting score, it has more than earned its cultural significance. I cannot recommend this film enough, especially for those who struggle with expressing themselves such as yours truly. I promise this film will speak to you as it has for me after all these years. Thanks so much for reading and I'll see you soon ;)

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cant-get-enough-btr-forever · 6 months ago

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Welcome to MsMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Big Time Rush Show Theories!

Okay, I'm not actually MsMojo.

But here are my theories, anyway. They get darker as you go down. You have been warned.

10) Mr. Knight's First Name Is Donald

This wouldn't be complete without a Kendall's Father Theory, so I included three of them.

In "Big Time Beach Party", Kendall's middle name is revealed to be Donald. I'd bet money that this is his dad's name.

9) Mr. Knight Is a Famous Athlete

Mr. Knight is probably a well-known athlete, at least in Minnesota. He was the kind of jock who got all the scholarships and trophies. Since Mama Knight was a cheerleader (revealed in "Big Time Pranks II"), she likely met him during a game. Since he particularly excelled at hockey, it became his main profession.

This would explain why Kendall loves hockey so much.

8) Carlos' Helmet Is a Gift From His Father

The age-old question: Why the heck is Carlos so obsessed with that helmet?

It's simple, really: His dad gave it to him when he was a child. As Mr. Garcia is a police officer, he was probably away from home for long periods of time. Carlos grew attached to the helmet during these periods, because it reminded him of his papi.

This attachment worsened after Carlos moved to California, for obvious reasons.

7) The Jennifers' Origin Story

I actually made a whole poll for this one (which is what inspired me to write this essay).

Until recently, I'd never given this question much thought: How did The Jennifers become The Jennifers? More importantly, why?

Well, I have a few theories. I'll list them in order of most to least plausible.

Theory 1: The Jennifers just happened to meet at the Palmwoods. Once they realized how much they had in common (right down to their names), they decided to form an alliance.

Why? They are insecure and ungainly on their own, so they find strength in numbers. Just look at what happens in "Big Time Prom Kings", when one of The Jennifers is separated from the others. She is shown to be an awkward weirdo.

Theory 2: They're victims of the Industry—that is, they were forced into this "mean girls" act. Their real names may not even be Jennifer.

Theory 3: They're adopted sisters. This means that their parents 1) took them in as babies and named them all Jennifer, or 2) only adopted kids named Jennifer. Either way, their parents are psychopaths.

6) Logan and James Are Only Children

Please don't cite me (or fight me) on this; I am not a psychologist. You can, however, cite this.

Being an only child would explain James' desire for fame/attention: He got undivided attention from his mom (maybe not his dad) as a child, so it carried over into his later years.

Or...maybe he didn't get enough attention as a child. This would've also carried over into his later years. So, really, it could've gone both ways.

It would even explain James' habit of talking to himself/the mirror. He had no siblings to vent to, and something tells me his parents weren't the listening types.

This is why Brooke Diamond was so against the idea of him leaving. Many people find it hard to part with their only child. And, in Brooke's case, the only heir to her company.

As for Logan, being an only child contributed to his social awkwardness. On the plus side, he was more successful academically, since he didn't have to vie for his parents' support. It's the opposite of James' situation, basically.

This is why no other siblings are mentioned in the show. Now, as for Carlos? Well...I got nothin'. He doesn't give off "only child" vibes to me. In fact, I can picture him as the youngest sibling in a big, happy family. Additionally, the odds of all three being only children are pretty slim.

Feel free to share your own theories as to why other siblings are never mentioned.

5) Logan Diamond

This is a wild one, but please hear me out.

In "Big Time Moms", Logan's real name is revealed to be Hortense. Brooke Diamond didn't like that name, so she ordered the boys to start calling him Logan instead.

But...where did Brooke get the name "Logan", anyway?

My first theory was that it's his middle name. Makes sense. Then I thought of another theory that isn't too far-fetched:

Brooke couldn't have just pulled the name out of thin air—she liked that name. That name was special to her.

What if "Logan" had been her second name choice for James? "James" may be Mr. Diamond's name, which is the only reason she went with it.

This would mean that we almost had a "Logan Diamond."

4) Gustavo's Wife Cheated on Him

It sounds funny. But it also makes sense, when you think about it.

Gustavo seems like this big, mean rock (pun intended) who is incapable of any emotion besides rage. However, in "Big Time Secret", he says (after eating Mama Knight's snickerdoodles),

So, clearly, he's been in love at least once.

Here's my take: He had a wife many years ago, before he was a famous producer. But once his fame increased, so did his job-related anger/stress. Growing tired of this, his wife became unfaithful. Eventually, she left him altogether.

This embittered him into the cynical, love-hating Gustavo we know today.

3) James Used to be Bullied

I think James was bullied as a child, before he met the other boys. Maybe he was made fun of for being underweight/overweight. Maybe he was one of those kids who had to wear headgear. Whatever the reason, he was ridiculed for the way he looked.

This is why he's so concerned with looks in his later years. He's afraid of being "ugly" because he's scarred by those bad memories.

2) Mr. Knight Cheated on Mrs. Knight

As I said in #9, Kendall's dad is likely a popular athlete. Famous athletes are often swimming in money...and fans. Mr. Knight would've had plenty of opportunities to be unfaithful. This is what led to his and Mama Knight's separation.

He left his family very little money, choosing instead to spend it on his mistress. Mama Knight was forced to wait tables in order to support her kids (she says so in "Big Time Demos").

So, it's easy to see why the Knights never speak of him. What makes this theory even better is that Challen Cates (Mama Knight's actress) kind of confirmed it in this tweet.

⭐⭐⭐

Before I unveil my #1 pick, here are some honorable mentions:

The Entirety of Big Time Movie Is Carlos' Dream

Think about it—Carlos didn't actually wake up at the start of the movie. The whole thing is just a continuation of his dream.

Jenny Tinkler Suffers From Spontaneous Human Combustion

How else do you explain the random fires she causes? There has been a surprising amount of research on this phenomenon, by the way.

Buddha Bob Comes From a Wealthy Family

This humble maintenance man mentions in "Big Time Fever" that he went to business school. He proves it by rattling off some genuine financial factoids.

Business school costs thousands of dollars. This leads me to believe one thing: His parents are loaded. I wouldn't be surprised if they bribed Mr. Bitters into hiring him.

(Of course, he could've also taken out a student loan. Maybe he's working at the Palmwoods to pay off his debt. I dunno.)

⭐⭐⭐

1) Logan's Father Is Dead

Why is Logan so bent on becoming a doctor? Yes, he's smart. But he doesn't quite fit the profile: He panics under pressure, is easily grossed out, and is indecisive. I would've expected him to pursue a career in astronomy, since it seems to suit him better.

So, I mulled for a bit, and this is what I came up with: Mr. Mitchell passed away from an illness when Logan was little. This is what fueled Logan's desire to help other sick people. It would also explain why we never see his dad—or even hear him mentioned.

This ties in with the "only child" theory, because Mrs. Mitchell probably never remarried. Thus, Logan never had any siblings.

Do you agree with my picks? Please share your own theories; I love to hear them! I've pinned a link to all my Big Time Rush essays (I plan on writing more). And to MsMojo: Please don't sue me.

#So basically Carlos is the only one with a happy backstory #big time rush #btrtv #big time movie #essay #kendall knight #logan mitchell #james diamond #carlos garcia #mama knight #gustavo rocque #brooke diamond #the jennifers #buddha bob #jenny tinkler

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chirpingfromthebox · 1 month ago

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An Incredibly Biased Primer to the Minnesota Frost Roster

First of all, you should know that I am by no means a hockey expert. I was never one for playing sports, and most of my hockey knowledge comes from watching MN Wild games back in the days before I got too busy with school and never got back to it. So take what I say with a grain of salt. I like who I like and I don't have any real knowledge of the NCAA nor the lore of women's hockey history. But I love hearing from all the wonderful hockey players, and NCAA fans, and general WoHo historians, and everyone else on here who are so much more knowledgeable than I. (as well as just the other fans like myself).

In any case here is my very biased guide to some of the big names (imho) on the Frost's roster to give any new fans a place to start. Especially because our team is all about the drama and we deserve nice things for daring to ride the chaos coaster.

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Unlike every other hockey player list in the world, I'm not going to start with the Forwards.

Defenders are my favorite and so I'm gonna start with them!

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Defenders

And because this is my list, I'm also gonna start with my favorite player and first in the number order:

Lee Stecklein!

Stecklein is a 6 foot tall master of defense and one of the alternate captains for the Frost (so if you see an "A" on someone's jersey that's what that means). And she has won basically everything there is to win.

An Olympic gold medal? Yes. An NCAA National Championship? 3 of them. An Isobel Cup? Yep. What about an IIHF Championship? U18 or World Championship, you ask? It doesn't matter, because she's done both. She has since retired from the National Team, but was a staple on it for a long time.

After I started watching the PWHL last season she was the player that really caught my eye. Even though the camera wants to follow the action, I am often trying to look at what defenders are doing and I kept noticing #2, because she was always where the opposing offensive wanted to be. You'd swear she can see 5 seconds into the future, because she is just consistently exactly where she needs to be.

And, maybe this is neither here nor there, but I swear she is also just an incredibly graceful skater. Any hockey players out there please confirm or deny this. While a lot of players skate like they're attacking the ice, Stecklein seems to glide across it.

Okay, okay, enough gushing here's some things to note. She had the most penalty minutes of any Frost player last season. But she laughingly claims this was due to refs being inconsistent with where exactly the line was on how league was calling penalties at the beginning. So don't expect her to repeat that distinction.

In terms of defense she often goes under the radar because she's a shutdown defender more than an offensive one. So don't expect her to be racking up points this season. But anytime the Frost is in trouble expect to see her on the ice. She's big, she has incredible hockey sense, and a leading force both on and off the ice for the Frost's defense.

Her skill on defense AND as a leader is a big part of why I think the Frost's defense is something for other teams have to take real seriously.

Sophie Jaques

Jaques was the Patty Kazmaier award winner in 2023. She was part also part of one of the biggest stories of season one: Boston trading Jaques to Minnesota for Susanna Tapani. This was a pretty big deal because Jaques was Boston's 2nd round draft pick and Tapani was Minnesota's 5th round pick! So this was a pretty massive trade.

It was also notable for being a genius move by both teams. Both players went on to really excel on their new teams in ways they hadn't been before. Consider this, during the 7 games she played for Boston she had 0 goals and 0 assists. Then she goes to Minnesota, they have complete faith in her, she starts working with Lee Stecklein, and then in her 15 regular season games with MN she had 2 goals and 8 assists. (She also nearly got the championship winning goal for Minnesota in the Finals, but that's a whole different story.)

Unlike Stecklein, Jaques is an offensive defender. You can expect her to be a part of some big plays and part of the defense line when they want a d-pair with some bite.

Also, if you're like me and sometimes have letters shift around on you a little bit, you should note that there is no "C" in her name and it's pronounced "Jakes."

Claire Thompson

Thompson was our first round draft pick this season. It was also a pick that really fucked up everyone's predictions for the draft. It was generally thought at the time that Minnesota would want to grab Cayla Barnes. Also that it would probably be a Canadian team that went for Thompson as she was part of the Canadian national team that won the World Championship in 2021 and the Olympic Gold in 2022.

My knowledge on her is limited, but from what I do know she's an interesting pick. It was a bit of a gamble by Minnesota because she had taken a year off hockey to study for med school. But from what I've seen from her she was on Team Canada for a reason. A defense player that's also a goal-scoring threat.

She could lead to some really interesting d-pairs this season. Like a hyper offense combo of Jaques and Thomspon? Things could get really spicy there. She could go a long way to giving Minnesota some really interesting ways to utilize their defense this season.

Maggie Flaherty

The best smile on the team. A ray of sunshine. Scored Minnesota's first goal of the playoffs [in game 3!] and stoked the fires to victory. Dances like no one's watching. And a solid defender. She's a delightful human being and will bring you much joy.

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Okay, okay, we can talk about Offense now. Since you INSIST.

Forwards

Kendall Coyne Schofield

Let's start out with our captain and a pivotal figure in the founding of the league. She had recently given birth last season and still managed to lead the team to a championship, so imagine what she'll be able to do now!

She is well known for being fast. She's only 5'2" so between her acceleration and her skating skill, if she slips past the defense she's a hard one to catch. Now a seasoned WoHo veteran she's also capable of being a real play maker. And even though she's small she can fight out a puck from the corners with the best of them.

If I tried to list everything she's done in and for women's hockey we'd be here all day.

She's probably the most serious of the PWHL captains and is the type to speak with her actions more than her words. So you generally won't see her blowing up on social media. She's also my favorite captain to transcribe in interviews because she is incredibly terse.

Taylor Heise

The one, the only, the first ever draft pick in the PWHL! She was out for part of the season for an injury and still managed to be a big goal scorer for Minnesota. When she came back she wasn't playing at her usual level until the playoffs. But if she plays the way she did in the playoffs this season? Oooo, it'll be spicy.

She is currently rocking a knee brace though, but she isn't on the long term injury list? So we'll have to see how she's feeling. Hopefully she avoids further injury this season.

Her talent on the ice in undeniable and she's more than likely a future captain for the team. But trust me, you don't need me to tell you that. Her play will speak for itself when she takes the ice.

What you can't tell from the game footage is that she is one of the most gracious and gregarious members of the team. If you go to any home games this year be on the lookout for her if you head to the autograph table after the game. Even when she isn't on table duty she often comes up to say hi to fans, take pictures, and sign autographs.

Truly just such a friendly and generous person. I have yet to see a fan walk away from her without a big ol' smile on their face.

Also notable for being BFFs with her fellow Frost forward Grace Zumwinkle, who she played with in college.

Grace Zumwinkle

Truly a force of nature.

Heise might get more attention, but don't get it twisted, Zumwinkle is currently the best forward on the team.

Yes, the stats are busted because of Heise's injury. But it's still fact. I don't care. Fight me.

Zummie has the distinction of getting the first hat trick in the PWHL. Which she did in her first game of the season! She was tied with Sarah Nurse for 2nd most goals in the regular season (at 11 goals). She also rightly won the award for rookie of the year. And honestly it wasn't even close. [Emma Maltais fans will disagree here, and I respect their case, she was great too, but they are also wrong. Fight me.]

She was Minnesota's 3rd round draft pick in year one. Darwitz knew that Zum and Heise worked well together and purposefully wanted to get the pair together.

I don't know why, but I feel like a lot of people sleep on Zumwinkle. I rarely hear of her when people are talking about the league powerhouses. But trust me, she's not a player to underestimate.

Her BFF antics with Heise are also a source of great joy and delight to all.

Michela Cava

Cava is an interesting case. She has a laundry list of accolades and championships to her name. She's won the SDHL championship. She's won the ZhHL championship. She's won the PHF championship. And now she's won a PWHL championship too!

She was a solid forward during the regular season. I wouldn't say she really lived up to her full potential, but she was definitely a strong player nevertheless.

But in the playoffs? Oh ho ho! *chef's kiss*

Cava has a bit of a reputation for leaving nothing on the ice when it comes to playoffs. If I'm not mistaken she was actually the playoff MVP for every one of those championships she won before coming to the PWHL? And she went full tilt once again!

Even though Heise ended up winning the Playoff MVP last season Cava tied her for points! [Cava went 4 goals, 4 assists; Heise went 5 goals, 3 assists].

So in a worst case scenario she is a really solid forward. In a best case scenario? She runs over the opposition all season.

Now, as a Frost fan, I'm going to assume that you're at least partially here for the delicious drama. So let me point out to you that last season Cava played on the Frost with her girlfriend Emma Greco. However, this year Greco plays for Boston. Which means any MN v. BOS game will have a little extra spice.

Kelly Pannek

The Frost's other alternate captain.

...I'm sorry...I just looked her up to make sure I had my facts straight and saw something wild and now I need to address it. Apparently she set the state record in high school for quickest hat trick with 3 goals in 22 seconds?? I mean, wtf! That goalie probably still wakes up in a cold sweat some nights from that.

Okay, back on task. Pannek actually played with Lee Stecklein in college for the University of Minnesota [Stecklein was a year ahead of her]. And like Stecklein she has won basically everything there is to win. [This is why her new beer is called "Been There, Won That."]

During last regular season she was 16th in the league in terms of points, so she was definitely in the upper echelon. [for the record Kendall Coyne Schofield was 13th, and Grace Zumwinkle was 7th.]

So definitely expect Pannek to be making things happen this season.

Liz Schepers

Okay, so hear me out.

Yes, Schepers had 0 goals and 3 assists during the regular season. BUT if you want to see what she's capable of just look at the playoffs. She was an absolute menace to Toronto!

In the first 3 goals Minnesota had against them, every single one of them came from a Schepers assist. Another way to say that is that she assisted with every Frost goal of Games 3 and 4. (The team didn't score at all in the first two games, but we won't talk about that)

Who knows what will happen this season. All I'm saying is that if Schepers starts to pop off, I will thoroughly not be surprised.

Also she has an adorable dog named Rookie. So you know, there are multiple reasons to look out for her.

Klára Hymlárová

You'll have to ask someone more familiar with international play knowledge for the scoop here. She was our 3rd round draft pick though and I'm curious to find out what they saw in her. All I know is that she was a top player for the Czech national team. Check out this little article for some more insider knowledge on what she can bring to a team.

I'm dying to see how all these international players are gonna change the play of the game, so I'll be keeping an eye on her and seeing what transpires.

Goalies

Saving the most important position for last: our goalies!

Minnesota was the only team last season to fully embrace a goalie tandem style. Everyone else had their main goalie and tended to only swap them out when they wanted to give them a break. [Except for Ottawa who never wanted to give Maschmeyer a break.]

And this tandem was incredibly effective! So if you too love goalies you're in luck, because you'll get to see both of them on a regular basis. Plus it has the added bonus of making every game a little more exciting by wondering who will be starting that game.

This duo was so effective that Minnesota is the only team this season to put their 3rd goalie on reserve. It's an interesting move to be sure, and yet it does make sense because they are the only team that really knows exactly what they want to do for goalies this season.

But who are these goalies who we have so much trust in?

Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney of course!

Hensley was Minnesota's 2nd round draft pick last season, so that should give you a clue of how badly Darwitz wanted her on the team. She's a lover of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. And more importantly one of the U.S. national team's go-to goalie picks for quite a while now.

And I bet you're wondering, has she won a gold medal? Yes! She has. But interestingly enough when she won it in 2018 and she wasn't the starting goalie that year (although she did shutout Russia). Who was the starting goalie that year?

Maddie Rooney!

If you want to get a sense of just how stacked the PWHL's goalie lineups are consider this: Rooney wasn't drafted at all! Minnesota invited her to training camp and then signed her there. A friggin' gold medal-level goalie went undrafted. I mean, talk about an epic training camp pickup.

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There are plenty more players on the team, but these are the ones that I think are the most notable / just some of my favorites. This is probably riddled with typos and mistakes, but whatever! I'm really tired and need to get to bed. If I missed anyone's favorite, be sure to let us know. As well as giving us the run down of what makes them so cool. ;)

#pwhl minnesota #minnesota frost

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jocelynscrazyideas · 8 months ago

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Baby I’m home! | Nico Hischier x Reader

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Warnings: smut, language, not much of dirty talk (there literally is none).

Summary: Nico come back from a roadie in Minnesota, they had lost their chance to get into the playoffs. Nico gets h0rny and…

A:N- HELP I’m so tired it’s so hard to keep writing, again I don’t have faith that I’ll like this piece but I spent 2 days trying to write it so here 🫶😉🍇

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

After a roadie Nico returns home. The devs went to Minnesota and they had lost. Originally you were asked to come, actually the coaching staff were going to pay for some of the WAGs to go. Last time, the boys had gotten in a huge argument about the gameplay, and who should be on the first lineup. That’s not in their hands, it’s in the coaches and the stats of the players. Anyway, to keep them from miss behaving, the women were allowed to come.

“Baby!” Nico yells out for me in his American accent. He’s wearing his white tank top that stretch over his back and biceps, wow. He’s a smoke show.

“I wish you went! The Girls went out to the bars and the boys stayed behind and watched bar fights break out.” Nico explains. I’m actually quite nervous that he’s not showing any emotions.

Why is this loss so important? Because it was the devils last chance to win or even tie the game to get into the playoffs. Statistically in team stats overall no, they shouldn’t make it, but in number in points from each individual players had, yes they would have made it and probably win. John is an incredible defender, and so is Luke. Jack is a beautifully gifted skater and Jesper has the moves to skate within seconds across the whole rink. Ofcirese, Nico. My beautiful man. He is the most manly boy in the team, big muscles, coordination, and most importantly his social media presence. Everyone loves him.

I mean I love him.

“I know! I’m sorry.” I shout from our bedroom upstairs. Hear bags drop from downstairs and I think I hear some mumbling. I didn’t go on the roadie because I had work and I’m getting the worst headache for the last week.

“I brought up some meds. Does it still hurt?” Nico questioned and he pulls his tank top off and threw it onto our hamper that rots in our closet. Holy heaven of Abs. He’s just so fucking lovable, I don’t care about the fact he’s hot, but the way he carries himslef, he knows that no matter what he does, it’ll be intentional for him.

“Yes, thank you bubba.” I responded as I take the bottle of pills and take two pills. Yes, my head hurts so much I took two.

“Can we grab something to eat? I hungry.” Nico asked as he takes me by my hips.

He grasped onto my hips and ricks me back and forth, I can hear his stomach growl as he rests his head onto my shoulder. He shoved his head into the crook of my neck, I can feel him take my perfume from my body and pull it into his lungs. He’s smiling, I can feel his lips against my ear, and he starts to wrap his legs around my feet.

He starts to hurt me around and now I’m facing him, he’s looking straight into my eyes. He takes my hand and he places it to his chest. I can feel his heartbeat, and it’s pounding. My stomach drops as he sweeps my from my feet and onto the bed.

“Do you want food? Or we can stay in and shower, then you know do whatever.” Nico suggested, I can feel him slipping away from me. He gets up and grabs his bag.

“You better not get your gear! Its stinks!” I yell after him as nico turns to the stairs to grab his away game items.

“Baby!” Nico shouts for me. “Can you grab some milk? I wnat pasta.” Nico I a sucker for some creamy and thick pasta.

I run down the stairs and I slide into the kitchen in my socks. I have on my- well Nico’s favorite shirt on me, it’s a blue halter top that wraps around my neck with beads, it has shells laces together at the bottom almost as if it were a belly chain, and the shirt is cropped above my belly button and it’s ribbed. It’s cute, but it works better for a swimsuit cover up.

“You look sexy.” Nico slips as he eyes my shorts.

Nico,a boxers are a bit to big for me butt I slide them on anyway, and the best part is that it’s plain black, so it really does match my outfit, it’s called my “I don’t fucking care” outfit. I love the outfit, nice and short and skin tight so I can get every little breeze in, especially since it’s March and season is almost over.

“Are you gonna grab the milk? Also while you’re at it could you grab the packaged rav?” Nico requested as he slips his old man slippers on. He collects his supply’s such as a pan, the milk I gave him and the ravioli, and of course some pesto. It’s not really pasta, but he diced up some cheese, slipped some butter in the ravioli, and he stirred everything together. He lets it set as he grabs two plates. I didn’t wnat any but he knew I haven’t eaten since he left. He puts some buttered pesto cheesy ravioli on my plate and as the man he is, he cooked it so he gets more. He just flips the pan upside down and gathers all of the pasta.

He finished up with dishes since we finished the ravioli, it was delicious.

“So, you wanna shower?” Nico asked me and I can feel him getting really close to me. He picks my hands up and we start to slow dance to the sound of construction in the neighborhood.

“Yeah, well YOU need to shower more, you’re stinky.” I say in a sarcastic way. He looks me dead in the eye and he picks me up. He carry’s me up the stairs and he throws me down onto the bed.

The blunt force of getting absolutely demolished by this man felt oddly great. He pulls my hair to the side and he starts to kiss my neck. I feel his stubble graze my skin. He’s warm breath is trapped in between my jawline and his lips. He pulls away and rubs his chest, he walks out of the room.

I hear the shower turn on, he moans along the sound of water hitting the grout in the bathroom. Nico enters the room eyeing his next meal.

Me.

I took my clothes off and I lay back as if I didn’t move. Nico runs towards me and kisses my forehead all the way down to my belly button. He licks my creases. He holds my breasts as he nibbles down onto my thigh. He looks up at me grinning, and I understand what is about to happen.

Water is everywhere. Nico had picked me up and slid his pants off. We had been teasing eachother for about three minutes, then he got to needy. His very hard veiny cock hits his abdomen every time I kiss him, it’s like it has its on pulse.

“Never stop.” Nico says as I go down to my knees. I kiss his v-line and he holds onto my hair. He grips onto me and he pressed his back against the wall. I lick his tip, and then I start to pump. I again start to take him into my mouth, I feel like gagging, it’s so gross, I c at take the taste of cum, but for him I will. I start to moan, enjoying my time trying to please him. Nico throws his head back and starts to get loud, he bangs his hand against the opposite wall, and he’s hunched over. I have very little space to suck. The water starts to get cold so I get up from going down on him. I turn the water to a hotter temperature and I massage his biceps, he starts to get really really warm. He dick is really pushed up against himself.

Nico looks like he’s going to cum, I mean he already did in my mouth, but now he’s opening his mouth anbd says “Turn.” One work that this man says to me and I fold. Nico takes me by my waist and bends down. He’s on one knee as he grips onto me. Nico pumps himself, he’s jerking hard enough to cause me cum. He starts to kiss me down under. I look down and he’s on both knees now, making love to my pussy.

I start to move, I can’t take it anymore, I pull his hand away from my upper body and force three fingers up my hole.

“Woah, woah, you can’t get it to fast.” Nico pulls out and sucks on his finger. He gets up and he pulls me onto his chest. I feel his cock on my back. I turn on my heels and I find Nico smirking down at me. I lay down in the shower as steam fills the large room.

“Legs.” Nico says, but in his switz accent. I do as I’m told and I start to run my clit.

“You’re soaking.” Nico eyes my pussy as he pumps into me. I feel his tip, now his whole cock is inside. He’s warm, and I can feel him twitch as he try’s to say, “can I?” He’s asking for approval to start moving, and I oblige.

“Yes, and of fucking course I’m soaking.” I say as I look up towards the hot water. Nico develops red dots on his back as he starts to thrust himself into me.

“Come for me baby.”

I start to moan and I feel him practically in my lungs. He stands up as he starts to cum. Strings of our future kids are coming out of my 3rd favorite piece of him.

“Oh baby.” I look at him and his dimples are showing. I start to cum again when I see him stand up.

I push him back down as I throw myslef on top of him. I sit on him and his friend. I take a minute to catch my breath as I relax to take him. It’s been four days since we’ve had sex. I push my hand onto his chest and my other in his abs, I can feel him cum, streams of warm substance fills me, and I take myself off of him. I sit in his face and he licks me clean, but that’s before I start to cum into his mouth.

“Let’s clean up, so we can do it again later.” Nico request as I get up and I start to clean up my hair from the knots it’s been tangled into. I grab shampoo and lather it onto Nico’s head and into mine. I feel Nico wash his head as the water falls into my crevices.

We warm up and dry off and Nico swoops me up again and he snuggles me into his arms as he turns our heated blanket on. I’m stuck in his large arms and I’m glad it’s him I can feel poking up at me again.

“Baby, I’m glad you’re home.” I say as I turn my head around to kiss his cheek.

#jocelynscrazyideas #hockey #nhl #new jersey devils #nico hischier #njd #nj devils #switzerland #captain hischier #nico hischer x reader #smut #🍇🍇🍇#jack hughes

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gilverrwrites · 8 months ago

Text

Michael/Reader, 1.6K words Established vee dynamic: Michael/Adam & Adam/Reader, which will evolve into a triad. [1/3] Four things you explain to Michael, and one thing he explains to you. [X][2][3]

Chapter 1: Buffy, Bussin', and Kiss-Cams.

It took a while to get there but telling the differences between Adam and Michael had been easier than expected. Like now for example. If Adam was manning their body he would have slouched beside you on the couch, helped himself to your snacks, and asked you about your day. Instead, Michael stood, looming in the doorway of the living room. His stance is like a soldier at attention, head high, shoulders straight, watching you with no expression.

“Hello, Michael.” You greeted. “How are you today?”

“I am well.” He approaches, situating himself between you and the TV screen. “What is this?”

“I’m good too, thank you for asking.” Social queues will likely never be his thing. “This is a TV show.”

“I am aware.” His shoulders sag briefly, unamused by your sarcasm. Whether he understood that you were teasing is a mystery, he likely thinks that you’re an idiot who thinks he’s an idiot, which is arguably funnier. “I meant, what television show is it?”

“Buffy.” You answer. “It’s actually really good, it’s about a teenage girl who is the chosen one-“

“Chosen?” He interrupts, but you let it slide. You wonder if he’s thinking of how he was once ‘chosen’, and now he’s here, metaphorically sandwiched between his partner and his partner's partner in a tiny apartment in Minnesota. He could leave at any time, commandeer their body, or escape it entirely and take off, but he doesn’t, he hasn’t. Which really speaks to how much he cares for Adam.

“Yeah, she’s the one true slayer, kind of. So, she has to juggle killing vampires and stuff with normal high school things, like homework and boys.”

He’s looking at the screen, not at you, but you can see his eyes narrow. You think he might be scrutinising your choice in vapid human media, but his response surprises you.

“Yes, I recall Adam used to watch this show with his mother.” His probing glance falls back to you now. Adam is there, they’re both always there, but it still feels like you’re discussing him behind his back, so you awkwardly attempt to move on from the subject.

“Oh, well… Would you like to sit and watch it with me?” You shuffle over, making space for him beside you and patting the pillow.

“No.” Michael is just a blunt person? Being? Angel. So, you don’t take the sting of his rejection to heart.

But despite his rebuttal, he makes no attempt to move. Instead, standing stock still in the middle of the room. Occasionally asking questions as the time passes.

“Who is that?”

“That’s Angel. Buffy’s sort of on again off again boyfriend.”

“Angel?”

“Yeah, he’s not an angel, he’s a vampire.”

“How paradoxical.”

“That one reminds me of you.”

“Who? Cordelia?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“She talks too much.”

“Why does Willow simply not confront this Xander boy about her, albeit inadvisable feelings for him?”

“Teenagers are stupid.”

“Humans are stupid.”

“Thanks.”

Four episodes later he remains unmoved, you’d tried not to speak to him unless spoken too, afraid you might scare, or more likely annoy him away, but your stomach is starting to grumble.

“I’m gonna order takeout, do you want anything?” It’s not addressed to Michael, and he knows that.

Their posture falters as Adam takes over. Adam also moves with confidence, but his is far more relaxed, comfortable in his own body. The couch pillows dip under his weight as he sits beside you, arm casually draping over your shoulders. He greets you with a familiar boyish grin that makes your heart flutter. “Pizza?”

Something is wrong. That much is evident by Michael’s uncharacteristically expressive face. He’d been silent when he’d returned home from the store, a chore he and Adam had taken up since their return from the cage, a familiar, easy task that helped to ease them into modern society.

You could tell it was Michael because he’d been ignoring your presence since he returned home, quietly, and strategically putting away the shopping bar a solitary; “Hello.”

Now he was eyeing a single can of Monster Energy Drink that sat alone on the kitchen counter. The intensity of his stare had you worried it might explode. You certainly would not be cleaning that up.

“Something on your mind?” You ask, keeping your tone calm, and pleasant. Not letting on to your amusement at his one-sided staring contest.

He spares you a scornful glance, before looking back at the can. Then he seems to have a light bulb moment, body perking up as he turns to you once more. He might actually think you’re useful for something other than Adams's enjoyment.

“Yes. What is ‘bussing’?” The word sounds so comical coming from his lips, and you suppress a laugh, not wanting to patronise him or dampen his curiosity.

“Bussin’?” You repeat, ensuring you heard him right.

“Yes. ‘Bussing’. We heard a boy at the store use the word to refer to this. Adam nor I have heard the term used in this context before.”

Adam had filled Michael in on a lot of modern and pop culture things, but having been locked in a cage for the last decade meant that he was a little behind the times. You made a mental note to ask him later if not understanding the latest slang terms made him feel old.

“It just means something is really good.” You explain, and his face drops.

He picks up the can, swaying it back and forth as he examines the label. It hisses as he eventually cracks it open, and his face scrunches when he gives it a sniff.

Adam only eats and drinks to maintain a feeling of normalcy, Michael’s grace dissolving any actual need for human bodily functions. Michael never eats or drinks, so the prospect of his first taste of human food being a sip of Monster excites you greatly. What a terrible introduction.

He must sense your anticipation because he turns, body shifting completely to face you. His face remains stoic, excluding his eyes which watch you hopefully as he extends the drink to you. “Would you like a taste?”

“Uh, sure.” You take the can from him and allow yourself a mouthful before handing it back to him. It’s sugary, and sour, and abhorrently fizzy, just as you’d expected, but you try not to let your face give anything away. “It’s fine. Your turn.”

“Fine.” He repeats under his breath, hesitating as he brings it to his lips. He takes a quick sip before slamming the can forcibly back onto the table, gritting his teeth, clearly repulsed by whatever is going on in his mouth right now. “That is not bussing.”

Michael hadn’t exactly taken to human pastimes like a fish in water, preferring to take a back seat and let Adam enjoy himself. He had, however, found a great appreciation for war films, books about astronomy, and sports. Particularly, sports that had a strategy aspect to them. Which is how you’d found yourself in the bleachers of an ice hockey match beside him.

Adam liked sports too, but not to the same degree. Michael sat, hunched over, weight on his knees as he watched the players glide across the ice, batting the puck this way and that. The match was tense, and the atmosphere lively, so you didn’t really mind his silence. You knew he wasn’t ignoring you, just focusing on the game. Even the quarterly breaks were filled with music, the big screen displaying funny accidents and lookalikes, which kept you entertained.

All in all, you were having a good time, and when the kiss-cam popped up, you watched, amused as the camera crew zoomed in on different couples. You watched an array of different kisses, some cute, some awkward, some a little R-rated. It was all fun and games until you recognised yourself on the screen.

Panic rushed through your body as you turned to look at Michael. You’d come around to the fact that Michael was always there. Always. Even for the intimate moments. But there was a massive difference between Michael being there during a kiss, and kissing Michael.

You’re not sure if your sudden nervousness or the cheering crowd watching him from every angle clued him in, but Micheal takes notice, looking up at his own face on the display and asking; “Why are we on the screen?”

“It’s a kiss-cam. They want us to kiss.” You hope that filling him in will bring Adam front and centre, but to no avail. Adam doesn’t want to play right now it seems. Probably revenge for implying he was old. “I’ll wave them away.”

“Don’t.” He instructs, and before you can process what’s happening his lips are on yours.

He tastes like Adam, like sugary cereal and cheap cola. He feels like Adam, clean-shaven and soft lips. But he does not kiss you like Adam.

Adam kisses you like he might never see you again. Like it’s been a thousand years since he’s last laid his lips on you and he wants to commit every micro-movement of your body, every inch of your mouth to memory. His kisses are intense and passionate.

Micheal is the opposite, surprisingly. This might be the gentlest he’s ever been, he presses his lips to your delicately, like he might break you if he uses too much pressure. A hand cups the side of your face with the tenderness one would show a wounded animal. He kisses you like you’re made of glass and must be cherished.

When he pulls away you feel completely flushed and unsure how to proceed. The kiss-cam is gone, and the screen counts down the seconds until the game continues. Micheal, in preparation, has resumed his watching position, leaving you to stew in your own emotions, likely oblivious to the many, many thoughts flooding your mind.

Please remember: Being sensitive is not a weakness.

#supernatural reader insert #supernatural imagine #adam milligan #adam milligan x reader #spn michael #spn michael x reader #gilverrwrites

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